When Alison James was looking for a new sporting activity to enjoy while on holiday, she decided to try something completely different. . .
WORDS: ALISON JAMES. IMAGES: ONYRIA QUINTA DA MARINHA HOTEL.
I had a dilemma. Newly single after the breakdown of my long marriage, I was on a solo short break in the elegant resort of Cascais, near Lisbon in Portugal, and had a yearn to try something new. A different form of exercise rather than my usual trio of vacationing cardiovascular action: walking/swimming/cycling. I fancied an activity I’d never done before. OK, I’d never had a crack at surfing or sailing but to be honest, I instinctively knew neither were really me because, a) my breaststroke wasn’t exactly wave worthy, and b) I suffer from sea-sickness.
Interestingly enough, it was at dinner that I found the inspiration I was looking for. I got chatting to a group of uber-friendly women on the table next to me who were in the area on a golfing trip. Within minutes, they’d asked me to join them for a night cap. My meeting with this group of ladies led me, in turn, to decide on just what my aforementioned sporting activity would be. “Why not take a shot at golf” they suggested? Golf? The game my father had been obsessed with? Hmmm - I wasn’t sure. Wasn’t it all a bit boring and stuffy? A bit Bruce Forsythy circa 1985?
The “anorak” of the sporting world? I knew many people were, like my late dad, totally and utterly consumed by the sport but while I enjoyed an occasional round of the crazy variety, I’d never seen the appeal of hitting a tiny ball with an oddly shaped stick and seeing how far it would travel before attempting to coerce it into an equally small hole. However, spurred on by my new golfing gal pals, and a couple of glasses of Licor Beirão, I figured I had nothing to lose. And reader... it was a revelation!
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
The next morning saw me on the driving range of the nearby Quinta da Marinha Golf Resort (quintadamarinha. com), taking an hour-long “taster” lesson. My teacher, golf pro Artur, gave me a large bucket of balls and what, I was to learn, is a golf club called a driver. But before I started whacking any balls, Artur talked me through the dynamics of the golf swing.
He explained that it is a complex movement, requiring the coordination of many muscle groups, and that it is important to understand which muscles and areas of the body – the glutes, hamstrings, lats, abs, chest and shoulders, to be precise – are employed during the swing and how they i
