Benefits of Playing Golf

Golf Can Help You Change Your Mindset and Stay Fit

By guest blogger Jordan Fuller jordan@golfinfluence.com

What is the single, biggest misconception about golf? For most, it is the reputation of golf itself as a sport. Many people, even golfers, doubt about the health benefits, which essentially should be the key quality of any sports. Many people believe that the health benefit of golf comes only from the walking activities between holes. Yet, is that truly the case?

Actually, there are many more health benefits from golf as an activity. Not only for your body, but also in improving your mental state. Below we will debunk the myths and show you the facts about the health benefit of golfs. Let us begin with the mind and mental aspects.

Golf Can Teach You How To Stay Focused

It is a well-known fact that in this modern life, we lose focus more easily, which is often known as the shortened attention span. The good news is, golf as a game demands a lot of focus, which in turn, will teach you to stay focused in your day to day activities.

To get the most of this benefit, the best thing you can do is improving your ability to focus on the course itself. The best way is to set small goals each round, that are both realistic and challenging enough. Break the course to groups of three holes, and set a small goal for each group. We often get dismayed when making a poor score, considering the whole round is ruined by it. By breaking the course, if you make any bad score, your mindset is changed that it only hurts that sole group of three holes, and you can keep your focus for the next.

Also, develop a standard pre-shot routine that calms you and helps you focus. Look at how Tour players are obsessive with their routines, and sometimes will repeat the routine when they are distracted.

Golf Can Help You Stay Fit Easily

Not only golf demands a lot of focus during the rounds, but it also demands your fitness. Thankfully, the game of golf itself provides a lot of ways to stay fit without much effort.

First, we all know a game of golf involves a lot of walking. If you really want to get the most of it, avoid golf carts and walk as much as possible. It is a great way to build stamina.

Second, carrying your own clubs helps you build strong bones and muscles. Doing these two can also get rid of excess body fat, helping you stay fit and lean.

To make the most of the fitness benefits, here are some things you can do:

• Drink a lot of water

Drinking more water not only regulates your body temperature and improving overall functions. It also controls your appetite, thus helping you lose weight. Specific for your golf performance, it also improves muscle functions for more powerful swings.

• Track your calories

There are a lot of smartphone apps that can help you track what you eat and drink. Some can even track your steps during a golf round. By tracking your calories, you can set realistic goals to help you stay motivated.

Golf Has Great Health Benefits

So, what are the health benefits of golf? Let's list a few:

• Cardiovascular Health

A game of golf is a great way to let your heart pumping healthily. As mentioned, walking and carrying your bag, as well as swinging the clubs increase your heart rate and blood flow. On average, during an 18-hole round, a golfer can have an average heart rate of 100 BPM for two to five hours.

• Weight Loss

Studies suggested that a male golfer burns roughly 2,500 kilocalories during an 18-hole round. Female players? Around 1,500 kilocalories. A round of golf is definitely more entertaining than spending those hours on a treadmill machine or stationary bike.

• Sleep Better, Less Stress

The pleasure of walking in fresh air surrounded by beautiful landscape can help you sleep better at night. The social aspect of golf can also help with this fact, releasing endorphin to enhance your mood levels.

• Live Longer

This is the best part. Studies suggested that golfers have 40% lower death rate, or around a 5-year increase in life expectancy. Want to live longer and healthier? Play golf!

End Words

Golf is indeed a game with many health benefits for your body and soul. The best part is, golf is arguably more entertaining than any other sports, and you can get all the health benefits without much effort.

Golf Positive! Live Positive!

Getting Over Life's Obstacles

An excerpt from Golf Positive Live Positive! by Debbie O'Connell

Getting over or through obstacles in life requires focusing on the target and what’s possible with a positive attitude. I once had the opportunity to meet an extraordinary person who has had to overcome tremendous obstacles from birth. Tatyana McFadden was born with a disease called spina bifida, which is a hole in the spine. Tatyana is paralyzed from the waist down. She spent the first six-and-a-half years of her life in an orphanage in Russia, without access to a wheelchair. Tatyana had some big obstacles. She did not see it that way. She wanted to keep up with the other children and play, so she figured out a way. Tatyana learned to walk on her hands. She did not accept a limiting belief that she could not play because she could not walk. When there is a will, there is a way, and Tatyana found a way.

Tatyana was adopted in 1994 by an American woman, Deborah McFadden, who was then the commissioner of disabilities for what is now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Although Tatyana had an exciting new life and more opportunities, her health got worse. Her family was even told that she might only live a couple more years. To gain strength with the hopes of improving her health, Deborah enrolled Tatyana in various sports programs, including wheelchair basketball, swimming, ice hockey, and scuba diving. She found her passion—wheelchair racing. Her health improved drastically, and she became an incredibly strong world-class athlete. Tatyana always rose higher than any challenge that life presented her.

She made her debut in the 2004 Paralympics when she was just fifteen years old; she was the youngest person on the US Team. Tatyana won two medals in 2004. In 2008, she brought home four medals. In 2012, she added another four medals to her collection, three of which were gold. At the 2013 World Championships, she became the first athlete in history to win six gold medals at the same competition. Tatyana brought home four more gold and two silver medals from the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Always up for a challenge, Tatyana joined the professional marathon circuit. She has won the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York marathons. She is the first person, able bodied or disabled, to win the grand slam—four major world marathons in the same year. In 2016 she completed her fourth straight Grand Slam!  She also competes in the winter Paralympics in cross-country skiing, winning a silver medal in 2014.

Tatyana’s drive is inspiring. Her vision of the world is always about what is possible. I love the quote that reads, “Nothing is impossible…the word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” Tatyana McFadden understands the challenge in front of her and then finds a way to rise above it.

Sometimes your obstacle is bumper-to-bumper traffic and the only way to get to your destination is to go through it. Instead of thinking about the traffic and getting frustrated, focus on what you can do with that time. Whom can you call? What appointment can you make? Can you record some notes about a project or a goal you’re working on? Think about your best golf game and all of the awesome shots you have played. Make the most of your time. After all, time is precious. Use it wisely.

Make your golf game and life even better by reading Golf Positive! Live Positive!

Blind Golfer will Improve your Game

What can a blind golfer teach you about your golf game? A key component to success!

The golf swing is more about rhythm, tempo, and timing than it is about having a stick and smacking a ball. The approach of smacking the ball makes it challenging to be consistent. A more effective strategy is to develop a consistent movement pattern rather than relying on hand-eye coordination. Blind people play golf, which proves that you don’t have to see the ball to make contact. Jake Olson is a blind golfer who dreams of playing on the PGA Tour.

Let me tell you about Jake. He was born with a rare form of eye cancer called retinoblastoma. Before he was a year old, he had lost his left eye to cancer. He fought the disease for twelve years, going through chemotherapy each time it returned. But his doctors ultimately had to take out his right eye. Jake became completely blind at twelve years old.

Before he lost his sight, he played golf and football. After he went blind, Jake wanted to play football so badly that he asked himself what position he could play that wouldn’t require him to see. Remember, in Chapter 1, when we talked about asking quality questions? Jake found the answer—he could be a long snapper. When he first started, he was not very good at all. The coach put him on the team but thought there was no way Jake could play. Jake then asked the coach what he could do to improve. Jake didn’t lament about what he could no longer do. He listened to his coach and worked so hard he became a starter.

“Brokenness doesn’t exist in the body. It exists in the mind, body, and spirit. Mine remains whole!” Jake said.

As for golf, his goal is to be the first blind golfer on the PGA Tour. He says, “Since I’ve become blind, I see better than ever what my true potential can be.” Jake is the author of the book Open Your Eyes: 10 Uncommon Lessons to Discover a Happier Life. We can learn so much from this courageous young man.

Jake is able to play golf because the golf ball is not moving, so it doesn’t require hand-eye coordination. Playing well does require him to trust his golf swing and create a repeatable move. As I watched his swing, I noticed how he used his big muscles, making it easy to be consistent. He used his upper back and shoulders in his backswing, and he used his legs, glutes, and core at the top of his swing all the way to the finish. Jake has a consistent swing.

Practice chipping with your eyes closed. Move your upper back and shoulders in harmony and allow your club to swing like a pendulum back and through. The clubhead will swing through the ball and make solid contact, if you let it. If you struggle to make contact, you are relying too much on hand-eye coordination to hit the golf ball. Keep practicing! Focus on how your body and the club feels instead of ball and trying to hit it. Learn from Jake and improve your game!

An excerpt from the book Golf Postive! Live Positive! by Debbie O'Connell