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Multi-sport enthusiast Brandon Weeden says a pro golf swing may be hardest skill to perfect: Bill Livingston

Saturday, June 16, 2012
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Debating which sport was the tougher, Sam Snead once told Ted Williams, "In golf, we have to play our foul balls."

Brandon Weeden, the leading local example of sports diversification, pondered the question the other day at another Browns mini-camp. Good enough to be a walk-on for high-powered Oklahoma State in golf, as well as the Browns' presumptive starting quarterback, Weeden was lashing 300-yard drives, but was not playing that well overall, at the team's golf outing at Firestone Country Club this week.

"Three-ish," said Weeden, when asked his handicap. That's not bad at all for a player who only took up the game in May of 2008. Before football, he spent five years in the minor leagues as a pitcher.

So which is tougher to master, the golf swing or the baseball cut?

It has been a while since Weeden stepped into a batter's box. Ten years, to be exact. In 108 game appearances as a minor-league pitcher over five seasons, Weeden did not bat a single time. The designated hitter rule has created generations of pitchers with no experience either at the plate or on the bases.

"The hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit as major-league pitch," he said. "It's tough for everybody, but it's toughest for [American League] pitchers. They don't get any at-bats until [interleague play]. I guess [coaches and managers] tell them, 'Close your eyes and swing hard.'"

"Swing at three pitches and don't get hurt" is not bad advice, either. On July 3, 2011, when he was still Fausto Carmona, Indians pitcher Roberto Hernandez took a tumble that knocked him out of the game against Cincinnati when he was trying to beat out a grounder.

For all the trouble AL pitchers have in the batter's box, for all the deadly predictability of what they do once they are in there (lay down a sacrifice bunt, at best, for the most part), Weeden said he likes interleague play. "It's sort of fun when you see a team go into the other league's park. I like how they change things up," he said.

Weeden said he was a fairly good hitter in high school in Oklahoma. His last AB was, however, in 2002 before he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the draft. "I tried to be aggressive early in the count," Weeden said. "At that level, a lot of pitchers just want to throw it over the plate and get a strike on the first pitch."


Weeden said, "I don't see how any [AL pitchers] get a hit," But he thinks the golf swing is tougher to master.

"To hit a golf ball properly for 18 holes, with all the shots you have to shape, I think it's harder than swinging at a baseball," he said.

The Browns rookie QB has played often enough with Oklahoma State alum Rickie Fowler, the 2010 PGA Tour rookie of the year, to know how difficult it is to play at a high level. "He hits it so far, and the way he can shape shots is just stupid good," Weeden said. "I'm OK hitting a fade. I just seem to see the fade better. I can draw it off the tee, but with an iron it becomes a hook."

Weeden feels "I can play a little bit" and said he has not ruled out some day looking into the Champions [formerly Senior] Tour.

As far as Browns fans go, the question is: Is pitching or passing tougher? The mound or the pocket?

"Playing quarterback in the NFL might be the hardest job in sports," Weeden said. "There's no way you can slow it down, like you can in baseball. You can take a lot of time between pitches. In football, you have really fast guys flying around you."

It has been a generation since Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson were baseball and football stars. Dual-sport (must less tri-sport) athletes are rare these days. Specialization is the norm, with college scholarships or pro contracts the often unrealistic goal.

When Weeden and his wife Melanie start a family, he said he won't push his kids into either. "I think they should try different things, and then go into what they're most passionate about," he said. "If my kid were to like soccer best, well, you're only young once."

Wait until he finds out how difficult a bicycle kick is.


http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2012/06/multi-sport_enthusiast_brandon.html

How can a golf swing be the hardest skill in sport when golf is not a sport?

I know you're being facetious (I think you're being facetious), but the combination of power, finesse, concentration, and endurance needed to play 18 holes in hot weather (walking 3-5 miles?) - and play well - make it a sport, IMO. If you ever saw Tiger Woods drive off the tee, or his ridiculous flop shot for birdie last weekend, ever tried to hit a draw or a fade, ever tried to break 90 - you'd know it was. I was a decent athlete and could pick up most sports and not embarass myself, until I played golf. It was humbling.

Having said all that, I would say that hitting major league pitching requires more pure athleticism (reflex, hand-eye coordination, speed, and power) than hitting a golf ball.

Not being able to hit off a tee consistently keeps me away from the course.

Between golf knobs, and just not wanting to hold up my own group, I just don't go.

Probably for the better as I already play one very expensive sport and don't need another.

Let me guess you're terrible at it or never gave it a chance so it's not a sport.

I just hope he gets this skill down so I can get his jersey.

If you don't play defense, it's not a sport.
If it's a race, it's not a sport.
If the scoring is subjective, it's not a sport.
If it doesn't involve significant physical exertion, it's not a sport.

That's not to say races and other competitions don't have merit, but they're not sports.

To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway - bullfighting, mountain climbing, and auto racing are sports. Everything else is just a game.

There's sports, and team sports. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.

I always felt the most incredible skill that anyone could have is to be able to pitch.

Controlling exactly where a ball will go to me is amazing.

well, there was a character on Seinfeld who "always won" that first one

Quote:

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Would sex be a sport? It requires athletic activity, for some participants, requiring skill or physical prowess...

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That would mean I am one hell of an athlete!

those are my requirements. Golf doesn't involve defense, so it's not a sport. The physical exertion requirement excludes things like chess and video games.

he was listing all of his parameters. i believe the "don't play defense" parameter is the one that he would apply to golf.

(not agreeing with his parameters, but just explaining)

Sex is probably not a sport, but drunken sex definitely is.

Golf does require physical exertion....but not enough for me to consider it a "sport". Swinging a club isn't supposed to be a fierce movement....it's supposed to be controled and have smooth pace. You know, the harder you swing the worse the shot tends to be.

Plus, in the case of golf, seniors play golf all the time...and play it well. I don't think they are using lots of "physical exertion" to play. And I might add, I played a round against a 75-year old guy and he beat me by 25 strokes. :-)

To me, golf is one of those repetitive activities that requires tons of skill, balance and mental control.....but it isn't really all that tough (see darts and bowling). If you have a good motion, the hardest part of the "sport" is to repeat it. If you don't have a good motion, it's hard to learn the motion. But the motion itself, isn't too physically demanding.

And as for walking the course. Pfffttt....it's walking. My in-laws used to walk 4-5 miles per day in the mall (walking the steps and ramps too). Don't tell me "walking" is physically demanding if my 70-year old in-laws did it every day. And anyway, it's hard to find a course that will let you walk...most make you take carts to keep play fast.

And one more point, and this is maybe more comical, f you can perform the activity while drinking alcohol, smoking and eating....it's not a "sport". And that rules holds true especially if drinking makes you perform your activity better (and beer does that with me for golf - well, until the 5th beer).





And I like golf. I just don't consider it a "sport". It's an activity or game.

Sex is definitely a sport... and my wife has defensive player of the year trophies to prove it.

I agree with Punch, I enjoy this debate.. and as it relates to golf, my comment is usually pretty simple, call it a sport, a hobby, an activity, whatever... if you think its not a sport, then you probably either don't play or you suck at it.

yes I had an idea of what I considered to be and to not be sports, made the criteria, and they haven't failed me yet.

If you compete in the field of play, be it a bowling alley, golf course,race course, or swimming pool, it is a sport.



You need to get over this hang up as you have argued this before.

Is Battleship a sport? Are video games a sport?

maybe he just likes the old MMA rules where you either "tap-out" or get knocked out. no subjectivity there.

nope. not into MMA.

well, i don't know how matches are won or lost, does the ref make a judgement when one guy can or can't continue? is it "scored" like boxing (see how that worked out Manny?) Or is it an unscripted version of pin or count-out like 'rasslin'?