An Invernessian in America: Nothing wrong with walking away when it is all too much
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It’s taken a long time to get here, and there’s still a long way to go, but discussions around mental health are finally no longer so taboo and so hidden away, especially in sport.
The "mental" side of golf is something I pay a lot of attention to, and spend a great deal of time researching and discussing. Golf is a solo sport, a sport of isolation a lot of the time.
On the range, you have your coach; on the course, you have your caddie. But ultimately the decision, strategy, successes and failures start and end with the individual swinging the club.
There’s a glamorous side to being a professional athlete. These individuals possess a God-given talent the rest of us hackers can only dream of.
We stand over a five-foot putt in our local club medal and pretend it’s to win The Masters, the Ryder Cup or the Solheim Cup! These guys and girls are doing it for real.
The money, fame, endorsements, fans, travel, success, the feeling of unbelievable accomplishment and all your hard work paying off – it must be euphoric.
But, there’s a darker side and, to be honest, a side we may really struggle to sympathise with. And, of course, it’s not just limited to golf.
Naomi Osaka is 23 and has been the top female tennis player in the world.
She’s a four-time Grand Slam champion, and in 2020 was ranked eighth among all athletes in endorsement income. In fact, last year she was the highest-earning female athlete of all time in relation to annual income. Living the dream – well, maybe on the outside.
The truth is, Naomi struggles with her mental health. At the French Open she skipped her mandatory press conferences, was fined and eventually withdrew.
She didn’t participate in Wimbledon. She was extremely transparent and told the world her mental health was in a fragile state and she needed to take some time out.
Not only was it incredibly refreshing to hear her honesty, it was extremely brave of her. But still, she got blasted.
Back to golf, Matthew Wolff is 22 and already one of the best in the world.
In 2019 he won the NCAA Division I Individual Championship – so basically he was the best men’s golfer to come out of college that year.
One month later, he joined the PGA TOUR and two weeks in, won a tournament. The following month, he tied for fourth in his first major, and six weeks after that finished runner-up at the US Open. Instant success beyond his wildest dreams.
But this year he took a two-month breather, didn’t play golf, tried to come to terms with his success and work on his mental health. And when he came back he talked about it openly. He wanted to work on being happy.
Wolff said: "Kudos to pretty much every professional athlete out there, I haven’t been in this world for a long time, but it’s f***ing hard."
And his comment was met with some criticism. Just like Osaka’s when she refused to talk to the media, admitted she gets really nervous dealing with that side of her career, and was fined $15,000.
Yes, these athletes may be experiencing overwhelming success and what they will more than likely achieve professionally is outstanding. Outstanding to us, and them.
And there’s nothing wrong with ever taking a break to let it all sink in – that applies to all of us. Using their platforms to publicly talk about it just makes their superstardom even bigger.
Read: Chance encounter
