The bubbly sportsperson and presenter on why golf has helped her adjust to retirement and how she ended up playing with Meghan MacLaren.


 

 

As an Olympic medalist and former World Champion badminton player, you’d think that blonde, bubbly and chatty Gail Emms would be one of those people who never gets nervous playing golf.

But that’s where you're wrong.

“I feel more nervous standing on the first tee than I've ever been in my life,” she said.

“Even if it’s just infront of my friends I'm shaking like a leaf. I would rather be in an Olympic final - I know I’m good at badminton but with golf, well I could totally miss it, accidentally hurt someone, anything is possible."

It’s an amazing thing to say considering the super high-pressure competitions she’s played in and the things she’s achieved (she won silver in the mixed doubles at the 2004 Olympic Games and gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games).

Yet she insists that her skills on the badminton court don’t actually give her any advantages on the golf course.

“Possibly the only similarity is that with both sports you need to be at one with your racket or club and think of it as an extension of you. I can't run around and burn off any nervous energy in golf, I have to try and remain calm even though I'm actually anything but.

“People say ‘oh you’ve got good hand-eye coordination so you should be amazing at golf’. But it’s completely different.”

Gail told me that it wasn’t until she retired in 2008 that she “decided to be like every stereotypical ex-sports person and take up golf”.

Happy to make fun of herself, hugely engaging and with an immensely successful career in both professional sport and presenting, I was surprised to discover that she’s not quite as self confident as she might appear.

She confessed that she's found it difficult to adjust to retirement.

“I’ve really struggled with not having something to properly focus on,” she admitted.

“It felt kind of like I had lost my identity and I’m still looking for something to really get my teeth into.”

However, take a look on busy her social media, filled with workouts, family fun and golf with friends, and you would never guess this at all.

Inspiring, entertaining and extremely likeable, Gail is now asked to host and speak at all kinds of different events, and she’s a particularly big hit at golf days.

“When I go to a golf day I get the opportunity to play sport, meet fantastic people and have a laugh. Being able to put one in my diary gives me something to look forward to even if I don’t have any work or much else going on. It's really kept me going," she said.

As with many of us, the COVID-19 pandemic has made Gail more grateful for golf than ever before.

“Lockdown has made all of us appreciate sport and the outdoors for how good it is for our physical and mental health.

“I’ve even noticed that people are getting less angry with themselves when they’re playing golf. They’re just happy and grateful to be there.

“For me, being out on the course during this time has been one of the best things ever. It’s been hard for me, but golf has been a ray of sunshine.”

Lockdown has also encouraged her to put less pressure on herself to be a better golfer.

“I’ve grown up as a battler; I was never naturally talented at badminton but I worked hard at it. I wanted to fight with golf too and stop scraping the bottom of the leaderboard at all these events I go to.

“But lockdown has taught me to stop fighting so much and just be more calm and I’m actually playing better golf now than I was before.”

Gail Emms interview

She’s taken this more relaxed attitude into her video series ‘Gail Goes Golfing’.

“I want to show how fun golf is; how amazing the courses are and the brilliant people who play it," she explained.

Gail also wants to use the videos to explore ways that golf clubs can encourage more women to take up the game.

“Women need an emotional connection to the sport they play,” she explained.

"They won’t just go for the chance to smash a ball around and I don’t think clubs have realised that. They need to offer them the chance to play six, nine 12 or however many holes suits them or have a nursery at the club for them to use.

“Women will put everything else first before themselves and golf will be seen as a luxury rather than a priority. Whether it’s business networking or friendships, clubs need to give them a reason to make time for it. Just making things pink and hoping the women will come won’t work."

With her first video featuring voice of the Ladies European Tour Meghan MacLaren, she’s certainly picking some brilliant people to help her spread this message.

Filming the series has made her aware of the inequalities that still exist in golf; issues that as a badminton player, never affected her.

“I played the Shire with Hannah Burke a couple of times and talking to her and Meghan has really opened my eyes to the disparity between the men’s and women’s games. I’ve been lucky to be in a sport where we play at the same time and get the same prize money. It will be interesting to see how golf evolves, it’s a few years behind other sports but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a start.”

We’re thrilled that golf has another strong female role-model backing its corner, and we can’t wait to see what else she gets up to on her golfing journey.

Although, to be honest it’s really hard to know how you top a round with Meghan MacLaren...

You can watch Gail Goes Golfing on Instagram @gailemms.

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