It’s widely known that any type of physical activity is correlated to good mental health, brings a sense of well-being, and keeps you young and feeling fresh. Many different studies have shown that regular exercise can boost your productivity, confidence can increase focus, and can help you keep the weight off.
Playing golf is no exception. No to mention that golf is an outdoor activity which means you’ll soak up that magnificent vitamin D from the Sun. Just don’t forget to put your sunscreen on. It’s widely known that fresh air helps with digestion, helps stabilize blood pressure, heart pressure boosted metabolism, and many other health benefits.
Keep reading to find out what physical and mental health you can get from playing golf!
Social benefits
Golf is a social game. Although you are the one doing the swing, it’s unlikely that you’ll be alone on the field. There’s always the caddy and other golf players. Not to mention there are hundreds of golf clubs.
Whether you go alone or bring some friends or colleagues with you you’ll always have someone to talk to and share a few laughs with. People are social beings, and being surrounded by other people increases the overall sense of well-being and general happiness. Especially when you are connecting with someone through your favorite activity.
Also, when you are on the field, you can increase that healthy dose of competitiveness which motivates you to give your best and to always do better even if you are not keeping scores. It increases your sense of competence and boosts self-esteem.
Boost your mental performance
Golf is a sport that requires a lot of focused attention from you. If you want to be good at it you have to be very focused and extremely concentrated. Which in return makes you develop these skills in your everyday life which can boost your job performance or any other task that requires you to focus.
Furthermore, golf can also increase your creativity as you need to visualize the way you are going to swing, how far can the shot go, what’s the best way to swing, etc. Golf also gives you a better sense of distance and depth.
Golf will get your blood flowing, which means more blood pumped to your brain. Increased blood means more energy and more energy can improve your mental performance including memory, critical thinking, and can help you get a new perspective.
Good for your heart
Golf is also very good for your heart. Since it helps with circulation, more blood being pumped to your heart means more energy and oxygen. Regular exercise can build more muscles and will keep your heart rate up. This is fantastic as it will lower your risk of heart failure and cardiovascular issues.
A good heart means a good life so any type of regular exercise really can keep your heart healthy. The blood pumping doesn’t necessarily come from swinging the bat but from walking and there is a lot of walking involved while you’re playing golf.
Keeping the weight off
Golf is a low-impact exercise, which means that it’s good for your knees, joints, etc. However because when swinging the bat you are using your whole body, if done correctly nothing will happen, but there can be some shoulder or hip injuries if done incorrectly. That’s why you should always make sure your posture is correct.
On the other hand, as we mentioned before, golf requires a lot of walking. You won’t feel like you’re doing some crazy exercise that includes a lot of sweating and shortage of breath but, walking an 18-course regularly really adds up. That’s around 3.5 miles. So, if you are a regular golf player do the math and you’ll be amazed. And in the future avoid the buggy if you can.
Better sleep
When you regularly play golf your sleep becomes much, much better. Fresh air, the Sun, walking, socializing, picturesque fields, and nature all add up to your overall sense of well-being and happiness. And you know that they say – “happy people sleep better”.
And not only that but golf is a great workout and any type of workout will make you tired, but the good kind of tired, at the end of the day. Which will help you get to sleep faster and will get you a full night’s rest.
Better sleep in return will make you more productive, will improve your attention and focus, will help you maintain a healthy weight, it will keep your heart healthy it will reduce stress and all of this combined will in return make you an even better golf player!