England Golf has teed off its #SwitchOffWithGolf campaign, with ambassadors Dan Walker and Professor Greg Whyte encouraging golf fans to reduce screen-time and increase green-time to improve their mental well-being.
#SwitchOffWithGolf has launched to coincide with Stress Awareness Month and will encourage lapsed golfers to take time out from their busy schedules to rediscover their drive.
Over 85% of adults say they experience stress regularly, while 67% of men admit to having been so stressed at some point over the last year that they have felt unable to cope.
Britons identify technology as a cause of stress and disruption to personal life, often feeling overwhelmed by the ‘always on’ culture, forever connected by email, SMS and social media.
The #SwitchOffWithGolf campaign aims to stimulate conversation around the importance of positive mental health and to educate potential golfers about the physical and psychological benefits of exercising outdoors as a coping strategy for dealing with every-day stresses.
Golf doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. The campaign showcases the extensive range of formats accessible to golfers to suit their individual schedule; from 18-hole courses to 9-holes, Par 3, the driving range and short game courses, you can play golf no matter how much time you have.
Dan Walker (pictured) and Greg Whyte, who recently climbed Mt Kilimanjaro together in aid of Comic Relief, have joined forces again to raise awareness about mental well-being and how to combat stress through golf.
Walker, a passionate golfer, outlines how easy it is to find a format that fits around daily commitments, saying, “We’ve all got busy lives and it’s hard to fit things in sometimes, but it is possible. We’ve got three kids, I’ll drop one of them off at a piano lesson and then know I’ve got 20 minutes to go to the driving range, maybe play a couple of holes or just hit a few balls, then go back to pick them up.
“You know what it’s like, sometimes you have a bad day. The great thing about golf is that feeling when you hit one ball, just smash it, even if it doesn’t go down the middle that feeling is beautiful. If you’re busy at home and busy at work, there are still so many ways to switch off with golf.”
Whyte has added his expertise to the campaign, re-iterating the physical and psychological benefits of playing the sport. “We know that 85% of adults experience stress on a regular basis and over two thirds of those actually feel overwhelmed by that stress,” he said. “Physical activity and outdoor activity are incredibly potent stimuli for positive lifestyle changes, because it impacts all areas of health simultaneously by improving physical, mental and social health.
“We don’t need to overthink this, golf is a fantastic stress reliever in whatever way you chose to play it. You can really tailor the game to suit your needs, so on a day where you want to play all day go and play 18 holes but if you’ve got 15 minutes and want to destress, you can head to the range.”