The Health Benefits of Golfing

There’s no doubt that golf is one of the most fun and technically skilled sports out there, but is it also good for you? Anyone who’s followed John Daly’s career might think fitness isn’t needed for golf, but he’s an exception, not a rule. In fact, as the rest of the PGA pro crowd will show you, golfing is great for your health and has a surprising number of benefits—even if you’re just practicing at home with your golf swing aids or golf swing analyzer.

Let’s take a look at just some of the ways playing golf is good for your health.

It Gets You Out, About, and Active

If you’re not spending your whole time in the golf cart, the simple act of getting out and playing a round will do wonders for your health. The average PGA professional walks over 310 miles per year, which is more than tennis and soccer players cover in the same time, and this averages out to almost a mile a day. That’s not to mention all the muscles you’re using (and strengthening) every time you swing, either.

It’s well known that consistently doing moderate physical exercise—like golf—is the key to long-term health. It helps your heart, blood pressure, pulmonary system, and muscles stay at their best as you age, and it helps you maintain a healthy weight, too.

It Gives You the Drive to Succeed

In many other sports, fitness comes as a kind of side effect of every session of practice and play. The more you enjoy the sport, the more you get fit. As we just mentioned, golf definitely does that for you, but it also gets you fit in another way: by encouraging you to get better through easily measured progress.

When you have dozens of tools to track your stats, every day becomes an exciting personal challenge in golf. How can I improve my handicap? How can I hit the ball a little farther? How can I up my smash factor?

These challenges drive you to get fitter. They make you want to do exercises to improve your golf swing. They encourage you to hit the running track or start a golf strength and conditioning program, so you can swing better, hit harder, and last longer on the course. In doing so, they also permanently instill wonderful fitness discipline and training habits that you’ll keep for life, even when you’re not golfing.

It Sharpens Your Mind

Let’s not forget your brain’s role in golf, either, which is maybe one of the most mentally demanding sports you can play. No matter where you’re teeing off, every hit requires intense concentration, the ability to pay attention, deep technical knowledge of your swing and how to perfect it, and the capacity to store and retrieve course layouts, pin approaches, and club data in your memory.

In other words, it’s giving your brain a thorough workout, all the time. You have to learn the language of golf and, as many experts know, this has tremendous positive effects on brain development, function, and delaying the onset of conditions like Alzheimer’s.

It’s About Having Fun and Enjoying the Community

Golf is a highly social game, even when you’re playing alone. At the range, you’re facing off against friends and regulars and joining in with a community of golf devotees. At the course, you’ve got a club atmosphere where even in the heat of competition you come together, make lifelong friends, and have a lot of fun. Just try to start up the golf simulator at home without all of your family and friends wanting their turn!

The impact this has on your health can’t be overstated. Isolation and loneliness have far-reaching and profound negative effects on your health, increasing your risk of dementia, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and a compromised immune system. Some researchers have even suggested that loneliness is just as bad for your health as 15 cigarettes a day!

Anything you can do to increase social interaction helps—and like we just said: You can’t get much more social than golf. You don’t need to be competitive or even be good at it. If you’re out there having a laugh and a hit with friends, golf will make you live longer.

The Game That Loves You Back

When it comes to your health, if you love golf, it’ll love you right back. Keep that love strong with our 4K, Ultra HD FSX golf simulator, backed by our range of GC2 and GCQuad world-class launch monitors. With an almost endless amount of training options and precise performance feedback, as well as stunningly rendered courses from across the world, you can get all the benefits of this wonderful sport from the comfort of your home.

Contact us online or call us today at (858) 880-0179 to find out more!