Top 10 Reasons Why Swimming is Like Golf

Stay on plane, maintain good balance and rhythm, neutral head, relax your shoulders, extend the arms, rotate smoothly, power through the hips and finish the stroke.  Am I talking about golf or swimming?

I swear the more you think about it the more they are alike.  Here are the top 10 reasons why swimming is like golf.

1.  They are both all about technique and frustrating as hell to learn. 
2.  You can never perfect either.  There is always something to fix.
3.  The harder you try, the worse you get.
4.  Everyone has advice for you on how to fix or improve your stroke but following your buddies' advice inevitably screws you up even more.
5.  You start focusing on one thing you need to fix and another thing falls apart.
6.  There is always someone with a "hitch" in their stroke that kicks your butt.
7.  A kid can beat you.
8.  An old person can beat you.
9.  You never want to be in the pool or on the course with someone who is actually good.  It crushes your confidence and overall self-worth and makes you want to kick them in the teeth.
10.  As bad as you suck, you keep going back for more!

This list could go on and on.  The more I pondered the similarities, the longer my list got but I figured I'd cap it at 10.  Feel free to add your observations to the list in the comment section.

If only the lifeguards brought you beer in between strokes and you could get away with chucking your kick board across the pool in disgust when you realize how bad you are, getting up at 5 a.m. for your morning swim workout wouldn't be so bad.  Alas, I guess they can't be completely alike.