A sport is a physical activity which involves rules and competition.
I would argue that golf is a competitionless game.
Yes youre ranking on points, but nothing you can do affects your opponent (apart from potentially psychologically)
Youre essentially just playing against variable weather conditions. But what youre not doing is playing against eachother. Youre not putting your opponent in a bad spot with a smart play. Youre just playing with yourself.
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Have you ever played golf?
You said it yourself, you’re ranking on points against other players. People bet on golf and use it to handle disputes. By your definition, bowling isn’t a sport for example, but there’s literal bowling leagues.
You disproved your own point.
Someone sucks at golf
yeah this is unpopular, disagree but upvoted
edit: guys i agree he’s wrong why has war started 😰
Then you could say the same thing about running or swimming.
Yeah… that’s a bad opinion. Upvote.
So by that logic, sports like alpine skiing or ski jumping also wouldn’t count? You’re competing on points and not directly against an opponent in real time either. Still sounds like a sport to me.
Edit: I’m quite new here, so just curious.. Almost everyone in the comments disagrees with OP, and the post barely has any upvotes. Isn’t the point of this sub to upvote unpopular opinions? 🤔
Edit 2: Thanks for the clarification! Yeah, OP is definitely spreading incorrect bullshit lol
Sports don’t have to rely on putting your opponent in a bad spot to win. They just require you to follow the rules and win yourself points.
Golf is a physical activity that involves rules and competition though
And you definitely play against other people. Of course you can go out to a green and smack a ball, that’s not a sport. But the PGA does sport.
Running is not a sport according to your logic
There’s not a single criterium for being a sport that golf does not meet.
Was this whole post just an excuse to make a masturbation joke? Because otherwise your argument makes no sense.
Track and field is the same thing: You cannot do anything to your opponent. But it’s very much a sport.
Golf fits your definition of a sport perfectly. It’s a competition of physical skills
You are competing against other peoples scores. By your definition almost all of the Olympic disciplines would not be sports.
In the words of Patrice O’Neal, “there has to be defense.” It wouldn’t be a sport, according to him, unless another golfer was trying to stop you from hitting the ball into the hole.
>Youre not putting your opponent in a bad spot with a smart play.
Well in fairness if you have a big lead your opponent may have to start trying to hit shots directly over hazards or trees instead of around them or otherwise take more risky plays to try to catch you. Not that I know a ton about golf.
How is this different from track and field, skiing, swimming, and gymnastics?
Daily reminder that unpopular opinion =/= incorrect fact.
They don’t do anything to each other in sprinting
I love how the first sentence of your post immediately disproves the title
Aside from your misunderstanding of the concept of a competition, do you also think cheer, gymnastics, racing, archery, and bowling aren’t sports?
What about disc golf?
It is a sport it’s just a crap one lol
Large % of Olympic events are not sports under your standard. They’re mostly one person at a time, ranked based on best score. So not just golf then?
Somebody has never hit a 5 iron pure.
To me you have to play a sport directly against an other person. Not who had the lowest score.
And yes golf is hard but so are a lot of things.
I agree but not for the same reasons. Billards, Darts, Bowling, and Chess also not sports in my eyes with Billards being the closest to being one.
I agree. If we’re calling golf and bowling a sport, marching band is DEFINITELY a sport.
I mean wtf is dressage
Agree. 1000%. Also, I like playing with myself. *cue the Beavis and Butt- head laugh*
According to this, Warhammer 40k is a sport.
>A sport is a physical activity which involves rules and competition.
Golf is physical. Has lots of rules and has you competing against someone.
>I would argue that golf is a competitionless game. Yes youre ranking on points, but nothing you can do affects your opponent (apart from potentially psychologically)
This is direct and indirect competition. This already has been defined.
>Youre essentially just playing against variable weather conditions. But what youre not doing is playing against eachother. Youre not putting your opponent in a bad spot with a smart play. Youre just playing with yourself.
You are though. The aim is to achieve the lowest score against your opponent(s). That’s how you win. Same as most sports both direct and indirect.
It involves skill and competition for entertainment. Kind of the definition of ‘sport’.
Also… who cares? I think golf is stupid AF (mini is fun). But don’t feel the need to do some purity test about what is a true sport and what isn’t.
Bob does sports! It’s not Bob does golf!
>A sport is a physical activity which involves rules and competition.
So, if this is your definition of a sport, wouldn’t golf fit in this?
It’s def a sport. But if you drink beer all day and drive to the next hole you’re not doing it on an athletic level.
My rule is that if you can drink a beer while doing it, it’s not a sport. I shoot guns, it’s definitely a hobby, it’s not an actual sport. Darts and pool? Also not a sport. Making a sculpture? Not a sport.
golf just shouldnt exist honestly
Golf isn’t a sport. Calling it a sport is like calling the liquid squeezed out of soy beans milk. Obviously, that liquid isnt Milk.
Milk only comes from the mammary glands of mammals. Plants don’t have mammary glands.
It counts as a sport. Just a very stupid and lame sport for boring people
Golf should not be a sport purely because of how boring it is.
I see golf as a “leisure activity “
Wait until this guy heres about chess, or gymnastics
By this logic, bowling isn’t a sport.
So is track and field not a sport?
Definitely not a sport, and a complete waste of space
Seeing who can put a ball in a hole with the fewest amount of whacks is competitive?
>You’re just playing with yourself
TIL I’ve been playing golf since middle school
Bro have you ever played golf? I’m not even a golfer but you will be HUMBLED
I’ve just always thought of it like… if it is tradition to actively drink alcohol and smoke tobacco while doing it… it’s a game not a sport. Of course that makes basically all sports in the 70’s “not sports”
This isn’t unpopular. It’s just wrong.
According to your definition, most of the Olympics are not sports.
So the field portion of track and field isn’t sport either. I jumped or threw a certain number which has no affect on the other participants, except maybe psychologically. The fact that they are trying to out perform me somehow is not competitive.
I completely agree and have been saying this for awhile. Golf requires a lot of skill but it’s mostly just repetition and muscle memory, not athleticism. If a guy like John Daly can have a very successful pro career than it’s not really a sport in my opinion. Daly would smoke a pack or two of cigarettes, drink 6+ beers/cokes, and eat 3 or more hot dogs during rounds he played at times. If you can consume all of that while playing and still perform at a very high level than I don’t really see how it’s a sport. Same goes for stuff like bowling and billiards, takes a lot of skill but for something to be a sport I think athleticism should have to be one of the main skills involved to be successful.
I mean, by that logic, any track and field sport or swimming also wouldn’t be a sport.
So to you, billiards = sport, track &, swimming = not sports.
Not all sports have defenses.
This is like saying I have an unpopular opinion that 1+1=1
It’s a PvE sport as opposed to a PvP sport.
“Nothing you do affects your opponent”
This also applies to: track, swimming, all field sports like shotput, javelin, high jump, long jump, alpine skiing, skateboarding, snowboarding, luge, skeleton, bobsled, dressage, white water rafting, gymnastics, ice skating, surfing, rock climbing, speed climbing.
Everyone in the comments feel free to continue the list
So basically track and field isn’t a sport by your definition
Interesting
>I would argue that golf is a competitionless game. Yes youre ranking on points
I mean, this is just a straight-up contradiction. If it actually had no aspect of competition, there would be no ranking.
Archery
Are you going to exclude croquet and bowling, too?
Good luck cutting out ping pong.
Golf—as dumb and pretentious as it is—is undoubtedly more of a sport than playing video games “competitively,” yet here we are.
The competition is in the “who can do it best?” part. If golf shouldn’t be a sport by OPs definition, lets also remove: entirety of track and field? swimming? darts? shooting? weight lifting? Guys please add to the list if you got more
It’s definitely a sport, it’s just one of the sports that happens to be far less physically demanding than average.
I mean, if fat, old men can compete at or very near the highest level of the game, it’s not a game that’s extremely physically demanding.
If this were true swimming wouldn’t be a sport either
Have you tried hitting a golf ball? It’s not as easy as it looks, there’s a lot of technique that takes along time to master. I absolutley suck at it. It’s deffinetley quite physical.
Mmmm new rage bait.
What do you mean? It is not.
It is a sport but it is not a game. There is competition between players as they compete for a lower score. The element you are talking about which golf lacks, your outcome depending on the actions of others, is actually the definition of a game.
Professional golfers can create the most rotational force of any athlete. Knowing that changed how much I respect them.
I’ve always argued there’s a fine line between a game and a sport.
I figure if there’s scoring and any physical component it’s fair enough to call it a sport.
Esports on the other hand….
I’ve always thought the same thing about figure skating. It’s more of an art or a performance, but it’s way too subjective to be a sport.
Boring sport for boring people. Good to watch when one desires a nap lol
First off, Golf is a lot more physical then think. There’s a reason so many athletes of other sports play it during and after their career.
Second, I would argue about 70% is psychological.
Third, you are playing against your opponent. Decisions to take a mulligan or go for green factor what the opponent needs to score or how good they are.
And lastly, as many have already said in comments your definition of a sport would basically any racing or solo event wouldn’t be considered a sport.
Golf is a hobby not a sport.
So is dancing, it’s an athletic hobby but still a hobby.
Disagree, but my take is anything with subjective scoring isn’t a real sport
Op would be gassed after 12 holes of walking a golf course.
Start with car racing and horse racing- then work your way to actual sports
If it requires any sort of physiological mastery (whether skill, strength, speed or agility) then it is a sport.
Case in point being fit, strong and practicing a lot directly improves your ability to play golf.
Not only do I not agree, but I’m actually confused.
You admit a sport is “physical activity which involves rules and competition.”, and that golf is something where “ranking on points”, which would involved getting the best score for the given course, conditions, etc., which competition is implied because you are competing for a ranking based on a score for the given rules.
So by this logic, skiing, skateboarding, bowling or other similarly judged “activities” or sports where you aren’t competing directly against someone else cannot be sports.
> I would argue that gold is a competition less game
That’s just… incorrect lmao
ngl i agree but the reasoning of the post is a little skewed
To me there are two different types of golf. The game of golf, which most people play… This involves a golf cart, some drinks or smokes, having fun but not trying too hard. Then there’s the sport of golf… This involves walking and carrying your own clubs and following the roles strictly.
Both are fun but I’d only consider one approach a sport.
So swimming isn’t a sport?
That’s what a 40+ handicap would say.
Golf is actually really fking hard. Athleticism helps a lot I noticed.
yeah play a real sport like darts
Keep working on it, you’ll get better!