I'm a much better golfer than a skater these days. I was kind of strange in that I got good as a young kid so when I went back to it as an adult I was given a 7 handicap which I've lowered quite a bit in the last 6 years. I feel like people's opinion of golf depends where you're from. In the UK it is really easy to get a yearly membership for £400-£500 a year and you can play every day so it's actually cheaper than joining a gym. If you have good crew it can be a great chance to spend 3-4 hours with friends without heading to a bar. There is some bullshit in golf but some of it is similar to skating in that you don't have as much mixing now and the newer folk don't get shown what's up by the older heads and therefore poor behavior goes unchecked. A lot of it is pretty simple, if you are slow fourball let the two ball behind play through, try to be quiet when others are playing, don't wear anything too ridiculous. I was really fortunate as a kid people showed me what was up without being condescending.
In the UK it's definitely a sport, most people play by the rules and competitions are common with people wanting to improve. Nearly all the clubs have competitions on the weekend so if you want to play sat/sun morning you almost have to join them. It America it seems like more of a leisure activity, people go out in carts, drink beer and sometimes even listen to music. Not really my thing, I want to get a walk and only like drinking at night. So I'll usually play 8-10 competitions a year and the rest of the time I'm playing with friends usually gambling £10-£30 on the outcome, lots of shit talking and laughs.
It terms of similarities to skating...one thing I know is that with both sometimes you just don't have it and no matter what you do nothing is gonna work so there is a similar frustration there. The battle to keep your mind quiet is similar, like before a dangerous trick you're trying to visualize a good outcome and not let the bad creep in...but it's fucking hard not to! Same thing in golf just trying to keep the thought of bad shot out of your mind.
Another similarity is that you learn and perfect your basics and then try to apply them to the environment. So you have your flatground kickflip and 7 iron off the mat at the range. Then you try to take that kickflip to a 3 stair adjusting for variables like the slope of the run-up and rougher ground. Same with the 7 iron, the ball is a little above your feet so it gonna draw and the wind is into you so it will go a little shorter. In both once you get good you can make these adjustments super quick without thought.
Topic: Golf (Read 1142 times)