Her confident social media avatar might fool you. Her flamboyance on YouTube might not show it. But Paige Spiranac had to battle mental yips like anyone else.
In a candid conversation with her fans on Instagram, the 31-year-old celebrity influencer revealed her biggest strength and her most agonizing weakness.
Her strength? “100% my short game,” Spiranac shares with a broad smile.
The golf influencer shares instructional videos on swings and putting as well on her YouTube channel. However, she could never fully utilize that skill in the pro arena.
Talking about her weakness, Sprianac confessed, “I’m the world’s biggest headcase during competition.”
The 31-year-old admitted that no matter how well she played throughout the round, at the clutch moments, her nerves failed; ace-putting skill deserted her.
This is not the first time she opened up about her mental struggles.
Buckling under pressure, Spiranac was failing to realize her dream: playing on the LPGA Tour. Self-doubt crept in. Ensuing anxiety and depression aggravated her on-course struggles.
Golf Mommy revealed she tried to figure out the problem but to no avail. “I’ve seen sports psychologists; I’ve tried everything. And your girl is not just mentally strong on the golf course when there is pressure,” she revealed on her Instagram Q&A session with fans.
Her scores, which she equated with her ‘self-worth’, were not great. “I was also very depressed and struggled with a ton of anxiety,” Spiranac later recalled. While she found immense success in the virtual world, her career on the greens never panned out the way she imagined. And her anxiety is not the lone villain.
Paige Spiranac found her calling in a different profession than she imagined
Paige Spiranac played collegiate golf first at the University of Arizona, from where Jim Furyk graduated. Then she shifted to San Diego State University. In her Junior year, Spiranac had the third-best scoring average for the Aztecs. She was part of the squad that brought home the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown title. Golf Mommy was named in the First-Team All-Mountain West Selection in the 2012–13 season.
The transition into pro golf, however, wasn’t easy. She competed in the 2015 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters (now known as Dubai Moonlight Classic). Paige Spiranacc carded 12-over to miss the cut. She also competed in the Cactus Tour, a developmental feeder for the top tier of women’s professional golf. But her LPGA attempts offered no positive results.
Struggling both financially and mentally, it was around that time she was offered to pioneer the sports influencer role in golf. For some time, the celebrity influencer was juggling between two jobs. With increasing difficulty, she had to leave aside the dream of becoming a pro golfer, and her career took a new direction.
“I know I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to on the golf course,” Spiranac later admitted. She doesn’t have any regrets, however. Paige Spiranac finds solace in the fact that she has inspired the younger generations and continues to do so.
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Source: USA Today
