A viral video that induces cringing highlights a problem faced by female golfers which many can relate to.
The video of a young woman hitting balls on the range has gone viral on Instagram. She recorded herself with her phone, and after hitting a (well-executed) shot, an offscreen man comes over to critique her swing and offer guidance.
Despite her polite explanation that she is in the midst of a swing change, the man persists and offers his own guidance on how to improve. He cites 20 years of golf playing experience as justification for his advice. The uncomfortable exchange continues until the woman eventually hits another ball with success, which he takes credit for. This interaction is extremely awkward and difficult to watch in its entirety.
Georgia Ball, a certified golf instructor based in Liverpool and known for her skills at hitting balls, was filming a range video designed specifically for the golf instruction branch of her Instagram account. With an impressive following of 280,000 enthusiasts on this platform alone, it comes as no surprise that Georgia wore a microphone whilst producing the footage to enhance sound quality.
The authenticity of the video became a topic for debate among commenters and various platforms, with some questioning if it was staged due to absence of the man’s presence along with his insensitive remarks. Nonetheless, Ball has addressed in the comments section that their exchange did occur in reality.
While watching this video as a female golfer, I didn’t question its authenticity for even a moment. It brought back memories of similar encounters that I’ve experienced multiple times myself. Once while practicing on the range, a man approached me and pointed out my driver was wide open at the top of my backswing. He insinuated that it would be impossible to hit the center of the clubface from there. At that time in college when I competed regularly (although far from being one of Division III’s best golfers), finding said center wasn’t foreign to me.
I responded with something along these lines: “Thanks, but this swing works well enough for what it needs.” My focus turned entirely towards hitting balls again since putting down my head conveyed more meaning than talking endlessly about something pointless did
Having watched Ball’s video, I casually surveyed six female Golf Digest acquaintances who are avid golf players about similar experiences they may have encountered. All of them reported having experienced such situations before.
My colleagues recounted numerous instances of men giving unwelcome golfing advice to women, regardless of their skill level or the location – be it on public ranges, at simulators, or even while warming up before a round at golf courses. Such incidents were far too common and widespread.
Daria Delfino, the Equipment Coordinator for Golf Digest and a current +1.7 handicap, recalls being at the wedge range with her teammate early in college. They were getting ready for qualifying as per their routine of 7 am practice sessions while wearing headphones to stay focused.
However, an outside staff member who was responsible for picking up balls from across the other side of the range came over uninvited just to offer them unsolicited swing advice that suggested changing everything about their fundamental swings despite having no expertise on it whatsoever.
Despite this unnecessary interference from someone who had nothing to do with coaching or improving students’ performances – especially since they belonged to NAIA’s top 15 programs then -, Delfino went ahead and finished her sophomore year by earning First Team All-American honors underlining how futile his opinion proved after all!
