Vusumuzi Dube
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
The seven Zimbabwean junior golfers who were part of the inaugural Africa High Performance Programme Camp which took place at the Balderstone Sports Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa have returned home.
The event ended on Saturday and one of the Zimbabwean juniors, Tanaka Chatora, finished second in the overall programme. National team coach Phillip Tshuma travelled with the young golfers to South Africa.
Munashe Ndaruza, Primrose Chilwaya, Kudzai Mandava, Tanaka Chatora, Michael Wallace, Keegan Shutt and Tariro November were the up and coming Zimbabwean golfers that were at the inaugural event.
The experience for the young golfers was put together by R and A, International Golf Federation, South Africa Professional Golfers Association (PGA) and the Olympic Solidarity in partnership with the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee.
In the report written by Tshuma, the athletes were given a golf maintenance programme for functional strength and endurance training for six months and he (Tshuma) was introduced to 3D camera training and flight scope teaching aid via the MEVO and flight scope monitor. He was also introduced to the COACHNOW application, an application for both technical training and physical knowledge to know how to teach golf movements including ball flights.
“With the new technology coming in with the current generation, you can only try to learn and stay one step ahead of your students. Above all, it was an eye opener for me and the young golfers, looking forward to implementing the new technology ideas,” stated Tshuma in his report.
The program was intended to create and make an advanced player’s playing and competitive abilities of leading golfers from Africa thereby enhancing continental competition and ultimately to take competitive African golfers to the world stage.
One of the organisers R and A is working towards the staging of Africa Amateur Championships for both men and women to provide elite golfers in Africa with a stage similar to what exists at the R and A supported championship in Asia-Pacific and Latin-America.
In order for the proposed championship to be a success and not dominated by a handful of countries, the event organisers believe that the delivery of the High Performance Programme Camps and the expert support to selected golfers and coaches will provide opportunity to enhance their respective skill sets, enhance access to information and improve their chances of further success.
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Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter