Golf, tennis, whatever — play a sport this summer

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Summer is officially in full swing. Wherever you are, chances are it’s probably pretty hot.

You know what means?

Climate change?

Wrong!

It means, if you’re able, everyone should be playing a sport.

I don’t care if it’s football (be careful), basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, tennis, pickleball, badminton, ping-pong, horseback riding, polo, water skiing, volleyball, bowling, corn hole (not a sport), or spike ball (I’ll allow it).

Playing a sport is not only beneficial for obvious health reasons, and I’ll admit that it is far more fun than going to the gym (you should lift weights, though). But it also teaches you how to learn the right technique (or something that resembles it) and how to lose with dignity and your head held high, and how to win with grace and humility. It teaches you how to work with other people, particularly in sports like basketball, soccer, hockey, and football.

It also teaches you how to face adversity and how to overcome failure. Most sports were designed for you to fail. Golf could very well be one of the most frustrating sports ever created (see Robin Williams’s stand-up). But it’s also one of the most rewarding sports.

The odds of succeeding, or shooting a decent score, especially for the average club player, are so low.

The average recreational golfer shoots between a 94 and 102 on an 18-hole course—good for a handicap of roughly 18 to 24. Only about 55 percent of golfers break 100. Put another way, barely half of recreational golfers shoot a respectable score. By comparison, the average professional golfer shoots a 71 or 72.

Yet what makes golf so rewarding is to see your game evolve over time. No, you won’t ever be anywhere as close to as good as Rory McIllroy or Scottie Scheffler — but if you stick with it, your drives will travel farther and straighter, your irons will start finding the greens, your flop shots will stop on a dime near the pin, and your putts will find the hole.

Besides tennis, golf might be my personal favorite to play. For the record, I miss playing baseball, but it’s not so easy to organize a game when you’re no longer in a league. I also love playing basketball, but I find pickup games irritating, particularly when you don’t know the other players.

I would rather shoot a basketball by myself, or play one on one with someone, rather than watch someone who thinks he’s LeBron James chuck up a bunch of ill advised threes and play zero defense while I hustle on both ends of the floor and play team basketball. But that’s neither here nor there.

I like the individual aspect of tennis and golf. Yes, you may be competing against other people, but ultimately, you are accountable for the outcome, and you alone. There are no excuses if the result does not goes as planned. There’s no coach to blame, and there’s no teammate who didn’t pass you the ball. You’re in the arena, and you can either shine in the limelight or fade away.

Yes, it’s true that both golf and tennis require a lot of time, effort, and money, but so do a lot of things. In my view, there’s nothing better than spending four to five hours outside on a weekend playing a nice 18-hole course, or a couple hours of tennis. They are both sports you can play for life, and the health benefits should not be undervalued.

Golf is a low-impact sport that, if played by foot, can improve blood flow, lower your cholesterol, and help manage your blood pressure and glucose levels. Walking a full round typically means 5–7 miles, or 10,000 to 12,000 steps. Swinging a golf club is also good for your core, back, arms, and shoulders and helps improve overall balance.

Research also shows that the combination of natural sunlight and physical activity raises endorphins and serotonin levels, which reduces stress and anxiety. Playing golf also increases life expectancy and is beneficial for your cognitive function — as you’re constantly having to make decisions about where you want to hit each shot, as well as scorekeeping.

I won’t blame you if you’d rather take a golf cart, but just make sure you’re finding cardio another way, and that you’re sharing the cart with someone you don’t find irritating to be with for four-plus hours!

As far as tennis goes, the benefits are perhaps even greater than golf. Study after study has revealed that those who play tennis live longer. Whereas golf can be tough for getting into a rhythm, since the pace of play is slower, in tennis, there is no such issue. The constant starting and stopping provides a high-intensity aerobic exercise, which helps regulate blood pressure, lowers your resting heart rate and involves burning several hundred calories per hour. Like golf, tennis is great for improving balance and increases bone density, which helps prevent osteoporosis later in life.

In terms of testing your mental limits, there is no sport that will make you question your sanity more than tennis. Not only are you battling your opponent, but you’re battling your inability to play at the level you know you’re capable of playing at. It sure is easy to be a good sport and compliment your opponent for hitting a nice shot when you’re up a set and 5 love. But how will you behave when you’re about to lose to a player who can barely serve, and who has no business being on the same court as you?

Chances are, if you are unfazed by insignificant inconveniences in your daily life, you will be unfazed by minor setbacks on the tennis court. If you miss a sitter of a forehand, or you go for a ridiculous return, instead of just getting the ball in play and making your opponent work hard to win every single point — and can learn to forgive yourself for your own stupidity, and allow yourself to move on, focus on the next point, and the next shot — then you will be able to turn the match, and your life, around!

And if you’d rather not deal with any of those ups and downs, then just go for a run or a bike ride instead.

Enjoy the summer!

David Keltz is the author of the new book Life Sucks, but Your Life Doesn’t Have To: How To Build Confidence and Find Purpose in a Turbulent World.

Image via Raw Pixel.