If you’re thinking about starting to play a new sport then you may have looked at Golf and tennis.
Both sports are very rewarding and challenging in equal measure.
For people looking to exercise through sports, playing golf or tennis, individually or in combination with each other, will provide enormous health benefits, especially in terms of cardio.
I’m a keen golfer, I must be as I even write about it, but I also love to play tennis.
I have found that there are parts of each game that help you understand the other.
I remember having a series of tennis lessons that were around shaping shots from the back of the court.
It definitely helped me with my tennis game but an unexpected side effect was that it also helped me understand more about shaping shots in golf too.
It’s all about swing path and face angle at impact, but I won’t go into that too much here. Just know that the ball always goes where you tell it to, which unfortunately may not always be your intended target.
If you’re about to choose between golf of tennis, here are my thoughts about which may be the best starting point for you.
Getting Started In Golf
Golf is considered by many to be a leisure sport, and while that isn’t always meant as a compliment, golf actually provides many benefits to its players.
The most obvious one is the low impact nature of the game.
Golfers spend a lot of time in the outdoors walking, whether from hole to hole or just around the large spaces that golf courses occupy.
This benefit is advantageous to players of all ages, as there is little chance of injury while on the golf course.
Also, golf is an excellent way to improve hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness.
While golf is not an easy game to learn, it is incredibly beneficial to those who choose to master it.
Excelling at this sport requires a great degree of concentration and focus, and developing golfing skills goes hand in hand with that kind of clarity.
One of the unfortunate aspects of golf is undoubtedly its price point.
It’s sometimes possible to get secondhand equipment, but generally speaking, it’s worthwhile to get gear that fits players height and playing style.
Conversely, depending on the line of work that a new golfer is in, they might find that there are many business relations to be made in this activity, which can be beneficial.
Ultimately, golf is a sport that requires patience and attention to detail. It is not something that can generally just be picked up in a day.
If you are an aspiring golfer, be prepared to put in the work to excel. Just don’t run out and buy a brand new set of golf clubs before you take the time to learn about the game.
Getting Started In Tennis
Tennis as a sport is renowned for its accessibility to people of all ages.
It has a relatively low entry cost, and most population centers have free or cheap tennis courts available.
However, don’t be fooled by its appearance, as tennis is a very intense cardio workout and requires building endurance for most new players.
Due to its pickup and play nature, tennis is a lot easier for many people to get into regardless of their physical shape.
Though you may not be able to play an entire two-out-of-three set match immediately, you can certainly play a few sets to practice with a friend to work on building the endurance that is required for more strenuous games.
It should be noted that tennis does have many potential injuries associated with it.
The vast majority of these injuries happen to players who don’t take the time to learn the proper stroke mechanics.
These are referred to as repetitive motion injuries.
Things like tennis elbow, muscle strains, and wrist tendonitis are all manageable as long as players take the proper precautions and educates themselves on how they should and should not be moving.
Tennis is an aerobic workout that has potential disadvantages like all activities.
However, with the correct level of preparation and dedication to educating yourself, you can easily break into this sport and continue it to any level desired
Where The Two Sports Meet
Tennis and golf have similar advantages to each other.
Both sports encourage hand-eye coordination.
While tennis is certainly more physically demanding than golf, they both require extended periods of outdoor movement and the benefits that come with that kind of exertion.
While existing tennis players will find that the technicalities of golf are something that needs to be learned, their existing coordination and spatial awareness will give them an advantage when transitioning to the green.
Similarly, golfers may find tennis to be a bit more strenuous than they are used to; however, the understanding of practical physics that golf teaches will serve them well as they learn how to serve.
There are also enormous social benefits from spending time playing both golf and tennis.
Each sport appeals to similar demographics of people, and the friends that new players develop while playing one will likely overlap with the other.
For people looking to exercise through sports, playing golf or tennis individually or in combination with each other will provide enormous health benefits, especially in terms of cardio.
For those intending to begin with one or the other, tennis is the better initial option as it is usually a much cheaper game to start.
Also, tennis players will generally notice their skills develop much more quickly than golfers as there are many more technical elements to golf that require familiarity with not only the various equipment that the sport requires but also the variety of courses associated with it.
Lastly, tennis players build physical endurance through more challenging workouts that will give them more than enough strength to play nine or even eighteen holes.
Both of these sports are worth players investing their time.
It just comes down to personal preference and what kinds of budget and resources players have available to them.
I hope this gives you some food for thought and always remember, you don’t actually have to choose between them as you can play both.
Neither game will have a negative impact on the other so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
But given the choice on a sunny day you will always find me on the golf course
Good luck with whichever you choose to play
Steve
