ptspin
by Shayne Narro
Does the baseball swing affect
the golf swing or vice versa?
Let
Them
Play
Both!
26
From a biomechanics standpoint,
the baseball swing and golf swing are
relatively the same because there are the
similar motions in each swing, but as far as
one affecting each other, this is untrue. If
an athlete was to play golf in the offseason
versus another athlete just laying around
playing video games and watching tv, the
player who plays golf would have more
hand eye coordination and be better
prepared for the baseball season.
As far as during the season, I ran into
a University of South Alabama baseball
player while I was playing the university
course while I was going to school in Baton
Rouge. He was hitting the ball further
than me and all my friends and said that
he played golf
1-2 times a week
and he said it has
never affected him
in any way.
M i ch a e l
Jordan can be
used as a prime
example of an
elite athlete who
played
baseball
at a professional
level and kept up
his golf game. The
only reason he
could never shoot
consistently under
par is because
he did not have
the time to put into working on his short
game like the rest of the pros today. He is
known to be one of the best competitors
in celebrity golf outings.
“Flexibility is key in both sports,” says
Ponchatoula Therapy’s Scott Higgs, MPT.
“It is essential that the glutes, hips, rotator
cuff, spine and other eccentric muscles are
working together at the same time. The
transfer of weight from one side of the
body to the other can cause vicious forces
to the opposite side of the body, causing
asymmetry.”
A good exercise that can be utilized is
swinging the club from the opposite side
to strengthen the side of your body that
may not be used as much. Air swinging
the club every time you practice about
50 times from the opposite side will help
develop muscles and not cause one side of
the body to be overpowering.
There are also similarities in the sports
that can help a player learn each game,
Higgs said. If a right-handed baseball
player comes out to the golf course and
hits the traditional slice because they are
hitting the inside of the ball, golfers will
often use terms such as, “Try to hit the ball
to left field” to try to relate to hitting the
ball more left.
There is a lot that can be learned in
playing both sports, and an athlete only
gets more coordinated and understands
the motions of a swing by swinging more,
whether it is a golf club or a baseball bat.
So there you have it. Play both.