On April 8, 2012, golfer Bubba Watson won the Masters golf tournament in Augusta (Georgia). The online magazine Golfdigest.com extensively recounts his career as a golf player and his relationship with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is extraordinary and revealing information about how someone affected by ADHD can reach the pinnacle of a sport and how beneficial and peculiar this sport can be for those affected (Elling, 2012, cp., CADAH Foundation, 2016).
Bubba Watson has ADHD although he has never been clinically diagnosed or treated. The truth is, there’s not much doubt. Sometimes, in his way of speaking, it seems like every synapse in his brain is firing at the same time while his eyes scan the environment he’s in. Two-time U.S. Open winner, Lee Janzen said the disorder’s name should be EAD, “Excess Attention Disorder” because “you don’t really suffer a deficit, but rather, an excess of attention” (Janzen, cp. Elling, 2012).
However, Watson is not the first PGA Tour player to have faced ADHD, and he is not the first to win a “Major”. The late Payne Stewart, diagnosed a few months before his death in 1999, managed to win three “majors”, winning the U.S. Open twice, and played his best golf in situations where absolute concentration, an infallible strategy, and no mental lapse could be afforded.
In this sense, ADHD is like a double-edged titanium sword when it comes to golfers. It can be a help and a hindrance, or both at once. According to Elling (2012 cp. CADAH Foundation, 2016), the late Stewart used to say that “The harder the shot or the course, the better his ability to concentrate; he used to make mistakes on easier shots because those were too boring” (2005).
Hank Kuehne is one of the few PGA Tour players who has spoken openly about his battles with ADHD and says it can have its advantages. The accumulation of stimuli seen does not necessarily have to be harmful. “My ADD helps me a lot sometimes. I can hit a bad shot and quickly find a solution. With my brain working at thousands of miles per hour, ideas come much faster” (cp. Elling, 2012).
These three previous cases are textbook examples of what experts describe as the ability of an ADHD patient to achieve a “hyper” focus for short periods.
Hank Haney taught Kuehne: “It was a challenge, but it’s the coach who has to know how to adapt to the student, not the other way around,”. “And I think of ADHD as an advantage in some ways. You only have to be able to maintain concentration for less than a minute to hit a shot. However, on the other hand, the sheer overload of stimuli can sometimes cause the player to miss the main message” (cp. Elling, 2012)
Dr. Gio Valiante, a professor at Rollins College (Florida), has worked as a sports psychologist with a multitude of PGA Tour players. He believes that ADHD is overdiagnosed and poses the following reflection: “When do men get into trouble? When they think too much. I have never had a client call me because the game was too simple. I am actively trying to teach my clients to do what kids with ADHD do naturally” (cp. Elling, 2012).
Currently, Valiante believes that golf and baseball are especially suitable for people with ADD and ADHD symptoms due to long periods of inactivity. Not so in car racing, where a second of distraction could be fatal.
Finally, the stories of athletes cited previously allow us to observe how in adulthood, the brain and body often learn to manage ADHD symptoms naturally. Otherwise, let’s look at our first example in the article, Bubba Watson, who, at 33, despite showing many signs and symptoms of ADHD, certainly seems to be surviving very well.
ISEP offers the Master’s in Intervention in Learning Difficulties to respond to new educational challenges and ensure that difficulties presented in the classroom are addressed as an opportunity to find new learning mechanisms better suited to each child’s particularities. As seen in this article, a learning disorder does not have to be a limitation.