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A professional golfer has shared a video of a man giving her unsolicited advice on her technique – but social media users are divided over her response.
PGA pro Georgia Ball, who is based in Liverpool, was filming her swing while at a driving range when a man interrupted her to tell her that she was doing it wrong.
Ball, who is also a golf coach, posted the video on Instagram with the caption: “Can you believe he said this?”
The pro can be seen glancing towards the camera in disbelief at the interaction, but she politely went along with the man’s tips.
“Excuse me, what you’re doing there, you shouldn’t be doing that. You should be… right through. Swing and follow through,” the man told Ball after watching her hit a ball down the range.
He told her that her backswing was “too slow on the way up”.
She thanked him for his advice but said she was just practising, since she’s “going through a swing change”.
The man interrupted her again, insisting that has been “playing golf for 20 years” so she should take his advice.
She decided to try once more to explain she was playing that way because she was working on changing her swing, which is something pros do all the time.
He urged her to practice her swing “one more time” with his advice in mind. Ball politely continued to prepare to hit her second shot.
Ball said afterwards: “I knew I had to make this a good one.”
In the clip, Ball fires a second ball across the range with perfect technique.
There’s a pause. “See, that was much better,” he says. “Keep doing that, anyway,” to which Ball replied: “Thanks for your advice.”
Ball’s video has now received more than 10m views
(Instagram via @Georgiagolfcoach)
The video has since gone viral online with 10m views on TikTok. Many viewers have remarked that it is a glaring example of “mansplaining” – the unsolicited explanation of something by a man to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronising – and an experience shared by many women.
“The way he took credit makes me see red,” remarked one viewer on Instagram.
“He didn’t even want to hear what she was saying. He just wanted to hear himself talk,” added another. “I can’t believe he insisted on imparting his ‘20 year’ wisdom on someone clearly striking the ball so well.”
Meanwhile, others criticised Ball for being “too polite” and for not putting the man in his place.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Ball said that she was a “humble person”, and it’s not in her nature to go looking for an argument.
“For me to turn around and say ‘I’m a PGA pro’… it’s not in me to do that,” she said. “I have a lot of interaction with males and females every single day. And I’d say it’s mostly always positive.
“For me personally, it’s just … get everyone involved in the game, work together on it, we just want to grow golf as much as we can.”
Ball said it was not in her nature to strike up an argument with the man
(This Morning/ITV)
Speaking to This Morning on Friday (23 February), host Alison Hammond asked Ball if she thinks she was being “mansplained” to.
Ball replied: “In that situation it was awkward, but looking back now I am glad I can see the funny side to it.”
Others have praised Ball for her “patient” response to the man’s constant interventions, and for documenting the situation with humour.
“That was very diplomatic of you,” one Instagram user told Ball. “You handle this in such a classy and polite way and I’m here for it,” added another.