I’ve met a lot of people thanks to my love of golf, played with a lot of them too.
Back in 1989 that included three days with MLB great and two-time World Series Winner Mark McGwire.
We spent a lot of time talking about the similarities between our favorite sports, golf and baseball. You see, Big Mac may be a 583 home run hitter, but he’s also a darn good golfer.
There are reasons. Both games require a rotary motion.
Whether the swing of a golf club or the batting and throwing in baseball, the same muscles are being developed.
Those actions in both sports require a backward motion and a forward motion. Also, a need for practice and relaxed muscle memory; relaxed muscles following learned, second-nature skills create more speed and accuracy every time, verses tense muscles trying to force the club, bat and ball to comply.
Additionally, baseball and golf use cleats to take advantage of ground forces. During training for either sport coaches often focus on footwork, first teaching students to use cleats to grab on to the ground and then to push off.
There is also similarity in the design of a bat and a golf club, although maybe not as noticeable.
The handle on both pieces of sporting equipment are light, while the head or barrel on the opposite end is heavy. It’s a design that lets your body tap into centrifugal force, the same power David used to beat Goliath.
With practice and learned skill, you can see centrifugal force in action each time the bat, the club or the ball is released and physics takes over… The bat, the club and the ball accelerate thanks to skill and applied, simple science.
These are just some of the reasons golf is attractive to people of all sizes! The golfer with smaller stature and refined skill can out play and out drive the big golfer with muscle and poor technique nearly every time.
Want to discover your potential? Come visit us at the Palmetto Dunes Golf Academy.
By Doug Weaver
North Carolina and South Carolina PGA Teacher of the Year, Doug Weaver is the Director of Instruction at the Palmetto Dunes Golf Academy. He conducts “Where Does the Power Come From?” a free interactive clinic and demonstration every Monday at 4 p.m. at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. Volunteer for a free lesson and some will win prizes! Call (866) 455-6890 or go to www.palmettodunes.com for more information.
