She has been busy hitting balls on to the curtains and off a roll-on mat on her terrace but the big challenge for Aditi Ashok in the last three months has been trying to master the art of being ambidextrous.
The lone Indian on the LPGA Tour at the moment has been home for the longest period in over a decade and while it has not been easy, Aditi is now looking forward to finally getting back onto the golf course. She has already walked out at the BGC in Bangalore thrice since the lockdown eased but admitted it wasn’t anything like before.
“It’s nothing close to how much time I usually spend, maximum 3-4 hours so far, but still it’s better to feel the greens than hitting balls on the terrace. Of course there are precautions and protocols in place — checking temperatures, mask on, walking through a disinfectant passage, no touching anything including scorecards and flagsticks and no hitting balls, only play on the golf course. But social distance is easy, you are not in a crowd anyway in golf,” Aditi told The Hindu.
New skills
The forced break has given her time to catch up on non-golfing stuff. “I am baking a bit, used to earlier but I have got better at whatever little I make. I have also started learning how to write with my left hand, it’s good for engaging both sides of your brain. There have been a bunch of books on my to-read list that I have got through and of course there are movies, so it’s been ok,” she explained.
The most difficult part, as for most professional sportspersons, has been the uncertainty.
“Usually when I am practising or working on fitness or golf, I know when I am going to play next, which tournament and how much time I have left going into it. Now, even though there are tournaments on schedule, nothing is actually confirmed till it happens so you don’t know why or for what you are working. That has been a little difficult to deal with,” she admitted.
And while the new normal would include lack of public at the tournaments, Aditi — relieved after the LPGA announced golfers would retain their cards for 2021 — is hopeful the restrictions would not hurt players. But it’s wait and watch for now.
