Most athletes will tell you sitting out any length of time during a season with an injury can be agonizing. Some might even say it’s more painful than the injury itself.

Red Deer golfer Adrienne White is currently dealing with such a situation and made the decision to take the entire year off in order for the injury to heal properly but she admits it hasn’t been easy to sit back.

“The first few months I just rested and that felt really good,” explained the 28-year-old who is based in Phoenix. “But now it’s starting to get really difficult because I’m starting to get the itch.”

White had a minor injury which she admits was totally fixable but she played through it which led to a torn pectoral muscle at the LPGA qualifying school.

She felt it was the right timing to do something as dramatic as this because she needed a break from the game, both physically and mentally, she said.

“I was a little burnt out too, I had some over training going on at the end of last year so it was actually nice to have a break.”

The choice didn’t come easy however because by her own admission she is a competitor and it’s hard for her to not be involved in the game she truly loves to play. But she consulted some LPGA peers at the Dinah Shore tournament this year and got some answers to her questions.

“One of the first players I ran into was (LPGA veteran) Pat Hurst and I talked to her and told her what I was doing and she told me you know, after my first year on the tour I took a year off and now I’m out here because I love the game.”

After hearing that White figured this was the right path to take and she is young enough to come back.

“My wheels were spinning, it wasn’t getting any better in terms of my performance, where my mind set was at and the injury.”

Most of her time spent has not involved swinging a golf club with a purpose, instead it’s been a lot of short game practice but the injury is healing nicely, she said.

Evidence of that came in the form of a shot hit at the recent Gull Lake Golf Course junior foundation pro am. White smacked a five wood 215 yards and it took a hop and then rolled into the hole for her third ace.

A silver lining to the injury and resulting time off for White is the fact it allows her to slow down her 100 mile an hour world and focus on getting back to form.

“I was on the LPGA through a conditional status so every week I was fighting for my status so that really drained on me,” she said about the mental aspect of the game.

She has no commitment yet as to when or even if she will come back but the LPGA is still on the radar. Plus add to the mix that golf will be back in the Olympics in 2016 and White readily admits she’d be interested in wearing the red and white of Canada.

She is fully aware it will be a tough road back but she has been there before when she started down this path at the beginning of her career.

“I’ve been there once and I’ve done it once so there’s no reason I can’t do it again,” she said. “If I go back stronger and wiser then it will only help me out.”

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