Golf And Baseball: Not Worlds Apart

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Athletes that compete in fast paced, explosive sports like football and basketball tend to turn to golf as a change of pace. They like the fact that they can still take part in a competitive game, but it’s completely different from the contact sports they play (you can’t tell me basketball isn’t a contact sport).

Golf enthusiasts like Michael Jordan, Ray Allen and Marshall Faulk are just a handful of athletes who take their golf games pretty seriously. Charles Barkley? Not so much, but claims he’s improved. They all look forward to putting down the duffle bag with the basketball sneakers for a bit and picking up the golf bags and clubs.

One sport I didn’t really expect to have too many athletes crossing over onto the links from was baseball. I say that because baseball games can run longer than four hours and they are generally much slower paced than most other sports. Baseball and golf are somewhat similar in a lot of aspects but still, a lot of pro baseball players enjoying playing golf.

After putting more thought into it I realized skills from the golf course can translate into success on the baseball field and vice versa.

Flexibility

Golfers who have a textbook swing have great rotation in their hips that turn into rotational power allowing them to drive the ball farther. In baseball, players who have great swings get a good turn in their hips to help drive the ball for opposite field hits or home runs. Turning your hips may sound simple enough but the legs and arms are involved in the process too and everything happens in one fluid motion as your attention is focused on striking the ball with power. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Core

A lot more pro golfers and major league baseball players are focusing on their cores through workouts dedicated solely to strengthening that area of the body. A strong core is a big part of rotational power. It helps improve an athlete’s stamina and range of motion. It also helps strengthen the legs and upper body because it’s located in the center (hence the name, core). Years ago, there were a lot of chubby golfers and baseball players. These days more players have adopted workouts from their fellow pro athletes in other sports, like football and basketball, to push their bodies to the limit and to ultimately take their games to the next level.

Home Runs to Holes in One

Yankee first basemen, Mark Teixeria is one All-Star baseball player that enjoys spending some of his down time on the links.  His favorite course to play on is the Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, and he says the best part of his game is his ability to drive the ball with accuracy. If you have seen him play on the baseball field there’s a good chance you would say one of his skills is driving the ball for base hits and home runs. He doesn’t make many errors either, so the accuracy comes into play.

It may be interesting to see if there are any pro golfers on the PGA tour who believe they would be able to crossover and have success in MLB.