Choi Na-yeon (36), who gained huge popularity as a ‘ulzzang golfer’, ended her career as an active player last year. On Instagram, he introduces himself as a former professional golfer and YouTuber. Her YouTube channel, which she started a few years ago while working as an athlete, has over 290,000 subscribers.
After going on tour for more than 9 months and spending the remaining 3 months as a golf player, he must have felt a bit freer. Choi Na-yeon said, “He has become unemployed, but he is actually busier than when he was a player.”
Of course, it takes time to shoot and edit YouTube videos. However, the reason he is so busy without a break is because of his workouts.
Not too long ago, he started kickboxing. He went to the gym with his older brother and ended up looking like he was having fun. Wearing gloves, throwing punches, and kicking, your whole body will become wet with sweat in an instant. He said that he liked Taekwondo from his childhood, “Golf, which he did all his life, can be said to be a rather static exercise. It’s very fun to move your body more dynamically. He said, “It feels completely different because he sweats a lot more than when he played golf.”
Even when she was a golf player, Choi Na-yeon was a player who worked hard. He continued weight training and also did Pilates. But he has only one purpose. He wanted to make his golf swing more smooth and prevent injuries.
Perhaps that is why, following retiring, he immersed himself in various dynamic sports. In the winter, he went skiing with his friends. He also learned tennis, which is in vogue among young women these days. He plans to start playing soccer soon. Choi Na-yeon said, “While skiing and playing tennis, she felt that she was a ‘body’. My body didn’t follow my heart. Looking back, I think golf was the easiest,” she laughed.
![[이헌재의 인생홈런]130km/h in the mid-50s... Goo Dae-seong that does not lose with time](https://dimg.donga.com/a/180/120/95/2/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2023/03/05/118180828.8.jpg)
Choi Na-yeon (right) is having a good time with her close friends at the ski resort. Courtesy of Nayeon Choiand another one. He is in the middle of building his body. After Choi Na-yeon and her best friend Kim Ha-neul (35) made her body look great, she decided to take a ‘body profile’ in which she left a picture of it. For regarding 100 days, she combines diet control and exercise. She will be photographed in May.
Choi Na-yeon has already released a picture of her body profile taken two years ago through her Instagram. This time, she suggested that she try it with Kim Ha-neul, so she took her second body profile. She is, to borrow his expression, “hard work, not hard work.”
The daily diet should not exceed 1200 kcal. Exercise doesn’t stop every day. Simple aerobic exercise such as running is done every day, and weight training is also done at least 4 times a week. Choi Na-yeon said, “There are times when I wonder if it’s right to live like this,” but also said, “It’s hard to live a restrained life following retirement, but it’s also fun.”
A body profile photo posted by Choi Na-yeon on her Instagram in early 2021. The abs are distinct. Choi Na-yeon’s InstagramThere are benefits to constantly moving your body. Choi Na-yeon said of her “I hardly thought of her golf following her retirement. But as the golf season started and my fellow players were going to the United States one by one, I felt a sense of emptiness without even realizing it.” I think that’s why (Kim) Ha-neul, who retired a year before me, didn’t leave me alone and kept asking me to do something together.”
Looking back, it was similar when I was a player. Sleep is important for tour pros. He often tees off early, but it is not easy to adjust to the jet lag because he travels around the world. Even at that time, the method Choi Na-yeon chose was to make her body a little harder. He said, “Personally, I tend to exercise in the evening. After he ate dinner following golf practice, he did a lot of weight training. He tired his body like that and then he took a shower and then he might sleep well,” he said. There is nothing like exercise to get rid of emptiness and wandering thoughts.
Choi Na-yeon in her days as a professional golfer. With her sharp iron shot, she has won nine LPGA Tour titles. Courtesy of LotteLastly, we asked her, a world-class player who won 9 wins on the LPGA Tour and 5 wins on the KLPGA Tour, what tips she gives to weekend golfers. The secret to reducing the 2-3 strokes he said was ‘putting it down’.
“Golf is a sport where you need to make fewer mistakes to improve your score. The mindset is important when you miss a tee shot. Even pros think, ‘If you miss a tee shot, you block it with a look’. If you get too greedy to catch a green onion following hitting the wrong driver, it is likely to lead to a triple or an onion. It’s good to put your mind down and hit the second shot with the idea of somehow getting it around the green.”
In addition, you can find the technical parts of golf, such as the swing, on Choi Na-yeon’s YouTube channel, ‘Nayeon Isback’.
Reporter Heonjae Lee uni@donga.com