Golf for tennis players ...

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SteveT

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When I switched over from tennis to golf, I noticed several parallels for each game, with the tennis serve and stroking.

As a righty in golf and tennis, I noticed that the right hand was a somewhat forehand tennis stroke for both, but the left arm was a left-handed backhand tennis stroke. I practiced a left-handed tennis stroke hitting against a wall to essentially strengthen and coordinate my left arm for golf.

I saw the tennis serve as a golf swing, but displaced by 180º ... at your feet for golf and above your head for tennis. The sequencing of the kinetic chain had similarities.

One hangover from tennis is that I hated riding a golf cart because it made me too lethargic .. and I even had to sprint to the ball to wake up. Of course the interminable waiting and delays on the golf course was frustrating. I think I enjoyed solo golf more than social golf because I could hit more balls. I knew how to walk.. it was hitting balls I needed improvement. Walking behind one ball and trying to learn the golfswing was stupid. Now I can walk behind one ball and compete or participate socially.

Here are two pages from www.usta.com with a kinetic commentary of Nadal's and Sharapova's tennis serve. Note the similarities to terminology for golf.

Nadal: Dartfish - Performance Analysis

Sharapova: Dartfish - Performance Analysis

Enjoy ....:cool:
 
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Bigwill

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Cool. Thanks. I heard Sean Fister say that there has been much more research into power development in other sports than golf (he was specifically talking about track & field, but I've found it to be true of other sports).

You'll hear golfers on forums talk about the kinetic chain/kinetic linking like it's some new voodoo science, when the research on it has been around for years in other sports. I still believe that golfers would do well to research power development in other swinging or throwing sports, although golf seems to be catching on and catching up.
 
EdStraker

EdStraker

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Gideon Ariel was doing research in Track & Field and Tennis back in the 70s. I saw a breakdown of John Newcombe's service motion where they would change the angle of various body parts on the CRT and show the effect it would have on the power of the serve.

Equipment changes happened sooner in tennis also. The Prince tennis racket (oversized head was introduced in 1976 and graphite tennis rackets started becoming a common occurrence in the late 70s.
 
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SteveT

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Tennis tanked and golf took off in the 1970s. Why? Because guys who tried tennis were non-athletic and couldn't run nor sprint nor lunge nor jump as is required in singles tennis. Those who persisted just played stationary doubles, or as I called it "half-court diagonal singles". They just stood there and took turns serving and stroking. Not me ..!!!!

These pathetic shmucks hurt themselves playing tennis ... their feet, ankles, knees, hips, back shoulders, elbows, wrists ... all messed up because they didn't condition themselves for tennis through training and practice. (I was a college ex-basketball player.) They abandoned tennis by the millions according to the USTA and tennis collapsed in the 1980s. Local governments plastered tennis courts in public parks thinking this would gain votes, but it was mistimed as usual..!!!

Where did these duffers go?? The golf courses and they became hackers!!! The USGA and PGA were overwhelmed with the millions of ex-tennis players who started to show up at tournaments and golf courses ... riding carts and pretending they knew how to swing a golf club .. I mean, there has got to be a swing in Ping.

In effect, golf was the sport of last resort for these fun-seekers and it wasn't confrontational like tennis ... you could always compliment your golfing buddy with "great shot" ... and did golf ever take off ..!!!

Now we are left with the residue of these ex-tennis golfers who are the Baby Boomer cohort and aging badly ... chronic diseases, out of shape, blown bellies, bad backs, struggling to survive with all their money ..!!!!

No wonder the teaching of golf is so ... problematic ... you are dealing with childish minds in adult bodies that are physical wrecks ... but they keep on truckin' along ... FORE ... :eek:
 
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SteveT

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When I was transitioning from tennis to golf, sometimes I would play tennis in the morning and golf immediately after that in the late afternoon ... wotta mess. :mad:

I was always topping the golf ball because I was unflexing my knees as I would going into a tennis stroke. I tried to keep my body level, but my tennis knees just kept on elevating my golf stroke ... soooo ... I just drove my bent knees towards the ground and that did it ... unfortunately, that was tantamount to a negative 'parametric' acceleration of which I was not cognizant ... lol.

I think I've washed tennis out of my old body now ...!!!! :rolleyes:
 
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ricklmartin

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Played tennis in the late '70s and early 80s then quit to play golf from mid 80s-to the present. Stopped playing tennis because of the difficulty finding hitting partners. In golf, you never have to worry about that. Besides, I felt that I plateaued in the game of tennis and golf was a new challenge. Have golfed 20+ yrs all over the world while my Prince Pros sat in the garage dry-rotting.

Now fast forward to 2011 and I move into a beautiful community with six hard tru courts and a few tennis players looking for partners. I took up the game again and play 2-3 times a week while continuing to golf 2-3 weeks here in FLA.

I'm concerned that playing the two games will hurt my performance in both of them - in tennis my backswing (forehand) has a little loop to hit which translates to a "hitch" in golf (not a pretty thing to add to the golfswing, imo). Bad habits w/ head movement on weight transference also could become a problem (you get away with it in tennis).

Anyone have any opinion on whether playing golf and tennis screws up your golf game?

I'd hate to give up either right now.
 
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LENNON

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Playing golf didn't effect my tennis. But my golf swing tended to get in/to/out which apparently was due to my tennis stroke.
 
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Blair

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Golf is good option for the tennis player, these post are quite right that mention
the things related to the tennis and golf.
 
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