Golf is a pretty unique sport that offers a wide range of health benefits to people of all ages, from kids to seniors. Playing golf regularly improves physical and mental health as well as longevity. Martin Slumber, CEO of R&A, says: “We are watching more and more proof that as a moderate-intensity activity, golf can provide notable physical and mental benefits for participants.” So let’s know how golf benefits your health the most.
Physical Benefits of Playing Golf
Regular golf keeps your body healthy. While playing golf you have to do some physical activities like carrying a golf bag, swinging, walking, sunbathing etc. These increase the blood flow to your heart, resulting in a healthier heart, a reduction in body fat, and muscle tone improvement. So let’s know more details about the physical benefits of playing golf.
- Golf prolongs life: Playing golf can add years to your life. A recent study from the Karolinska Institutet, a Swedish medical university, found that those who played golf had a 40% lower death rate than people of the same sex and age. The death rate between adults and older might lower if you play one golf round at least once a month.
- Burns a lot of calories: Golf helps you burn calories and maintain a healthy weight. While playing golf, you have to walk about 4-5 miles in one round. Due to which your body burns 350 to 500 calories per hour. According to William Kormos(Editor in Chief, Harvard Men’s Health Watch), a golfer can walk around 4 miles in one round and burn about 800-900 calories with the help of swing clubs.
- Sunshine and fresh air: While playing golf, you have to spend a long time in the fresh air under the open sky in the hot sun. Playing golf in the sun makes up for the lack of vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D keeps your body’s rates healthy and helps absorb calcium. And because of being in the open field, fresh air gets directly into your body, making you feel lively.
- Reduces the risk of disease: You have to walk a lot while playing golf. This walk reduces your risk of heart attack and stroke. It helps you shed fat and lower blood pressure. Playing golf in the sun keeps your body immune and keeps you in good health.
Mental Benefits of Playing Golf
Golf not only provides physical benefits but also improves your mental health. In particular, it improves your confidence and anxiety levels, reduces stress levels, increases concentration, and so on. In a word, golf works like medicine without side effects. Let’s take a look at the details of what gives golf mental benefits.
- Manage anxiety and depression: When you perform golf techniques, you have to keep your brain active and concentrate on the game. Just then, your attention diverted from the things that made your mind anxious and depressed.
- Lowers Your Stress Levels: Stress has serious adverse effects on all aspects of human life. Golf helps to reduce the level of stress in your mind. Our body has a hormone called serotonin which stabilizes our mood and keeps us happy. When you go to the field to play golf and hit the ball with the club, your body starts producing serotonin. Try the best golf simulator for reducing your stress levels.
- Concentration: Golf improves your concentration. When you play golf, you have to play with patience and attention, because of which your mind can not be distracted and will move away from negative thoughts.
- Social interaction: By playing golf you can make friends with new people and keep in touch with old friends. As a result, your loneliness will go away, and your mental health will improve. Roger Hawkes, the former chief medical officer of the European Tour, told CNN, “Social interaction is the risk factor which has been undervalued.”
Benefits of golf for children
- Playing golf helps children to develop social and mental skills.
- Children are less likely to be involved in video games and TV shows and benefit from vision.
- Children’s spine and muscles are more vigorous, and physical skills bar.
- Kids can make new friends and learn socialization.
- Children learn to take responsibility for themselves and maintain discipline as well.
- The child can learn to control his mood.
- Golf teaches children to think analytically and to be tolerant.
Benefits of golf for old
- Playing golf is a great way to stay physically and psychologically well for seniors.
- Golf is a beneficial aspect of improving the concentration and quality of life of seniors and encouraging socialization.
- Golf helps to concentrate, improves memory, keeps the brain fit, and regulates mood.
- Reduces cardiovascular problems in seniors and helps reduce harmful cholesterol levels.
- It helps to control blood pressure and burn calories.
What does golf do for your body?
Golf helps you with a moderately intense physical activity such as walking, carrying the bag, swinging, etc. Playing golf keeps your weight under control. It is also suitable for your heart. In particular, it raises the heart rate, normalizes blood flow.
Is golf good for your brain?
Golf provides health to your brain and activates the brain. It improves your self-confidence, self-esteem, and level of anxiety. Not only this, but it also helps in reducing your depression and dementia.
Conclusion
Playing golf will benefit you in one way or another for the rest of your life. In particular, golf will help you more mentally and physically. If golf increases your life expectancy, reduces stress, relieves depression, strengthens relationships, then think about how much peace you can have on the life path.