Will Boxing Improve Your Golf Game? And Vice Versa?

Just like boxing, golf as we know it was invented in Great Britain (Scotland).  But other than that, the two sports wouldn't seem to have too much in common on the surface. Boxing is fast-paced, explosive and violent whereas golf is pretty much the opposite of all that. Some of the basic mechanics and movement philosophies, however, share a lot of similarities, including:

1. Stance and balance are critical
2. Power is generated from the ground up
3. The motion transfers from the legs through rotation of the hips and core. Torque!
4. Weight is shifted from one foot to the other
5. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are engaged
6. Muscles stay relaxed, not tense, to create a smooth, whip-like motion
7. Many punches, like golf swings, travel in an arc and maintaining that arc is critical for power and accuracy
8. Strong focus on technique and repeated practice of a single movement, never perfecting but always refining.

While people don't normally associate golf with physical strength, it is an often overlooked component. All-time great golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods used/use their legs to really drive the ball further than everybody else back in their respective heydays. Then there is the core. Just like people mistakenly think boxing punches come from the arms, some people think that about golf too. That you would swing your arms to hit the ball, when in reality, is the hips and core rotating that generates the swing while the arms follow.

So how does boxing help your golf game? Going back to those 8 similarities, boxing will not just give you reps in each of these things but thousands and thousands of reps PER SESSION, drilling those fundamentals into your brain and better yet, your muscle memory. Besides the memory part, these reps also develop muscles too. The more you push your foot into the ground to generate power on the punch, the stronger your legs get. The more you practice throwing fast, whip-like punches, the more fast-twitch muscle fiber you will develop. And the more you do literally everything in boxing, the stronger your core will be.

I have heard from literally every person who golfs and trains boxing that at the very least, their drives have undeniably improved from boxing. Distance, in particular, as well as accuracy. Plus increased stamina and coordination is always helpful. Boxing with proper technique can also help with core flexibility, something important when it comes to golf swings. There aren't a ton of boxers who golf but those that do, like Canelo and Manny Pacquiao, are pretty darn good players. Canelo may very well become a golf pro after he retires from the ring.

But what about the vice versa? Will golf help your boxing game? I can tell you this for absolute certain (and have said it many times), that the #1 hardest thing to teach people new to boxing is how to rotate their hips and shift their weight on every punch and defensive movement. It is just not natural and as I alluded to earlier, most untrained people think that boxing is done with the hands, arms and shoulders so that is where their focus is. Someone coming in from a golf background, however, will already understand this first, major point. They will likely know how to use their core to create torque and this is HUGE!

Depending on their golf experience level, they may also very well understand that tensing up every muscle and trying to brute strength every drive is not going to get the job done. They are going to get more distance on their swing by staying loose and fluid and the same is true with punches. Being able to relax while boxing and use that to actually throw faster, more dangerous punches is yet another thing that is very hard to beginners to grasp so a good golfer may come in with these skills already.

Of course there are plenty of things boxing and golf don't have in common but if you are a golfer looking to cross train, I guarantee that boxing is the best possible fit for you. Maybe not competitive boxing, as being punched in the head is not particularly useful for anything, but bag work, mitt work, and shadowboxing are going to definitely help your golf game. Plus you will have the added advantage of being ahead of the game on some of the more difficult concepts that come with learning boxing.