Golf and football are two entirely different sports. At first glance, it seems like both sports have nothing in common. Each of them requires completely different equipment, attire, and strategies. However, besides originating in Britain and being practiced outdoors, what you may be surprised to learn is that they have several things in common when it comes to transferable skills. This, in addition to the enjoyment that golf offers, is why many professional footballers like to play golf whenever they’re not at the pitch. Read this article to find out the 4 ways that playing golf can help advance your football career.
- Concentration and Composure
Concentration and composure are two of the fundamental transferable skills that football and golf require. Both of the sports are highly competitive and include similar game-winning features. For instance, while you can play last-minute penalties in football, golf has its short-distance winning putts. In both cases, the players must stay calm, composed, and focused. They are also required to make crucial decisions on the spot. Even though footballers practice golf for leisure rather than taking it as a competitive or professional endeavor, being a professional athlete gives them a constant drive to win no matter which game they’re playing. This means that even if golf is an individual activity, it offers footballers the opportunity to train their minds to function better during numerous footballing situations, especially one-on-one ones like set-pieces.
- Accuracy and Visualization
Not only does golf promote concentration, focus, and composure, but it also teaches accuracy. Accuracy is a very important aspect of football. You can’t gracefully and flawlessly shoot the ball to your teammates or at the back of the net if you’re not accurate. Practicing accuracy in a different setting can help reinforce the skill. Creative thinking and visualization are also vital transferable skills required by football and golf; you need to be able to foresee how far your shot will go. Did you know that there are ball flight laws in golf? If you haven’t, you should browse the web for new ball flight laws explained to know why each ball is hit a particular way. Understanding the mechanism and techniques behind golf shots and practicing visualization off the pitch will undoubtedly make you a better football player.
- Mental Workout
The golf course offers a quieter and more relaxing place to practice skills like hand-eye coordination and the ability to determine where your ball landed. Being quick-witted and having quick responses are vital when you’re playing football. Golf is a relatively active activity that keeps your circulation going. It pumps more blood to your brain, minus the possible adrenaline rush. This means that it can help you strengthen your muscle memory and make a careful, calculated decision. Navigating a golf course also improves your sense of depth and distance, which are also very important aspects of football.
- Active Rest
Active rest has been growing more and more popular over the past few years. It is recommended by sports scientists all over the world as it can help athletes reap the most benefits out of their workouts. Active recovery or rest is a workout that you can perform with less power, lower intensity, or decreased resistance than your habitual workout. Active rest is important because it helps reduce muscle soreness and speed up the process in which the muscles are rebuilt. For instance, if you’ve been working out for 5 days, you will need an active rest workout. This will help increase the flow of blood without putting additional strain on your joints and muscles, which would help your muscles recover. Active rest is an important component of our general fitness program.
It is vital that we balance between muscle recovery while keeping regular workouts a habit, and our habitual high-intensity interval training. We are less likely to get back on track when we’ve had a lazy weekend. However, active rest helps maintain the momentum. Practicing active recovery on our rest days makes us more likely to stick to our regular workouts. Golf makes for an amazing active rest activity. It is both enjoyable and allows footballers to relieve muscle soreness while staying active.
While it may seem that golf and football are completely unrelated at first glance, both sports have a common set of transferable skills. Spending time on the golf course can help you improve your skills on the football pitch. Not only does golf offer the advantage of active recovery or rest sessions, but it can also help you work on staying composed and focused. It can also help you improve your accuracy, coordination, and visualization. Golf serves as an amazing mental and physical workout, which is why numerous professional footballers practice it in their downtime.