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 Last week when I was at the driving range I noticed a number of young disable people working on their games. I was very impressed by a young lady who, despite the fact that she was sitting in a wheelchair, was able to drive the ball straight for around 120 to 150 yards. It was a real joy to watch her playing golf. Every time she hit a good shot her face lit up in a radiant smile of pure pleasure.
Watching these young people having such a good time got me thinking.
A good friend of mine is a disabled golfer. He lost a leg in a land
mine incident when he was serving in the army as a young man. Bob has
never allowed his disability to stand in the way of making himself into
a very competitive golfer. In fact this year he has been elected
captain of our golf club.
So last Saturday I cornered Bob and asked him to tell me more about
disabled golf. Now Bob is a real enthusiast, so I got myself cornered
for a good half an hour, but it was worth it, because he told me about
this amazing golf wheelchair for paraplegic disabled golfers.
This golf wheel chair is the brain child of Anthony Netto a South
African born golf professional and trainer. Anthony suffered a neck
fracture after a no-fault car accident, in 1995. This led to him being
wheelchair bound for months. After numerous operations and a lot of
time in hospital the 37-year old was able to resume work as a teaching
pro in 1997. However, in October 2000, he suffered a further setback
when multiple sclerosis struck him down. Since that time he has been
confined to a wheelchair.
Netto is a fighter; he told himself, "One does not die from this
disease." A course of magnet-field therapy helped him, but he wanted to
resume his life as a teaching professional and to that end he started
to develop the special golf wheelchair, which has enabled him to play
again.
The chair, powered by a tank battery, drives him around the course just
like any other buggy. However, when he arrives at his ball, the seat
swivels round so that he can face his ball. The seat then stands him up
and supports him so that he can address his ball, just like a 'normal'
golfer.
The golf wheelchair works well because Anthony Netto is now the
trainer of the German national disabled golfers team and he has
initiated project KidSwing to teach young disabled golfers. He works
successfully with sick and disabled children in Cologne, Germany. His
aim is: "to establish golf as a therapy and a rehabilitation scheme."
As far as I can find out the golf wheelchair is currently just
starting to go into production on a very small scale. It is therefore
expensive, my informant wasn't certain, but he thought the price was
currently around €17,000.00 ($22,000.00 approx.) I would expect this
price to decrease dramatically once mass-production starts.
My informant also told me that the company marketing the golf wheelchair is being run in such a way as to limit their own profit
percentage in order to make the golf wheelchair more widely available
to disabled golfers.
About the author:
David Ferrers is a respected Performance Coach and
the author of countless articles on 'winning' and 'golf'. He invented
The Academy of Winning, The Science of Winning at Golf and The 5
Fundamentals of Winning at Golf all of which are available as free
downloads from his web site at http://www.Winning-Seniors-Golf.com
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