Golf and Baseball

[Rick Shefchik]

If he likes them both, he should play both. Becoming a star in one or the other is not as important as the experience of playing a game you love.

[Thomas McQuillan]

In baseball, in general, the hitter wants the ''bottom'' of his swing to occur before the ball, thus providing lift. I think this is why hitting instructors emphasize the ''squash the bug'' thing. Personally, I think they are mistaken in this teaching. There have been plenty of great hitters in baseball who hit off their front axis,  Clemente and Aaron being two.

We could discuss this for hours but Andy makes some very good points about the weight transfer but I will remind everyone that the evolution of the golf swing from the "reverse C" to the modern swing has also happened in baseball.  Watch the old swings of DiMaggio, Ruth, Gehrig, and you see swing with long front strides, weight moving forward as the swing starts, the modern baseball swing has many batters taking very little forward stride.

In both cases, the modern versions of the swings take into account the leverage of the hips, torso and arm extension through the swing much differently then the "olden days".

I will answer the original question this way, your son should not drop either sport, he should be encouraged to play as many different sports and activities as possible.  As for the impact that one swing has on the other sport, if he can learn the technical reasons why each swing performs the way it does, then he will be able to apply teaching to improve each swing ... knowledge is very dangerous and beneficial.

Is that Bubba Watson's sexy pink driver I see in the foreground of Tigers picture?

[Jason Topp]

Dan,
. . .

Sam Byrd did.

Bob

His protoge Jimmy Ballard bases his teaching on the idea that both swings are identical.  Your son might benefit from reading Ballard's book which you can get used from one of the big web sites.  I think most of Ballard's teachings (with the exception of the backswing shift of the head to the right which he suggests to combat a reverse weight shift and I think is misunderstood as a sway) form the basis for most modern instruction.

[jeffwarne]

My question is – should he keep working hard to try and master both swings or should he consider giving up one of the sports.  Is there anyone that has been able to play golf and baseball successfully at the same time?  Any advice would be appreciated.

If forced to choose, stick with baseball as the primary, golf as the secondary...unless there is some compelling factor to reverse course.

The value of playing a team sport (baseball) at the high school level is huge from a personal development standpoint. Also, the cool factor of baseball over golf should not be ignored. It's the classic Benham versus Huckaby argument......

Jon,
having played team sports through high school. as well as golf, I'm not sure that the "personal development" of a team sport outweighs the advantages of playing golf as a kid/hschooler.
The connections, life lessons, patience, self confidence, and self discipline /work ethic that golf fosters would seem (at least in my limited experience) to far outweigh what is experienced/learned around a baseball diamond or basketball court.
At any given moment on a golf course,one could meet or impress someone that could provide a life changing/life enhancing opportunity. I guess you could have your life changed via connections on the basketball cort, just not always for the better.

I'd love to have a nickel for every time I've met someone who tells me they just wish they had played golf when they were younger.
Maybe there are a few people saying that about baseball or basketball , I've just never heard it.

[Mike_Young]

Jeff,
I think there is definitely something in having played on a team that cannot be replaced by individual sports...

But as far as all this stuff about baseball swings and golf swings....I don't know...I do think if one has very good hand/eye coordination he will be the better at which ever he chooses....unless it's one of those sports like running or biking where fat guys don't seem to excell.