How Does Golf Compare To Other Sports For Pressure?

When you first saw this title you probably thought, Well every sport has pressure, golf is not different.  But maybe it is.  I was reading an article recently and it started me to thinking about pressure and the different aspects of it.  Especially as it relatets to golfers.The article was called “Pressure of the Game” and it was an interesting read.  The first point that the article made was about Tom Watson’s run at the British Open title this summer at age 59 and how that would not be possible in other sports.  The article went on to say that golf not only does not have the physical contact and wear and tear of other sports,  but also that the this was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

First, the lack of the physical contact and wear and tear lets you compete longer in the game of golf.  Hence, an advantage.  But without the physical contact or the speed and movement of other sports, there is no way to release the adrenaline that comes with professional sports.  And this can be a disadvantage for golfers.  I’ve heard discussions of how caddies have saved pro golfes by having them play one less club  because they knew that the adrenaline would have them pumped up.

So does golf actually have more pressure than other professional sports you might ask?  Well I don’t really think that pro golfers would tell you that there is more pressure in golf than in other professional sports.  But from my own personal experience, I think that pressure affects them in other ways.

First there is that physical aspect we talked about earlier.  I know that I’ve had rounds of golf where I was just really struggling and I wanted to just lash out, hit something, release some steam etc.  But there is no way to do that in the sport itself.   So golfers have to manage that pressure and/or adrenaline in different ways.

Second, there is pressure in all professional sports for the individual to perform.  And in some cases there is all the focus on an individual for a moment, like a free throw in basketball or a field goal attempt in football.  But in golf, if you miss that putt with the whole world watching, there isn’t someone to “pick up the pace” or to help you get back in the game like in other sports.  You have to “pick it up” all by yourself.  So again, not necessarily worse pressure, just applied in different ways.

So my response to the question in the title of this post is this:  The pressure is there just as in other sports, not worse or more of it, just a little different in how it affects us, the golfers.  Good golfing out there.