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Softball Players and Golfers Swing to the Same Beat!
By Garland Cooper
It has been a widely accepted view that playing golf would only cause the break down of a fastpitch swing…watching the women of the US Open this weekend has quickly changed my mind.
The stages of a golf swing are similar to a softball swing.
The mechanics of the golf swing are frighteningly similar to that of a fastpitch swing. If a softball player were to swing at a ball in the dirt I would imagine it to look almost exactly like a golf swing.
The chain reaction in the two swings seem to be identical: golfers load up, keep their head and hands behind the ball, you can see the "club lag" (or bat lag) as the club (or bat) approaches the ball, the hips drive forward, the back foot pivots, they follow through…If the ball was put on a tee about three feet higher it would be fastpitch batting practice.
The most obvious difference is the plane of the ball. Softballs come in around the waist while the plane of a golf ball is angled down. Also, softball players don't start with their bats at the point where contact is made as they do in golf; fastpitch athletes don't coil in the beginning of the swing like golfers do, but they often do have some sort of "load" to start the swing. In order to optimize the outcome of the swing, both softball and golf strokes require the use of the entire body, strength and balance.
According to the New York Times, the 2007 PGA teacher of the year, Jim Hardy claimed, that the golf swing and baseball/softball swing are so similar that he, a golf instructor, could give hitting lessons to baseball players and improve their swings. That is just what he did.
the softball swing looks like a golf swing but the ball follows a different plane.
He worked with the Houston Astros on the field during batting practice and discovered that many of the baseball players suffered from the same ailments as golfers. When he helped Matt Williams of the Diamondbacks correct his problems by swinging a golf club, which proved his point.
He even went further to argue that baseball and softball were even similar to golf in other aspects of the game such as putting or chipping. In both sports the athlete must have superior motor-skills and hand-eye coordination.
Softball, like golf, has a short game, which involves a lot of finesse that could, in some ways, resemble putting or chipping. He notes that even throwing a ball mirrors golf since the athlete loads up on one side of the body or one foot and then releases and drives into the other foot.
There are obvious differences in the sports, but mechanically speaking, the fundamentals of the swings are impeccably similar. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be a golfer if you are a softball player. In fact, softball players would probably make excellent golfers…just remember, this strike zone is on the ground!
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