Swimming and Golfing

Recently, I have taken up golf, and I can't help but notice the similarities between learning to golf and learning to swim. Both are finesse sports that require large amounts of concentration and practice to get right, and it is unnecessary (and ill-advised) to gain great amounts of strength to make major improvements in either sport. Let's look at some specific ways golfing is like swimming:

1. It Starts with Head Position
   In golf, you must keep your head still and look straight at the ball while you swing in order to make contact. In swimming, you must keep your head still and look straight down at the bottom of the pool while you rotate in order to get the most out of your stroke.
2. Concentration is Key
   The moment you start thinking about more than one thing when you are about to hit the ball is the moment that something goes wrong. If I get 2 tips on my golf swing and I think about both of them the next time I tee up, I tend to have an underwhelming result! The same goes for doing swimming drills. As a coach, if I give a swimmer several things to think about, inevitably, nothing will go right. The idea is to concentrate on one aspect, practice it, master it, and move on.
3. The Fewer Strokes, The Better
   When improving your score in golf, you want to take fewer strokes to get the ball in the hole. To improve your swim performance (especially open water swimming), you want to take fewer strokes per length in order to make the most economical use of your energy over the entire swim or triathlon.
4. Follow Through is Important
   When you hit the ball, it is important that you follow through with your club for the entire golf swing. In freestyle swimming, to get the most out of your stroke, you must extend your arm and glide for the entire stroke.
5. Power Comes from the Core
   Your arms and legs themselves do not need to be incredibly powerful to have success in either sport. With both sports, the power comes from the core - abdominal muscles, lower back, and hips. Legs are used more for stabilization than to propel you forward in swimming. Legs in golf are also used more for stabilization, rather than for more powerful swings.

Both sports can also be frustrating, but with practice, patience, and persistence, swimming and golfing are almost meditative-like forms of exercise that can be both fulfilling and fun!