“This injury was like one in a million” – How Paige Spiranac switched from being a competitive gymnast to a golfer
With over 3.6 million followers on Instagram, Paige Spiranac has beaten the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to become the most popular golf figure in the world. The golfer-turned-influencer achieved this feat after she quit pro-golfing and established herself as the premier female golf model/influencer.
A social media celebrity, Paige Spiranac's Instagram posts along with her Playing A Round podcast made her a popular name among golf fans. While many are aware that she was a golfer before turning into an influencer, only a few know that golfing wasn’t even Spiranac’s first-choice sport.
Paige Spiranac became a golfer due to an injury
Spiranac has revealed that she became an influencer by chance. Much like her 'accidental' internet fame, Spiranac’s golfing career had also come as an unplanned move.
After becoming an internet sensation in 2015, Paige Spiranac opened up about how she originally wanted to become a gymnast. The then-22-year-old golfer was speaking in an interview when she revealed that she took up golf as injuries restricted her from practicing gymnastics.
Spiranac grew up in an athletic household as her father played college football and her mother was a professional ballet dancer. The 29-year-old, who practiced gymnastics from the age of 6 to 12, was forced to quit after suffering from a rare injury.
Replying to a query on how she became a golfer, Spiranac said that it was her father who introduced her to the sport. Speaking in an interview with Esquire, Paige Spiranac said:
“I actually was a competitive gymnast for the first part of my life. From age 6 to 12, I dedicated pretty much everything to that until I got injured really badly. I was doing a vault, so I was jumping backward [and] when I was taking off, the muscle pulled the bone off my kneecap."
"In gymnastics, it's all about never show[ing] when you're injured, so I went almost a month with a broken kneecap.”
Paige Spiranac continued:
“I was scared to tell my coaches, and I was scared to tell my parents [laughs]. I finally told my mom. The doctor said that this injury was like one in a million. And then it happened again six months later. So I had to quit. Then my dad was like, 'I think you would really love golf. You have a good personality for it.' I hit the first golf ball and loved it right away.”
Spiranac went on to add that she loved golf as it’s a 'gentleman's game'. In the interview, the golfer-turned-influencer mentioned that she was never overly competitive, which made it tough for her to succeed in gymnastics. Paige Spiranac added:
“For gymnastics, they would always say that I was, I guess, too nice [laughs]. My coach actually told me that. Golf's a gentleman's game. So it's all about integrity and you cheer on other people, and it's kind of different from other sports where you just want to beat everyone. I'm competitive, but I've never been overly competitive."
"In gymnastics, you have judges. So, when you perform, the only way that you can get on the podium or win is to have the judges think that you're good enough. But in golf, it's all up to you. I like that I'm accountable for the outcome of my game.”
In the 2015 interview, Paige Spiranac also mentioned that she loved to play golf alone as playing by herself felt 'peaceful'.
Interestingly, Spiaranac reiterated the same recently. Speaking in one of her YouTube videos, the content creator said that she quit pro-golfing due to the pressure of the sport. The former pro then added that she was happy playing golf alone on a regular basis.