Outrage

[CarpeDiem]

Have just had an argument(Friendly)with friends who said that Golf was not a sport as it wasn't in the Olympics. Fair point but none the less worthless. I fail to see how people who havn't even played the SPORT can say that it isn't one. Their main argument was also that golf is a past time or a hobby, they also managed to make the point that if you dont sweat whilst playng said sport then you can't define it as one. "You have to be an althlete to play a sport" I will have you know that Tiger Woods himself said that golf is a sport and you have to be fit to play it at the highest level. This argument has outraged me and I would like your comments on the such so that I can continue the argument tommorow with fresh ammo, even though correct as I am, GOLF IS A SPORT a little bit of backing would be nice.

 

[TipTopGolf]

Go and tell your friends to play 4 games in 4 days then lets see what they say.

 

[CarpeDiem]

I did challenge them to a round but they turned it down. So does that just renforce the fact that they haven't got a leg to stand on.

 

[viscount17]

I did challenge them to a round but they turned it down. So does that just renforce the fact that they haven't got a leg to stand on.

probably why they haven't played

 

[viscount17]

more seriously, there is a proposal to make darts a 'demonstration' event at the 2010 Olympics - does that make darts a sport?

From Wikipedia

'Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing).'

'The term "sport" is sometimes extended to encompass all competitive activities, regardless of the level of physical activity. Both games of skill and motor sport exhibit many of the characteristics of physical sports, such as skill, sportsmanship, and at the highest levels, even professional sponsorship associated with physical sports. Air sports, billiards, bridge, chess, motorcycle racing, and powerboating are all recognized as sports by the International Olympic Committee with their world governing bodies represented in the Association of the IOC Recognised International Sports Federations.'

this should settle it!

http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp

 

[Parmo]

I sweat after the first hole nevermind the 18th!!

I wish the wife would buy me a GoKart

 

[SS2]

they also managed to make the point that if you don't sweat whilst playing said sport then you can't define it as one

Plenty of golfers sweat on the course either a hot sunny day on the course or after climbing a big hill with a hefty bag on their back.

As for golf not being a sport because it's not in the Olympics... Rugby is not in the Olympics, but synchronised swimming is.

 

[Imurg]

I wonder if Micheal Phelps sweats in the pool?

 

[Vincent]

If "sport" is deemed to be everything that Sky SPORTS puts on its schedule, the Olympics would be in a right mess...!

 

[haplesshacker]

The most supported participitive sport in this country is fishing, and I don't see that in the Olympics!

Personaly, I don't much care for the Olympics. Ameatuer! My touche!

The Olympics is what it is, and is not the be all and end all to the argument of what is or is not a sport.

 

[andiritchie]

is shooting and archery a sport i wouldnt think so its a skill.To play regular golf you gotta be pretty fit or you will be after all the walking,the better a player gets the more fitness comes into it

 

[haplesshacker]

I sweat after the first hole nevermind the 18th!!

I wish the wife would buy me a GoKart

Go on, get one. Used mine for the first time last weekend, and it's great. It's a lot less than some of those other brands!

 

[viscount17]

having shot competively (smallbore and fullbore rifle), yes it is a sport (or maybe a discipline).

to shoot at the highest level you have to be fit. you have to be able to get your body into a state whereby all tension is released in order to deliver the perfect shot, not once but again and again, and the margin for error is miniscule.
compare it to being on the tee at Sawgrass, you have to deliver the perfect strike that will keep the ball on the Island - not once but at least 10 times in a row.

 

[Cernunnos]

Junior Captain.... Tell your friend to spend half an hour on the range grooving his swing & see if he doesn't start sweating.

Had a lesson with driver yesterday & was working so hard my glasses were steaming up so much that when my coach congratulated me on the flight path of some of my drives I couldn't see through the fogged up lenses tosee how good & how far the ball was going.

As for Olympics & sports I'd hardly call BMX'ing a sport. Hell there'll be freesbie & Scateboarding next, they are definitly not sports, just dudes showing off.

I mean this year we had beach volleyball....Volleyball I can accept on a proper court, but beach volleyball, well that's just a joke. You might as well have olympic chess & call that a sport, as its got as much right to be there than BMX'ing

These days you need to be fit, really fit to play golf competitively & people do sweat & do build up muscle mass playing the game of golf as a sport, its as much right to be there as downhill skiing.

Golf is one of those sports that can be apreciated on many levls, from a gentle knock around on sunday morning, to almost all out war against your apponant, the course not to mention the elememnts.

Lets see your mate have a go at golf & say its not a sport when they have to go up against the seniors in a stapleford or monthy medal... I tell you most of them take no prisinors on the course & are probably fitter than most twenty somethings even the wrincklies suffering from all sorts of alliements seem to race round the course quicker than the octigenarian thats got himself booked onto an 18-30 holiday by mistake & making up for lost time.

 

[Herbie]

Game of competitive activity, especially an outdoor one involving physical exertion, cricket,football,racing, hunting.Such activities collectively the word SPORT


That is the initial part of the definition of sport in the Dictionary, there is much more.
Golf is sport!(Though some slow buggers could be found guilty of making it into an observational slow walk for about 5 miles, or a medical worry waiting for the next back trouble or hernia lol)

I get a sweat on and lungs pumping cos I dont hang about if at all possible, 5 miles or more at apace smacking golf balls every now and then can do this.Ambling along and waiting a lot isnt very sporting but its still a sport by definition.

So tell them that. Has cricket,football and hunting been in the olympics, not to mention countless others that are defined as sport? lol

 

[Tommo21]

Their main argument was also that golf is a past time or a hobby

Try telling that to the many thousands of pros around the world.

“Well Tiger, this is your past time. Tell us, what you do for a living.”

Oh, I’ve also had a few lessons from my hobbyist in the past few months.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Just silly comments from the ill informed. Golf is a physically demanding sport where you walk at least 4-5 miles carrying (or push/pull a trolley).

 

[USER1999]

I have never been convinced by the term sport when used to describe golf. I am relatively fit, and so do not find it particularly physically demanding. It is undoubtedly difficult, and it helps if you are fit, but I don't think it would make you fit.

There are also a surprising number of 'athletes' competing at the top level who redefine the term. I am thinking DC, Michelson, JB, Ernie, VJ, John Daly, Boo, etc. These guys do not have an athletic build, and yet are at (or near) the top of the game.

Obviously Tiger and a few others are exceptional athletes, but there are way too many wobble butts, which you don't seem to get in 'true' sports like footy and rugby.

 

[birdieman]

It is a gentle sport in my book. The fatties Murph has listed above (you missed out the biggest lardass Monty btw!) would be a pretty good argument to say golf isn't a real sport, bit like bowls, darts and snooker.
If someone said to me golf isn't a sport I wouldn't get too bothered. We used to rib our flatmate who was a very good hockey player that hockey wasn't a sport and was actually a game for girls. It drove him mental! Hockey is a physically demanding sport of course, much more so than golf but to me it's still a girls game!
Not sure you can win that argument JuniorC!

 

[haplesshacker]

I think we're confusing the term sport and athleticism.

Dalehy Thompson was an athlete who took part in sports.

However I am not an athlete that takes part in sport.

Tiger is an athlete, Monty probably isn't. F1 drivers are athletes, but they weren't many years ago, James Hunt. Schmacher changed all that.

If sport is defined by how 'fit' you need to be then I guess certain sports wouldn't qualify as a sport, but a hobby instead. But isn't a hooby something that you do as a pastime and not get paid for? Which then begs the question are all professional sports persons athletes?

In my own mind sport is an activity that is competitive, regardless of level of fitness required. But taking part in sport does not make you an athlete.

I think I may of just confused myself!!