Monday, December 21, 2009

How Running is Like Golf

In Golf, you will not get better overnight. It takes lots of hours and years for people to learn to hit it long and straight. Same with Running. Getting faster and improving endurance takes time.

In Golf, having a good set of clubs is important, but even more important is having a good swing. Same with Running. A good pair of shoes are important, but equally or more important is having good form while running.

In Golf, when you swing too hard, usually you end up shanking the ball into the trees or over-hooking it into the water. In Running, when you try to run too fast or too far, too soon, you generally end up getting injured.

In golf, when you slow down and think about the shots and use strategy, the score is better. In Running, when you slow down and use your runs wisely and think about strategy for getting the most out of your body, your times will improve.

One of the great things about Golf is that when you are having a crappy round and you can't hit the ball straight to save your life, and you are on the verge of dumping your clubs into the lake, you hit that one sweet shot that keeps you coming back again and again. In running, too, despite all the pain and frustration and "bad runs," all it takes is having that one great run to get you back out the door running again.

Running Update
I had planned to run 6 miles Saturday but at mile 3 I felt a twinge of pain in my plantar fascia tendon, so I slowed to a walk the rest of the way....very frustrating
I have a call in to a local physical therapist to see if I can get some advice on this nagging injury....
Here is a link to a video my mom told me about, Dr Oz talking about "how to find the perfect shoe" --- http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/how-find-best-shoe-you

10 comments:

Jess said...

I live on a golf course, and I watch a lot of golfers, but I never thought to compare it to running!

Carolina John said...

something I just notice last night talking to my father-in-law (a 3 handicap golfer).... golf to him is competitive with the people he plays with. running is only competitive with yourself. I was always trying to beat my own best score (and best time in that distance), he was always trying to beat the people he was playing against.

Christina said...

In running, you can get away from your wife chasing you with a club. In golf, you end up on the news at 2am with broken windows. If Tiger had been better with running, he could have run away.

Greg, NSS said...

I just finished a book on Chi Running that I received from my boss as an early Christmas present (http://www.chirunning.com/shop/home.php). All that I can say is AWESOME! I'd been having hip flexor and hamstring tightness. After reading the book and taking the time to really focus on the form that the author suggested, no problems whatsoever on my 7 mile trail run on Sunday. Just thought I'd pass it along... Never hurts to try. :) Good Luck!

Rookie on the Run said...

I'm laughing at Christina's comment... that's FUNNY!

Golf basically puts me to sleep so I'll just have to take your word for how the two sports are similar. :)

Ugh! I hope the pain that surfaced during your run is just a one-time thing... or at the very least goes away quickly.

Jo Lynn said...

I golf.
I run.

The two are nothing alike. :)

Unknown said...

i have always maintained that you really only need 3 clubs for golf. if you stick with this, you could RUN the course. for each shot you are over par, you have to that many YASSO 800's at the end of the game.

Lindsay said...

i've always made fun of my guy for being a golfer telling him it wasn't a real sport ;) nice analogies though! lol at christina's comment!

Lacy said...

yeah, but golf is boring :)

Unknown said...

interesting analogy