EpicSki  ›  The Barking Bear Forums  ›  Skiing Forums  ›  General Skiing Discussion  ›  Skiing and Golf?
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread

Skiing and Golf?

#1
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 5:37pm
  • Joined: December 2007
  • Post Count: 522
Reading some of the instruction-related threads, I often see comparisons made between skiing and golf when it comes to learning. It seems like a lot of folks who golf also ski. I also see a lot of advertisements for golf-related things here and at other ski sites.

Having never picked up a golf club in my entire life, I obviously have trouble making any connection when I hear these discussions. I am not knocking golf and please don't take this as a knock, but for me, golf always gave me the impression of being very slow-paced and extremely low key. It's a little puzzling how many skiers who thrive on  a high-adrenelin, high-exertion activity like skiing settle down in the summer with a relatively low-energy activity like golf. I always thought most skiers would be into other high-energy activities like cycling, hiking, water skiing etc in the summer.  When I think of golf, the thing that comes to mind are retired guys with a beer belly riding along the grass on golf carts while sipping a bud light.

Again, I am not knocking the sport of golf, I just always assumed those who prefer high-energy activities in the winter would also prefer activities with comparible energy levels in the summer.




Export to Wiki
#2
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 5:48pm
  • Joined: March 2009
  • Location: Helltown, TX
  • Post Count: 83
I don't know if golfers golf for adrenaline, I think most my golfing friends golf as an excuse to hang out with friends, talk and have a beer afterwards. I know golfers who do all the other hard charging stuff, too
Export to Wiki
#3
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 6:40pm
  • Joined: September 2000
  • Location: NTS, PA
  • Post Count: 21,815
 I like golf and enjoy it a lot. I do prefer walking vs. riding and in doing so, I am walking about 4 miles with a 30 lb pack and it is a good work out. It is funny when walking I will tend to visualize spots on the course that would be fun to ski, around the traps tend to be great spots to get air and vice versa when skiing, I sometimes see a trail and visualize if I am going to play a fade or a draw. 
Click. Point. Chute.  
Export to Wiki
#4
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 6:45pm
  • Joined: July 2008
  • Location: just beyond reason
  • Post Count: 610
So many similarities between the two sports.

Golf like skiing is an individual sport, that requires self discipline, learned motions, and physical control,  Like skiing a large number of outside stimuli: wind, temperature, humidity, altitude, type of grass, cut of the grass, softness of the ground, and lots more.  Lots of equipment variations too: club shape, shaft stiffness, ball density, and on and on.  You can wear really funky clothes you would never choose to be seen wearing in public.  You get to spend the best part of your day in a really nice outdoor environment doing nothing particularly useful after buying a rather expensive ticket.

If you are a hard core golfer it is virtually limitless how much money and time you can spend on your game.  Just imagine: hugely expensive golf schools, lots of possible vacations (domestic and international), custom equipment.

Most important it is a great way to go outside hang with friends, and drink beer; just like skiing.  Oh yes, I play golf too.

Growing old is mandatory.  Growing up is optional.

Export to Wiki
#5
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 7:40pm
  • Joined: December 2007
  • Post Count: 522
I always feel funny at the office when everyone is talking about golf -- and it's just about everyone. I know many people get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I just never really understood it, I guess. I think I might be biased by what I have seen on TV. It just looks really slow-paced, the players look reserved and serious, the fans look reserved and serious, the announcers talk real slow and whisper etc. I probably dislike watching baseball for the same reason --  too slow. 

Export to Wiki
#6
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 7:51pm
  • Joined: December 1999
  • Location: somewhere between the worlds of men and make believe
  • Post Count: 8,149
It's all a personal thing. A thinking thing. Solitude. Skiing is you against the terrain. Golf is you against the terrain. The goal to me is similar. To kick it's ass into submission, smile, and have a cold beer afterwards.

There is no Darkside of the moon. It's all dark

Export to Wiki
#7
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 8:55pm
  • Joined: November 2007
  • Location: Las Vegas
  • Post Count: 87
The adrenaline rush in skiing is obvious.  The rush in golf is a little more subtle.  Hit a couple of big drives, knock a few close to the pin, drain a few puts against your opponent and your blood will get pumping.  The biggest challenge of golf is that once you blood gets pumping it is hard to play well. 

I love to golf, but I love skiing more.  One of the biggest reasons is that you can have a bad round of golf.  Barring injury, you can't have a bad day of skiing.
Export to Wiki
#8
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 9:23pm
  • Joined: February 2002
  • Location: Monument,CO
  • Post Count: 844
They both share the same rhythm. Intense concentration for a short while followed by relaxing chat with friends. Repeat.
Export to Wiki
#9
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 9:32pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Chicago
  • Post Count: 41
 I think there are many reason why there seems to be such an overlap between the two sports.  A couple have been noted above so I apologize up front for repeating them.
1)  Both are individual sports, in skiing it is you against the mountain, in golf it is you against the course (unless you are playing match play).
2)  Both have the element of camaraderie with your friends whether it is after a day on the slopes or after a round with your friends.
3)  Both have a very strong generational aspect to them.  In both sports you are generally introduced to the sport by your family.  My father introduced me to golf when I was seven and I cherish the times growing up and being out with him on the golf course.  I loved 2008 Father's Day, when I was able to take my Dad (now in his sixties) up to Whistling Straits and golf with him.  I have introduced my 3 sons to golf and,  along with my wife, have also introduced them to skiing.  The times spent alone with my sons on the course, on the chairlift, or skiing down a run we have all to ourselves are the best parts of either sport.
4)  Both are sports where it is almost always better to have started at a young age.
5)  Both are sports where there are really very few good performers.
6)  Both can be expensive habits, whether it is greens fees, or lift tickets.  You can also constantly invest in "new technology" in both sports in the hopes of having it cover up operator errors.
7)  Both allow you to get the competitive juices flowing later in life, tough to do that in other sports, too much physical decay to be as competitive in basketball in my forties as I was in my teens and twenties.
8)  Both provide a sense of euphoria when you have accomplished something, I remember my first double black I skied without falling and how good that felt.  The feeling you get when you pure, I mean really pure a golf shot, I have described as about the best feeling in the entire world.
Export to Wiki
#10
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 11:08pm
  • Joined: September 2008
  • Post Count: 3
Hi,

I'm into motorsport, circuit racing and rallies.

A lot of people that I race with are into skiing.

For me they are very similar, although also very difficult. Yes, there is the obvious adrenaline rush similarity, but there is much more. Both are very technically challenging. The main similarities are about technique, ie clean crisp lines, holding it all together under the most difficult conditions. There are also surprising similarities between race driving and ski racing, eg lines, apexes, keeping momentum, importance of equipment setup etc but the most obvious similarity is how hard you can push it without killing yourself.

Motor racing is much more expensive!

When I meet new people and we chat, and they find out my two passions in life are skiing and motorsport they assume I must be an adrenaline junkie. Strangely enough that is not true. For me it is more the mental challenge of me against the course / slope as fast and smooth as I can.

Both disciplines have the ability to focus your mind and make you feel more alive than you have ever been before. Driving a rally stage on a windy wet road at 120mph with massive trees, rocks and drop offs on either side of the road tends to focus your mind in a similar way to a double black chute with massive rocks everywhere. In both you have to nail it or you die. Interestingly in both, I don't have the fear or adrenaline rush at the time, just enjoyment!

Given the choice, if I had to give one away, I would keep skiing. I love the whole being at one with nature experience that skiing brings!

Any other sports that cross over??

Cheers

Robbo
Export to Wiki
#11
Rating: 0
10/30/09 at 11:57pm
  • Joined: October 2006
  • Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
  • Post Count: 89
I made a career out of golf,  Ive been a golf professional for the past 7 years now,  I love it.  you say golf is more low key but if you take it serious, as myself I find it quite interesting and fun.  Its always a challenge and something new comes up every round you play.  golf when your playing good you get into a groove your not missing shot's and are scoring low and often,  kind of like skiing when your ripping hard you feel good, and just go with it.
Export to Wiki
#12
Rating: 0
10/31/09 at 6:57am
  • Joined: September 2003
  • Location: McMurray,Pa.
  • Post Count: 1,834
In both sports you're endeavoring to execute as well as you can ; the perfect shot, the great run through the bumps the trees what have you. Different sensations, for me equally enjoyable and equally elusive and challenging . I 've never been bored skiing or golfing.

Export to Wiki
#13
Rating: 0
10/31/09 at 7:24am
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Post Count: 3
I love golf! I am a girl, so skiing and golf are not the typical two favorite sports of a woman. I like them because they are individually paced. You are able to challenge yourself at your own tempo, and continuously improve. I have goals for myself in skiing- a 360 this year, and golf- a birdie. The typical "old man with a beer belly" golfer is not the only type of golfer anymore! :)
Export to Wiki
#14
Rating: 0
10/31/09 at 1:31pm
  • Joined: March 2005
  • Post Count: 128
The common denominator between Skiing and Golf is it only takes 1 to compete, you aganst the mountain or you aganst the course. As your free time to enjoy sports shrinks, along with your peers, you find more things to enjoy solo, since scheduling the same time for all on a team sport can be a issue. Although it always adds a dimension to have friends with you for  these 2 activities, they also can be played solo with a challange.
Export to Wiki
#15
Rating: 0
10/31/09 at 2:12pm
  • Joined: September 2006
  • Location: Garden of Eden
  • Post Count: 1,593
"Golf is not a game of perfect" & neither is skiing.  I began skiing at a very young age, but didn't hit a golf ball till I was 40.  Both sports have a very technical side to them, & that's probably what attracted me to golf.  It wasn't as easy as it looked.  Growing up, golf was probably the last thing I ever pictured myself doing.  I did all the other activities you mentioned, & golf seemed nothing like them.  After about 3 seasons of golf, I thought I was getting good (yeah, right)!  I learned that for me, it would be better to quit than take it seriously.  So now I try not to take it too seriously, & understand my limitations for having started so late.  I find myself slowly getting better, but in small stages & not huge leaps like I did the first few years.  Similar to skiing, improvement comes more incrementally as your handicap drops.

Maybe it's because I began later in life, but I've done a lot of "Action Sports", & golf is not, but probably the most difficult & challenging one.  I find the intrinsic rewards to be just as high, & the mental exhaustion even higher.

Don't knock it, till you try it .

JF

"Apparently, a person who dives headfirst down an icy cliff wearing a spandex jumpsuit is supposed to celebrate with a nice glass of tea."

David Fehrety on Bode Millers 60 minutes interview

Export to Wiki
#16
Rating: 0
11/1/09 at 5:07am
  • Joined: July 2002
  • Location: NOVA
  • Post Count: 2,012

I’ve done both since I was a boy.  About three decades ago when I was a single young man I’d get in as many as 25 rounds of golf and 50 ski days per year.  At the recreational level both are social, lifetime outdoor sports that require you to scramble to keep them affordable.  Golf can be very intense if you get into shooting low scores.  There is a reason hyper competitive types like Michael Jordan get hooked on golf. For me skiing was always more of a joyful, liberating immersion in nature. As I’ve gotten older I don’t have enough free time for both.  Skiing has taken precedent.  Golf courses are pretty, mountain tops are awesome.  When I retire in a few years I’ll be curious to see if I could match or exceed the old 25 rounds and 50 ski days routine

Fun old thread related to this topic:

http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/5921/if-your-skiing-were-golf



Edited by Jamesj - 11/1/09 at 5:18am
Export to Wiki
#17
Rating: 0
11/2/09 at 9:27am
  • Joined: December 2006
  • Location: Dallas, TX
  • Post Count: 139
I've never been into golf.  <shrug>  For me, summer months are filled mostly with motorsports (both car and motorcycle) and cycling (road, not mountain.)  I'm somewhat of an adrenaline junkie, but also a bigtime speed junkie.

For those who like golf - do you like bowling?  They're in different settings, but they strike me as being similar sorts of skill sets.  (The precision of hand/arm position/movement, reading the terrain/lane, excitement of a strike/birdie, etc.)
Export to Wiki
#18
Rating: 0
11/2/09 at 9:54am
  • Joined: January 2007
  • Location: Morrison, CO
  • Post Count: 481
Well, we do have this chain of ski and golf stores in Colorado, suggesting that skiers and golfers overlap somewhat, but we also have a ski and patio chain, suggesting that skiers and patio loungers overlap. I am neither a golfer nor a patio lounger, but those two stores are my usual places to get ski stuff.

If you can't ski, do tricks!

Export to Wiki
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread