THE DAY GOLF MET GYMNASTICS

When I wrote a satire of golf in the Olympics (Sep. 11, 2008), I never thought I would sometime meet a real Olyumpic coach. I did. Now the question is, truly, What do gymnastics and golf have in common? All and nothing, depending on what angle you take to make the comparison.

Let's start with nothing: stand on the first tee at any golf course, and imagine any of the golfers on the first foursome, doing tricks on the high bar or the pommel horse... can you? Point made.

I don't care if it is Rex Good, Alex Alvarez, Gary Leloff and Angelo Pomponi; or Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods, the potential major winners of 2009 (trick question here: who were the winners of the four major champioonships and who beat these four guys in 2009?). If you can imagine any of these guys doing gymnastics, in any rotuine or aparatus, you have far more imagination than I do. Now, let's think about similarities:

1. Both are difficult sports, if for different reasons
2. In gymnastics and golf, you need concentration, lots of it. In gymnastics, a little hesitation, your hand one inch farther right than you should, and it is the difference between a 9.875 and a 9.525, the difference between gold and nothing; in golf, one little doubt in your swing, one little distraction, and it is the difference between winning by one, or tying and then losing the playoff.
3. In gymnastics and golf, the performer spends a lot less time performing than the length of the event: a gymnast performs 4-6 routines worth 30-40 seconds each, or a maximum of 4 minutes out of a 5 hour gymnastics meet; while a golfer also spends less than 5 minutes actually swinging the club out of 5 hours at the golf course. What you do the rest of the 5 or so hours at your "stadium", has as much to do as what you do when you are performing.

Do you see any more similarities. There might be, but they are hard to find, particularly for one whose only contact with gymnastics has been through NBC or ESPN.

Now, meet Ed Burch (pictured with wife Kay above). Mr. Burch is a gymnastics coach and youth mentor with many accomplishments, among these: he was inducted into the USA Hall of fame in 1998, an honor he rightfully earned by coaching over 40 gold medal winners of various national meets, but most notably, he has been senior member or the national Olympic coaches and has coached 5 young men to Olympic teams over the years: Joey Hagerty, Mihai Bagiu, Chainey Umphrey, Lance Rignald (two time team member) and Trent Dimas, the only American male to win a golf medal in the Olympics, in 1992. So why do we care in Gallup? Well, Mr. Ed Burch happens to have done all of this from his gymnastics school, Gold Cup Gymnastics, in Albuquerque, NM! Yes, his is right in our backyard so to speak of, or if you prefer, he is in the house and we are in the backyard, at any rate, a small drive and you meet this man.

Presently, he doesn't coach males at all, he coaches girls, one just having won the national title at age 15. But, what does all of this have to do with golf anyway?

I'll tell you what: Mr. Burch, at the request of former Gold Cup Gym Booster President, Bob Zollinger from Gallup, agreed to talk to a female athlete who plays golf for the University of Washington about what it takes to "go to the next level", what it takes to put talent and work together to win. Sort of like a "sports psychologist" who really knows what he is talking about out, out of experience, not out of text books in college... also like a father, mentor and coach.

It was not only an honor meeting Mr. Burch face to face (really guys, do you know what you have in New Mexico and/or the area golfers call the Sun Country Section?), but, as a sports fan and father, it was a pleasure listening to him talk about his experiences with young athletes, their successes or failures, and mostly, their lives beyond athletics, and how athletics shaped and helped their business lives.

If I listened well while he was talking to this 20 year old young woman, performing at your best in athletics is as much as preparation (physically and mentally) and the will to win (you have to hate to lose), as it is about setting your priorities, one of which is falling in love with what you do; in other words, if golf becomes work and it is not as satisfying anymore, it will be difficult to succeed, in short, your success will be far higher when when you find the joy of "playing" a game and not "working"... when golf is just a game!

Inspiration has as much to do in winning as prespiration, now the question is: did Mr. Burch now inspire a future U.S. Open winner, or a future attorney, or a Pulitzer prize winner, or all?... Thank you for spending your time with us, and now, we'll be watching more of what comes from Albuquerque!