K.J. Choi, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey share some insight of beating jet lags
Many golfers on the International circuit would agree to the fact that frequent travelling around the world can actually take a toll on players and the jet lag can have worst aftereffects on their performance on the course. Golfers who are members of both
the PGA Tour and the European Tour often have to shuttle across the Atlantic to be part of the field in the continuously ongoing events on both circuits. And it’s not just the jet lag which can play tricks on one’s mind, the difference in time zones and the
weather changes can be tough to bear with for anyone.
There are also players like Lee Westwood and several other high profile golfers and also the strong Korean contingent who are featured in the Asian Tour events and have now relatively acclimatized themselves to the phenomenally different playing conditions.
How these players cope with the changes in these conditions is still a tightly held secret, but some of the players who tend to be less discreet about their strategy, do share some insights.
K.J.Choi probably has taken the highest number of flights to keep up with his commitments all over the world. He has played on almost every high profile event on the PGA Tour as well as many of the Asian Tour challenges and has not missed any of the four
majors of the season. In fact he has not missed any of the major events since the Masters in 2002.
Choi won the Players Championship this year at TPC Sawgrass and shuttled back to his home country to play on the Asian Tour and inaugurate his own title event on the tour. He came back to participate in the US Open and other title events on the PGA Tour.
How does he manage to remain a sane human being after a whirlwind touchdowns, let alone being a successful golfer on the circuit, is mind boggling more than anything else.
Choi changes his clock timings to his next destination, three days before hand and starts reducing his sleep hours to match the time zone ahead. By the time he is ready to board the flight to his destination, he is sleep deprived and exhausted and eats before
he takes off. This allows him to be craving for a warm cozy bed at the end of his journey and a good 10-hour sleep ensures that he is not lagging anymore from the journey.
Paul Casey is another tight scheduler who intricately plans his travelling across the world. He goes on a brisk walk before and after the journey and unlike Choi, is strictly against hitting the sack after the journey.
Casey says, “It’s a matter of getting the blood circulating. It’s so easy to get to a hotel in some distant land and collapse on the bed, but that’s the last thing you should do.”
Casey never indulges in alcohol while onboard and takes a walk down the aisle every now and then. He also prefers light meals and takes a deep soaking in the morning sun at his newly arrived destination in order to familiarize himself with the changes and
warmth in the sunlight.
Padraig Harrington, the three-time major winner from Ireland, holistically follows his routine while travelling and marks sufficient intake of water as the key to his good performance on course.
Harrington said, “If, say, I’m flying from Dublin to America, I might eat dinner very late for a couple of nights. Other than that, though, I just stick with the normal rules. I drink a lot of water and, as I did yesterday, and I go to the gym the moment
I get to my destination.”
Being a top sportsman in golf comes with a hectic traveling routine which causes many of the young players suffer immensely at the start of their careers. Quite a few of them actually survive the crunch to get acquainted with the abnormal travelling routine
and still perform well on course.
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