LPGA Lists Banned Substances
The LPGA released its list of banned substances today that it will begin testing for in 2008. The list includes beta-blockers, anabolic steroids, stimulants, and other items not yet identified. I’m still not convinced (though I could be wrong) that even if golfers (male or female) were taking any type of performance-enhancing drugs, it would hurt them more than it would help them.
Golf requires far more control of your subtle reflexes than any other sport I can think of, and while a performance-enhancing drug may give that extra edge when it comes to clubhead speed and more distance, I have to believe you’d sacrifice control and more importantly touch and feel with shots that require anything less than 100%.
And the professional golf communities are very small and it wouldn’t take long for someone to notice that player A is suddenly bulking up and he/she hasn’t been spending much time in the training room. On an unrelated note about the LPGA though, If I were commish, I’d be more adamant about policing the amount of time it takes for players to hit their shots. Yes, it’s improved the last couple of years, but I still think there’s room for more improvement. The act of having their caddies line up all their full shots wastes an incredible amount of time per round, and more importantly, these are professionals, not weekend hacks. If they can’t line up their own shots by now…