Opinion & Analysis

The case for golf in the Paralympics

Published

10 years ago

Sep 17, 2016

Last month golf made its first appearance in the Olympics since 1904. Whatever people feel about golf’s place in the Olympics — and despite a number of high-profile players pulling out — the men’s and ladies’ tournaments seemed to go well and there is a positive feeling looking ahead to Tokyo 2020. However, a few people may have noticed that golf is not represented in the Paralympics. Furthermore, it is not going to be part of the 2020 Paralympics, so 2024 marks the first realistic chance to see disabled golfers on a high-profile, worldwide stage. Adaptive golf is a small community right now, but I think there is real potential for golf to be a major Paralympic sport with large numbers of recreational players around the world if some of the right pieces fall into place.

I started to look into expanding Ping’s adaptive golf program in about 2007. I talked to a lot of people involved in the adaptive golf world including members of the blind golf, amputee golf and wheelchair golf communities, as well as great organizations like Saving Strokes, which uses golf as a form of rehabilitation for stroke survivors. What I found were a number of really good, but mostly disconnected organizations. In these past nine years, my belief has grown that if we could knit together some of these programs into a network, golf could be a much bigger sport for individuals with disabilities than it is now.

There are some huge benefits to golf over other sports:

The existing handicap system allows people of vastly different abilities to play together and compete, which is not really possible in a sport like tennis or soccer.
There are multiple tees for players who hit the ball different distances.
It’s a self-timed sport, meaning the player hits the ball in his or her own time and does not have to react to an opponent.
There is a medical benefit to the physical exercise associated with the game.

Steve Winter, a wheelchair golfer who has consulted for us, has told me many times that he loves golf because on the course he’s just a golfer like any other. When he plays wheelchair basketball, it is with a group of other wheelchair players. However, he can play golf with me and it’s the same game for both of us. We made him a set of clubs with extra-large putter grips and Velcro over the grips to allow him to swing one-handed, but other than sometimes taking a drop from a location he can’t access in his chair, the game is the same for him as it is for me. He can enjoy the same frustration over a missed 3-foot putt as I do.

Figure 1: Steve Winter teeing up on the Ping driving range in 2010. The grip is the only major modification from our basic fitting options. He has a special electric wheelchair called the Paragolfer made by Ottobock.

We have tried to offer equipment modifications to better serve the adaptive golf community. Players who swing one-handed often use bigger grips or Velcro grips, and stroke survivors or arthritic golfers have benefitted from this, too. Leg amputee golfers often benefit from longer shafts to enable a more stable base for the swing. Players who hit from a chair or adapted golf cart usually need specific non-traditional lengths and lie angles. We have built clubs as short as 24 inches and as long as 60 inches, bent clubs 12 degrees flat, added or removed significant mass from the head, and created special grip solutions for those who need it.

Every now and again we really have to flex our problem-solving muscles. Jeff Lewis, a local quadruple amputee golfer, contacted us to ask if we could help him. Figure 2 shows how we figured something out whereby the club fixes directly into his right prosthetic arm. There is a quick-change mechanism using springs that allows him to change clubs by pushing and twisting. We published this research in the Journal of Sports Engineering so the mechanism could be used in other applications.

Figure 2: Jeff Lewis on the PING range in 2011. He hits the driver about 170 yards, generally much straighter than I hit mine.

We have quite a few adaptive club-fitting centers now and we have created guidelines for fitters interested in conducting fittings for people with disabilities. A good problem-solver with the right tools can help almost anyone find the right head, shaft and grip to help them swing comfortably and maximize performance. It just takes a willingness to try some different options and see what works. I focus on helping the player feel comfortable swinging the club first, and then focus on performance optimization. Trial and error is very important and sometimes the least intuitive option is the one that works the best. There is not much in golf more satisfying than helping someone hit the ball farther and straighter than they ever have before.

The adaptive golf community is still very small, however. There are more than 50 million people in the Unites States with some kind of disability, but very few are involved in the sport. I’ve been to some really good adaptive golf tournaments, and everything indicates there are a lot of people interested in playing competitively or just for fun. The Paralympics would be a huge way to get visibility to the sport, reaching an enormous worldwide TV audience. What’s holding golf back from getting into the Paralympics is a lack of worldwide structure including world championships and international rankings, articulated well by Geoff Shackleford in his blog.

It seems like a catch-22 situation: the Paralympics would really help promote adaptive golf, but adaptive golf needs to reach a certain level of organization and profile before it would be considered for the Paralympics. Caroline Larsson, a former professional golfer in Europe, is backing a campaign for golf in the Paralympics. It will take more support to achieve that goal. Companies, organizing bodies and all interested parties will need to band together and put in the time to create the structure needed for a successful bid. I really think that a stronger adaptive golf community, with the pinnacle of the sport being Paralympic medals and/or adaptive golf majors, would benefit the whole golfing world.

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Paul Wood

Paul is the Vice President of Engineering at Ping, coordinating a department responsible for club design, development, innovation and testing. He moved there in 2005 after completing a PhD studying Solar Flares in the Mathematics Department at St Andrews University, Scotland. He has spent most of his time with Ping in the research department working on the physics of ball flight, the club-ball impact and many other aspects of golf science. Some of his projects at Ping include the nFlight fitting software, iPing, Turbulators and TR face technology. The idea behind these articles is to explain a bit about popular scientific topics in golf in a way that is accessible to most. Hopefully that will be easier than it sounds. www.ping.com

16 Comments

mat

Sep 19, 2016 at 5:39 am

Dear the truth, ED, and all of you talking (remarquably badly) about what you don’t know.

Facts only counts, well at list, they are more interesting than your opinion.
read this link: european disable golf championship results 2016.
http://www.edgagolf.com/downloads/2016-ranking/1607-gross.pdf

and guess what! almost all players have a full time jobs or studying in universities for the youngest.
And they all played from 6500yards tees , 18 holes under 4h30 times, for three days.

From what I know, best american amputee players play scratch and even played on web.com this year.

So yes we need to see disable golf in paralympics and we need it more than Stenson or Rose.
Golf is a fantastic way to get over your disability. and the best way to show it is by showing the best players on a worldwide scale competition. thats just my opinion.

but I hope these facts changed your little minded opinion.

Connard!

Reply Report comment
- The Truth
  
  Sep 19, 2016 at 9:00 am
  
  Why do I have to pay for it through gun point? If this is a cause for the greater good, the money should be collected voluntarily via charity. Instead of the monopoly of Force ie taxation. How good they are at golf is not an argument. 85% of disabled people are living off of government subsidies, facts are not your friend my friend.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Y Drizzle
    
    Sep 19, 2016 at 9:45 am
    
    Gun point? Good grief, you are a drama queen.
    I don’t care if 100% of disabled people are living off of government subsidies. I have no problem with my tax dollars helping people who really need it. Apparently, empathy is not your friend.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - The Truth
      
      Sep 19, 2016 at 9:53 am
      
      Just because you believe this should be funded with tax dollars doesn’t mean anything. Somehow you have the moral high ground and know what is best for everything, thank you Mr. Authoritarian. If something is done for the greater good, and it truly is for the greater good, it will be solved without tax dollars via charity. Your obviously ignorant about about big Government going hand in hand with Cronyism.
      
      Reply Report comment
  - mat
    
    Sep 19, 2016 at 10:12 am
    
    We’re talking about golf in the paralympics, not USA’s government way to handle and support disable people..
    
    When you talk about subject like this, you don’t only place yourself in an American point of view, but try to see why disable golfers from all around the world should be playing this great sport in an international competition like the paralympics.
    
    I won’t debate on if they should be helped in life , or if you should be taxed, that’s not the subject.
    
    What’sure is when you see stupid comments out this good article, and not only your comment, gotta react friend!
    
    ps: it is not a cause for the greater good, only best athletes that try to compete in the best international scale (the paralympics), and that’s right you need financial support for travel, training etc. … may you be on the PGA tour or an American disable golf tour :).
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Take the Red Pill
      
      Sep 19, 2016 at 11:58 am
      
      Wow Mat, you really showed the Truth who is boss with your long winded Virtue Signaling. I never knew that training and traveling for an international sports competition is a God given Right. LOL
      
      Reply Report comment
      - mat
        
        Sep 19, 2016 at 2:15 pm
        
        your point?
        
        Reply Report comment
  - Par4
    
    Sep 19, 2016 at 11:05 am
    
    Obviously don’t have a member in the family or a close friend that is that situation. Put yourself in someone’s shoes that lives like that!!! People sometimes actually need help.
    
    Reply Report comment
- Par4
  
  Sep 19, 2016 at 10:59 am
  
  Very well put!!!
  
  Reply Report comment
Joe Kearney

Sep 18, 2016 at 5:06 pm

Slow play and draining the system!!??? It’s idiots like these devoid of the milk of human kindness who give golfers a bad name. Shame on you. You may soon get the president you deserve… an equally forward-thinking visionary.

Reply Report comment
Tom

Sep 18, 2016 at 10:54 am

Tough crowd in here today.

Reply Report comment
The Truth

Sep 18, 2016 at 9:58 am

What a waste of time and money. Lets get a productive economy again so the disabled can have jobs and not drain the system via B.S Special/Paralympics.

Reply Report comment
Mark

Sep 18, 2016 at 4:54 am

No need for any type of Golf in the Olympics. Period.

Reply Report comment
Ed

Sep 17, 2016 at 10:36 pm

Cant imagine how slow these guys play. Talk about bad for the game. Oh well… Give em a hand.

Reply Report comment
- Redx
  
  Sep 18, 2016 at 2:04 am
  
  Cant believe that’s the first thing that came to mind for you Ed.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Smokin'Gun
  
  Sep 18, 2016 at 8:13 pm
  
  What do you mean “these guys”? I have a handicap son who has Cerebral Palsy that plays to a 6 HNDCP. Crawl back under your rock!!!
  
  Reply Report comment

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