By Rahul Banerji
Well, it’s now official. Corona-virus has ensured large parts of the country have been sealed off with immediate effect in an effort to halt the ever-growing spread of the pandemic.
As of Sunday evening, 76 districts across India were placed under a lockdown which means that travel across borders on public transport has been halted till March 31 and only essential commercial establishments allowed to open.
As per latest information, the major cities – Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh-Panchkula, Mumbai-Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, you name them – that are major golfing centres are shut or in the process of closing down.
This also means that the few golf courses that were still in operation are now closed besides related facilities like driving ranges, etc.
Use the time
So what does one do under the circumstances? How does one stay busy enough to stop driving the family up the wall with everyone confined to a space everyone usually meets at day’s start and end?
Make the most of the situation. Catch up on grat golfing action of the past, watch the masters at work.
And take free lessons.
Top professionals have taken to social media to share their activities and routines while spending enforced away from their respective tours.
A prominent example that caught the eye was Europe’s 2020 Ryder Cup captain, Padraig Harrington.
Posted treasure
The three-time Major winner, who has a well-laid out practice area in his backyard has been putting up instructional videos on Twitter at Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) · Twitter.
Well worth a watch, since he has started with the bane of almost every golfer, wedge play.
“A little bit of a chipping lesson. Thanks to my son for video work. More to follow but limited to 220 seconds on Twitter here”, pic.twitter.com/uzoTyGdn0i Harrington posted first up.
He then followed up with some indoor routines at pic.twitter.com/RJeaxW6WjQ
The audio can be better but there’s some good stuff to be had. Harrington, 48, has tried to break down some common problems with chipping, especially with trying to lift the ball and manage bunker play.
Watch that at “Bunker lesson” pic.twitter.com/31MrWgQKuv. All three videos were shot be his son Patrick and am grateful that it gave me something to try and understand these past two days.
For those in need, I suggest you take a look. Not being in any way qualified to write about what he has done to analyse and sort out these oft-recurring issues, take a look and see how it can help in any way.
And thank you Padraig. Here’s wishing your Ryder Cup team the very best whenever you go out to retain Europe’s title.
Also read: Golf bodies come together for some Corona-virus do’s and don’ts
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