Georgia Ball is a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) professional with years of experience as a player and an instructor. Still, that doesn’t prevent her from being the victim of “mansplaining” about the sport.
In a video posted to her social media, Ball shows an experience she had at a driving range. While she’s firing off balls downrange, she’s approached by a man who says he has “20 years” of golf experience—giving him enough knowledge to insist that she’s golfing incorrectly.
“Excuse me, what you’re doing there, you shouldn’t be doing that. You should be … right through. Swing and follow through,” the man tells Ball in the video off-camera.
Ball tries her best to simply ignore the man, offering little assurances to him and informing him that she’s simply “going through a swing change.” This is a process through which golfers dissect and alter their swing in order to work on perceived weak areas, which is a process that involves significant trial and error, per Golf Digest.
Despite this, the man insists on offering her more advice.
“What you’re doing there is you’re coming back too slow,” he says. “What you need to do is follow through a lot quicker than you’re doing there.”
Ball sends off a strong swing to quiet the man, then dismisses him with a simple “Thanks for your advice.”
This video went incredibly viral, amassing over 11 million views on TikTok in just a few days. The virality of the video surprised Ball, who has since talked with several news outlets about the man’s actions. Speaking with the BBC, Ball notes that she could have simply mentioned that she’s a PGA professional to end the interaction. However, she claimed that it was not in line with her nature.
“I wouldn’t interrupt and say that,” she explained. “I suppose it’s just the humble side of me.”
In a conversation with Sky News, she further noted, “It was an awkward conversation at the time but I was just concentrating on what I was doing… I am glad I can look back on it now and see the funny side to it.”
This isn’t the first mansplaining story to take the internet by storm. In one case, a woman shared an interaction with a man at a bar who insisted on trying to explain the law to her—after she had just taken the bar exam. In another, the musician Japanese Breakfast shared a series of messages she received from a male fan explaining how the bass line in one of her songs did not match the “beautiful melody’s in my head.”
@georgiagolfcoach Can you believe he said this? 😳⛳️👀 #golf #golfswing #golflife #golftok #golftiktok #golfer #golfing #golfgirl #golfpro #golftips #golfclub #drivingrange ♬ original sound – Georgia Ball Golf
In the comments section of Ball’s video, users offered their thoughts on her situation.
“But why are we still trying to keep it together, remain kind and even thank them?” a user asked.
“I’ve been driving for 25 years but I’m not about to give Lewis Hamilton some pointers,” joked another.
“The way he took credit for your next swing,” observed a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Ball via email.