Mental and physical flexibility is a big component of most sports. In golf, the body’s ability to stay flexible will help a player’s ability to get better shots not just from the tee, but from other areas of the course as well.

That is just one of the many reasons that during the Winter Break, members of the ISU men’s golf team have been working on improving their flexibility in the gym.

“Flexibility is essential for golfers to get a good launch on the ball for each shot,” said senior golfer Nate McCoy. “We use our flexibility on every shot from the time we tee off to when we line up our putt.”

The winter months offer an extended break, not from school, but from the sport for the Cyclone golfers. Their last tournament wrapped up on Oct. 30 and the next tournament is a little less than a month away on Feb. 4.

“The break has allowed some of the golfers to be away from the game for a little,” said coach Andrew Tank. “That has given the team time to work in the gym and improve our flexibility and strength.”

Tank said that being flexible will not only help the golfers on the links when the season starts, but will help with their mentality and deal with the stresses that come with being away from home.

“Being away from home while juggling school and tournaments isn’t easy,” Tank said. “That’s where working on flexibility comes in: If you are able to be flexible with school and home sickness, then the athlete should be flexible mentally in the tournaments.

“We can work on physical flexibility, it’s the break that works on the athlete’s mental flexibility.”

Since four of the nine players live outside of the United States, the break allows those players to fly home to see family. Time with family is something that can rally the players morale, Tank said.

Tank also said the break from school allowed the athletes to go home for family, which isn’t possible for some of the athletes during the smaller school breaks.

“We can be gone for a few months at a time, and in the spring, the season really picks up with tournaments coming back-to-back weekends,” Tank said. “For the international players to be able to see family, that can boost their morale gearing up for the new semester.”

Two of the golfers, sophomore Duncan Croudis and freshman Sam Daley, went south of the equator to return home for some rest and relaxation before the new semester. Croudis hails from Australia and Daley’s home country is New Zealand.

“It was nice to get home and see the family; I only get to see them during Christmas break during school,” Daley said. “It also helped me get refocused for the coming semester.”