How Many Gloves Do You Need?

During my brief period of insanity the other week (when I was thinking that learning to play golf was a good idea), I had an aha moment inspired by gloves.

As I was researching all the gear that is required to play golf, I found out that a glove is part of the outfit. It’s not absolutely required, I suppose, but it is recommended (especially if your hands sweat a lot). That made me think… If I bought a golf glove, that would be the fourth type of sports glove I own. I already have running gloves (for running outside when it’s cold), weightlifting gloves, and cycling gloves.

This made me start thinking about other gear that I have specific to one sport. I definitely have a few: running shoes, running socks, padded bike shorts. (Thankfully, I haven’t fallen into the complete cycling trap with the flashy shirts and special shoes.)

And why do you need different socks for golfing, running, biking, hiking, and tennis? They all exist. And I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re really the same socks in different packaging (except perhaps the very cushioned running socks). Kind of like branded and generic food.

The point is that the sporting goods industry is very, very good at marketing and it’s easy to sucked into thinking that you really need all the gear and clothes and accessories to enjoy a given sport. Not so much. In fact, you can go biking in your regular clothes. People in Europe do it all the time, every day. It’s called commuting. And did you know that you can run barefoot? People have done it since the beginning of time.

It was a good reminder and wake-up call for me.

Thank you golf gloves! I’m glad I didn’t buy you.