Elena is fun, enthusiastic, engaging but above all, Elena is “Golf”. She’s the kind of person that transmits their enthusiasm and is able to make you see the fun side of everything.

Her look, with her English cap and long socks suggests that you are before a woman with personality who enjoys every instant of life. If you add talented interpersonal skills and patience to these features you get the ideal cocktail for the perfect golf teacher.
Although she holds the title of professional golf player, she never considered making a living with the sport till she was captivated by teaching. For over 18 years now, she has been teaching the new generations and she’s part of the staff of the Guadalmina Royal Golf Club, where we meet with her so she can talk to us about her great passion.

Tell us about your beginnings in this sport.
I started young, with my father, when I was six: he’d take me once a week as an after-school activity. Back then my father was an amateur with a 4/5 handicap; after that he became professional and took up teaching. Afterwards, up till age 14, I progressed and was part of the Aloha Golf team, under the guidance of the teacher and professional player Mr. José Luís Mangas. Once I was in the university my father suggested that as a complement I should spend my free time practicing golf more seriously, with the intent of enrolling in a course as a golf monitor in the future and… that’s how it all began.

You haven’t wanted to try being a professional?
I never considered taking up golf professionally although I was a good player with a low handicap, nor had I thought of teaching it. My idea in the beginning was to work at an administration office but things can change from one day to the next. I completed my monitor course and started to work in La Quinta’s Golf School under the supervision of my father and professionals from the school like Manuel Piñero and others. And so I went developing till I got my next titles, Assistant and finally Golf Teacher. I’m talking of many years ago.
Perhaps the saddest thing of that time is that in the monitor course and subsequent courses, among the fifty participants, only two or three were women. In my professional career, up to this day, my work colleagues are men, none are female teachers.

There aren’t many female golf teachers…
There aren’t many of us. The girls who become professional are more centred on the competition. In my case I went discovering the world of teaching and it hooked me.
I am a woman who likes to talk, I like to interact. When I got my title as professional player and I had the chance to try in competitions I was already linked to teaching. I am very emotional and on the golf course I have suffered and cried a lot. Every time I competed I’d have a hard time and I wouldn’t sleep well because of nerves. Nothing compared to how much I enjoy teaching.

A lot of players have passed through your hands.
A great many: I’ve been dedicated to educating since 2000. I’ve had and have students of all ages and levels, from children of 4/5 to my oldest student who is over 90 and still plays. Although I must confess my weakness are kids and especially adapted golf.

It is also stigmatised as a sport for older people.
That is a barrier we have to break, because of course when one looks at the links one usually sees players of a certain age but this is because they are the ones who have more time; they’re already retired. The young think that golf is a sport for the elderly but that isn’t true. In a golf swing one moves all the muscles and one exercises the mind and it is of vital importance to concentrate. In any case the situation is changing. Every day there are more children and young people starting and continuing.

As a matter of fact it’s good to be physically fit to play better.
Of course. For enthusiasts in general and for people with delicate health golf is a very complete and moderate sport.
At the professional level a golf competitor today minds their nutrition, practices complementary sports, and requires trainers and even many times psychologists. Without a doubt golf is a very, very demanding sport.

This school has given great names.
The best school, that has given and will continue to give great players.
The Royal Club of Guadalmina’s school continues to support youths and can be proud of having a “quarry” with a lot of future prospects. There are prodigies here, players with very low handicaps, who according to their age and level of play have their training adapted. They do gymnastics with a personal trainer, specific exercises for their movement, techniques, rules, they also learn routines to follow and lots of practice work. It is really very hard, it’s many hours, very demanding and those who prosper do so because they also have exceptional talent.

Golf is a very complicated game.
Very complicated. One has to be very constant. The good thing is that what you learn, you retain. When they say to me “I haven’t played for a year”, I answer “don’t worry, the base is there, you just have to practice and get your rhythm, a bit of coordination and the feeling will come”.

It’s hard to make a perfect round: a perfect drive, a perfect long game, a perfect approach and a perfect putt

Should we continue to always take golfing lessons?
In the beginning yes, and afterwards, when the player considers that something isn’t going right. One has to continue learning over the years; the golf swing doesn’t remain the same, truthfully because it is we who change. You can work, correct and have a wonderful swing that works for a while but bit by bit it goes foul and because of this one needs that extra help to tell you what you have to do to put everything back in its place.

How often should we go back to taking classes?
That is very relative, but whenever there is a problem with the swing or if the ball doesn’t leave as one would like it is because there is a bad habit. Then one needs to go to a teacher that shows you the guidelines to follow.

Is golf a physical game or a mental one?
We say 70-30. 70 percent mental and 30 percent technique. At the beginning I didn’t understand this. We dedicate many hours to achieve a movement that is technically very complex. But in the end you realise that at the moment of playing you need good concentration that helps you to achieve the best result possible. For example, when you are in a hole where you have to pass a lake and you say to yourself “I’m sure I can’t pass” the ball will go straight into the water. That negative thinking doesn’t help.

What advice do you give your students when they’re going to go out on the course?
That they always go out positive. That they don’t let the bad strokes affect them much because we have to live with them. It’s hard to make a perfect round (a perfect drive, a perfect long game, a perfect approach and a perfect putt. All on the same day is nearly impossible). They need to learn to live with the fault; if one stroke has gone wrong go, for the next; each stroke is a challenge. And to enjoy fully without crying like I do, ha, ha, ha.

What does somebody need for learning to play golf?
The urge. The urge to discover something new. The fact is it’s curious, but the beginners I have had who had absolutely no idea and who weren’t sure, the moment they hit the first ball, they change. They have another sensation, they discover something they really had no idea existed. That thrills me a lot. And that is what we have to achieve: reaching more people, so they may enjoy this sport that is so wonderful.

What difference is there between masculine and feminine golf?
Technically it is the same but in reality there are great differences between a male and female golfer, as much in the way of playing due to our physical differences as in the way of framing the execution of the movement: we want to control everything and sometimes we think too much.

Then it is better not to think?
One has to think before and after but not during. The swing must be mechanical. The rhythm has to be natural and if the ball doesn’t fly well we do a practice swing as an exercise to correct and go for it again.

What is golf for you?
Professionally it is my life. Right now I believe that if I hadn’t had contact with the world of golf teaching I would have ended up teaching something. But fortunately I’ve ended up in the best of the best: you come to meet so many people; you work with people of all ages, from all walks of life and they enrich you. It thrills me and I would not change it for anything.

Who is your golfing idol?
I could talk to you about European golfers or Asians that are currently dominating, but I’ll stick to what we have at home: Azahara Muñoz. She was and is a girl with a lot of talent. I know her since she was small. She is wonderful as a person and as a player. She’s from here, she’s ours. Without a doubt, I keep her.