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Jayson Tatum used his quarantine to develop elite-level PGA Tour swing speed
Jayson Tatum's emergence as a bonafide superstar was one of the most exciting storylines of the NBA season before play was halted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On the bright side, it sounds like he will emerge from quarantine with an elite-level skill in another sport: golf.
The Boston Celtics swingman has been working hard on his golf swing during the break, according to The Athletic. And the results are pretty impressive.
“He makes half swings at 118 MPH,” Tatum's golf instructor, Daniel Boisvert said. “But with a wingspan and the physics of it, he’s got a very, very long lever to create speed for him. So it doesn’t even look like he’s swinging and he’s swinging 118 MPH. So he’s well ahead of (the PGA Tour average) without even really going at it.”
Boisvert added that he's seen Tatum hit a "bunt driver" 315 yards and that the NBA star has recorded a 125-MPH swing when asked to swing "a little harder." Only a handful of PGA Tour players reach that speed. And this is with only 10 lessons under Tatum's belt. Of course, the dude has just a tad bit of athletic talent.
“Basketball players are very, very explosive,” Boisvert told The Athletic. “They know how to use the ground very, very well. In golf, if you can use the ground and you have some long levers, you can create a tremendous amount of speed with a very little amount of effort just by getting your body to move the right way.”
In other words, he's got the kind of gifts that you can't teach. Or acquire by eating a lot. Sorry, Bryson DeChambeau.
Anyway, here are a couple looks at Tatum's silky-smooth swing:
Funny enough, Tatum was filmed whiffing on a shot at Topgolf before his rookie season, but it sounds like he will have the last laugh on the links. Boisvert projects him being a scratch-level player like Steph Curry and Ray Allen if the 22-year-old sticks with it.
In the meantime, he should get plenty of opportunity to show off his golf game when the NBA makes its proposed restart in Disney World next month. Hope opposing players brought their checkbooks.