Feature
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU....
BEAMONESQUE?
By Digraj Singh
he seed of this article was sown when
a student asked me what I thought
about Bryson DeChambeau and I
am drawn towards making a huge
comparison. So let me begin by
creating a background, however profound it
may sound.
I remember growing up on stories of great
sporting achievements and efforts. With a
father who was a consummate sportsman and
sport lover, it was easy. I remember reading
about American Bob Beamon who set a world
record for the long jump in the 1968 Mexico
City Olympics with a �rst jump of 8.90 m (29
ft. 2 1�2 in.), bettering the existing record by
55 cm (21 2�3 in.). Leading up to that day, the
world record had been broken thirteen times
since 1901, with an average increase of 6 cm
(2 1�2 in.) and he broke the existing record by
a margin of 55 cm (21 2�3 in.) and his world
record stood for almost 23 years until it was
broken in 1991 by Mike Powell. “, and in
sports jargon, a new adjective – Beamonesque
– came into use to describe spectacular feats.
Incredible!
Then there was the story of Roger Bannister
who became the �rst man to run a mile under
4 minutes in 1954. In the nineteen-�fties, it
was spoken of by some as an insurmountable
barrier, and its attainment was considered
a feat nearly as remarkable as reaching the
poles or climbing Everest. After his relative
failure at the 1952 Olympics in which he
�nished 4th, Bannister spent two months
deciding whether to give up running. He
then set himself on a new goal, to be the �rst
man to run a mile in under four minutes and
accordingly intensi�ed his training. And then
on the 6 of May 1954 during a meet between
British AAA and Oxford University at If�ey
Road Track in Oxford he ran the race under 4
minutes. Well, the term Beamonesque had not
been coined till then, but the performance was
Beamonesque.
Nearer home and with India’s favourite
sport, there were Beamonesque performances
by Sri Lankan Cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya.
Jayasuriya revolutionized one-day
international cricket with his explosive batting
which initiated the hard-hitting modern-day
batting strategy of all nations. He surprised
all opposing teams when he started attacking
from the word go and started hitting lofted
shots at will. Till date he is the only player to
score over 13,000 runs and capture more than
300 wickets in One Day International cricket,
and is regarded as one of the best all-rounder
in the history of limited-overs cricket
Then there was our own Milkha Singh Ji
winning International races at will. Indians
and our body types do not lend to matching
world standards in the 400 metres. But here he
was, with efforts which were unbelievable. He
won 77 of the 80 international races he took
part in. Beamonesque. And I remembered
his stories because he was from the same
EME regiment in the Army which my father
was from and they had served together in
Secundrabad.
Then Tiger burst on the scene. The manner
in which he won his �rst US Open and the
Masters was simply Beamonesque. The
manner in which he won the Masters last year,
after his back surgeries was Beamonesque.
These incredible athletes had some very
interesting consistencies. For one, they all
had great courage which was demonstrated in
various ways. They were all hard working and
with great resolve. And except for Beamon,
they all had very individualistic techniques
for training and strategies for doing what they
did.
Bannister was known as the Lone Wolf
Miler for his unconventional and mild
training methods, in which he often placed
the demands of his studies before running. On
the other hand, Beamon was traditional in his
approach. In those times, it was considered
that being a good runner assisted long
jumping and he was quick. Sanath Jayasuriya
also demonstrated tremendous courage and
unconventional strategy and when he started
attacking from the word go and tore apart all
conventional books on how it was meant to
be done.
Do we see some similarities here with
Bryson DeChambeau? YES. I do. He has
the resolve, the mental strength, willingness
to do the unconventional and is beginning to
show results. Well, nothing yet to indicate
Beamonesque performances. Just hitting it a
mile longer on average doesn’t qualify for the
title of Beamonesque!!
However, let me now take a huge punt
in making a prediction and I have reasons
for the same. As an amateur, he became the
�fth player to win both the NCAA and U.S.
Amateur titles in the same year. Those who
have done it before are Jack Nicklaus, Phil
Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and Ryan Moore.
He is a student of the game and has converted
many intangibles around the game into an
art. He has recently beefed up to add power
and speed and thereby exceptional distance
to his driving. Incidentally he has two
driver swings. He demonstrates courage and
unconventionalism. His swing, his grip, his
equal length clubs, his efforts to beef up, et all
show that he is willing to go that extra mile,
however unconventional it may be. Well,
keeping all of the above in mind, I’m prepared
to state that he will have performances which
are going to be Beamonesque. He has the
mindset.
This is the third time I’ve made a prediction
about a sportsman and I’ve been proved right
the last two times. The �rst time was when I
predicted Ivan Lendl’s �rst Major Title win
and he went on to win the French Open in 5
sets from John McEnroe. He had earlier lost in
the �rst 4 Major Finals he had been. And then
when I told Mr Amitabh Kant that Jeev would
come back after a long 6 year slump. Jeev
won two European Tour Events soon after.
And this is my third prediction. Let’s watch
out if I’m right.
46 GolfPlus JULY 2020