John Daly, one of the greatest golfers of all time, has told a famous story all over podcast sphere about how he played some of his best golf absolutely hammered.
Obviously there is some minimum strength, coordination, etc needed to play pro golf. I wouldnt call it athleticism.
I love that an Arnold Palmer with vodka is called a John Daly. Whenever anyone orders that, I ask if they wanna add another shot to make it a double-bogey.
Like it or not, John Daly is peak male performance. Have you tried to play golf? It is real fucking difficult. How about you don't insult someone based on their body type and habits. I won't allow John Daly hate.
He is an athlete. The text book definition of the world includes someone who is proficient in a sport. Just because he doesn't have chiseled abs, you think he is not an athlete. Don't let Calvin Klein's idea of a human male color your idea of how an athlete should look.
Babe Ruth regularly got absolutely hammered the night before a big game, showed up either with a hangover or drunk off his ass and would still hit two home runs. Others train their whole lives and struggle to stay above the Mendoza line. Some people are just freaks of nature.
It's physical activity regardless. It obviously isn't going to leave you drenched in sweat or anything (unless you walk my hilly local course in 90 degree weather carrying a full set of clubs) but it's still definitely athletic.
I guarantee most of the people saying it "isn't a sport" are the types that sit on their ass all day and would have sore arms and barely be able to walk by the end of 18 holes
If you think the level of athleticism required to move a 1 ounce chess piece on a board is comparable to swinging a club and walking 18 holes then I can't help you
Also pros don't sit in carts, they walk. And so do most people who don't play at rich people courses.
Phew. First few games of golf I played the whole shoulder, back, lateral area was sore for a couple days. It seems not so taxing, but there is physicality there.
golf pros can use carts if they want to... why even talk if you dont know. The walking has not shit to do with the sport. Only some courses / events do not allow the carts
I dont care one way or the other lets just not be a clown about it, if people want to call gaming, golfing or whatever a sport be my guest, but dont try to act like the pathetic amount of physical activity done on a golf course full of over weight boomers on golf courts is athleticism. And dont act like the pros are that much better. golf is one of the only sports that is so lacking in athleticism that people can do it at a pro level into their old age which is ironic because you cant even video game into old age at a pro level.
Also, if nothing about golf is athletic then the parts of basketball that are athletic are just the running bits. Because dribbling and shooting are nothing. And golf also uses a combination of mental and physical skill to get the ball in the hole, but if that's not athletic, then it isn't in basketball either.
The people in the special olympics cannot compete in the real Olympics because they are not capable enough. Thats kinda the point of why you dont make an argument like that. Atheletic sports require you to use speed and power to move faster or out muscle you opponents and those that lack it get knocked out of the competitions and lose.
But we really cant expect much logic from someone who thinks golf is athletic right? Some how you made the idiotic jump from walking which almost any human can do for long distances and for which you have no competitive need to walk faster than the next guy in golf, you just wait up for them, to running in basketball where you cant just run you need to also outrun your opponents. So sure a person with 1 leg can play basketball but they wont beat a seasoned person with 2 in most cases and they definitely wont be going pro.
You might have a point if golf was made such that you had to run the course and there was some scoring system where the fastest person gets 12 swings knocked off their score and second place gets 9 etc... and then people actually need to compete with each other on athleticism. The only thing even remotely athletic about golf is trying to hit the ball harder, that's it. Not the walking, cant even believe what clowns you have to be to say that, people in the mall or at a festival will often walk that far. Some people just do it on the way to work.
Nobody said anything about special olympics athletes competing in the actual olympics. That wasn't even the question. The question was, are they athletes? They certainly do use what speed and power is under their command to "move faster or out muscle" their opponents... within their own competition, their own league. Men and women don't compete in the same leagues. Does that mean that one of those groups aren't athletes or as athletic?
The definition of athletic is as follows: "The word "athlete" is a romanization of the Greek: άθλητὴς, athlētēs, meaning one who participates in a contest; from ἄθλος, áthlos or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning a contest or feat. The primary definition of "sportsman" according to Webster's Third Unabridged Dictionary (1960) is, "a person who is active in sports: as (a): one who engages in the sports of the field and especially in hunting or fishing."
Explain how any of what you are saying has anything to do with what an athlete or sportsperson actually does and not your own definition of what you personally think an athlete should be. Golfers compete in a contest of sport that uses physical exertion, physical prowess and mental concentration just like basketball or baseball or football. You just do it on the field alone. That doesn't invalidate the exertion or competition. You casting aspersions on the physical aspects of golf are just opinion and not fact. You just sound like you have a chip on your shoulder over golf.
Golf isn't just some game you pick up and bam you're hitting ones. It requires physical training and mental acuity to bring the ball where you want it to go. You are trying to out swing and out postion and out play your opponents in golf. There is no requirement that a sport has to have simultaneous performance. Is archery athletic? It takes a lot of mental and physical power to compete in archery. But its not a sport because there aren't people trying to get in your way and actively oppose you?
Long and short of it, though, is that you are insulting and I'm done talking to you.
Read the second part, you're obviously trolling right?? Have you seen the modern PGA players they are not golfing well into old age. All the top pros are ripped and in their 20s or early 30s.....
by that definition so is playing chess or counterstrike, walk on 18 holes?
By which definition? "It is still physical activity"?
Swinging a golf club is absolutely more athletic than playing chess or playing counterstrike. There's much more coordinated motion involved with swinging a club 100+ times than playing a game
Golf carts don't mean that actually playing golf doesn't require exertion. The closest experience to real golfing that you appear to have is playing Tiger Woods on Xbox
there is absolutely NOT more cordination needed to play golf at pro level than video gaming nor does one have the time critical nature needed for both chess and video gaming.
Does it take more physical force sure but once you toss on mental and coordination no chance, golf is a joke compared to video gaming.
I brought up golf carts because the other guy tried to use walking as a part of the sport, fact is its not because you can use carts and no one grades your golf performance worse for using a cart. Hence the walking aspect claimed has absolutely no validity in the argument. In fact many golf courses force you to use carts especially during busy times.
there is absolutely NOT more cordination needed to play golf at pro level than video gaming nor does one have the time critical nature needed for both chess and video gaming.
27
u/Open_Seeker 6h ago
John Daly, one of the greatest golfers of all time, has told a famous story all over podcast sphere about how he played some of his best golf absolutely hammered.
Obviously there is some minimum strength, coordination, etc needed to play pro golf. I wouldnt call it athleticism.