Can Chewing Gum Boost Your Golf Game?

Can Chewing Gum Boost Your Golf Game?
Jordan Spieth’s impromptu decision to chew his way through his first and second rounds at Royal Birkdale has sparked an unlikely debate
Jordan Spieth hits a shot during the British Open.
Jordan Spieth hits a shot during the British Open. PHOTO: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA WIRE/GETTY IMAGES
By Brian Costa
July 28, 2017 7:40 a.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
On his way to a dramatic win for the ages at the British Open last week, Jordan Spieth did something else that was remarkable. He chewed an inordinate amount of gum on the course.

Spieth’s impromptu decision to chew his way through his first and second rounds at Royal Birkdale sparked an unlikely debate about whether gum plays a role in sports performance. It became a wide-ranging discussion both on the Golf Channel broadcast and on social media.

And it left most observers seemingly unsure what to make of it. Was this a meaningless quirk unrelated to Spieth’s victory? Or should pro shops around the world start pushing aside Titleists to clear a shelf for Trident?

“I think mint has some sort of effect on nerves,” Spieth said, though he wasn’t sure that was true for him, since he said after his opening round that he still felt nervous.

There is some science behind Spieth’s suggestion. A 2012 study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition examined the impact of peppermint on sports performance. It compared the athletic performance characteristics of a dozen college students on a treadmill before and after they consumed peppermint essential oil for 10 days.

The result: Subjects showed significant improvement in performance, with lower blood pressure and lower heart rates, after their peppermint binge. But the mint oil they consumed was mixed with water. What about chewing gum?

There is evidence to suggest that can be helpful to a golfer, too. In 2011, researchers from St. Lawrence University published a study that explored the cognitive advantages of chewing gum. It found a positive correlation between chewing gum and the speed at which the brain processes information. It also suggested that chewing gum increases the brain’s ability to hold and manipulate spatial information.

“For instance, in golf, in planning a complex shot,” said Serge Onyper, a co-author of the study.

There is a caveat, however. The study indicated that those benefits are realized only after the gum is chewed and discarded—not while it is being chewed. If Spieth was aided by continuing to chew the gum for hours, then, it would likely have been a placebo effect.

Spieth did not disclose the particular type of gum he was chewing. By the time he got out on the driving range to warm up for his opening round, he said he had already eaten breakfast and brushed his teeth. But his swing coach, Cameron McCormick, offered him a piece of gum, so he took it.

After two holes, already at 1 under par, Spieth said he figured he might as well just leave it in his mouth. At a news conference more than five hours after taking McCormick up on his offer, Spieth was still chewing it.

“It’s still in now,” he said. “It’s probably time for a new piece.”

In basketball, Michael Jordan was a prolific gum-chewer. Major League Baseball dugouts have long been stocked with gum for every game. But the sight of Spieth chomping away in high-definition over 18 holes was unusual for golf. Though the late, three-time major winner Payne Stewart was a known gum-chewer, the habit has never widely caught on.

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said it was hard to say why. “Perhaps because one might find it hard to swing a club and not swallow or spit out the gum,” he said. “Perhaps because no one has invented a gum where the flavor lasts five hours and handing your caddie a piece of chewed gum is, in a comical way, borderline degrading.”

During the British Open broadcast, Spieth surpassing the five-hour mark was treated with almost as much awe as Branden Grace posting the lowest score in major championship history in the third round.

“The same piece of gum for five hours?” the analyst and three-time Open champion Nick Faldo said. “That’s impossible. That’s impossible.”

The gum marathon prompted one reporter to jokingly suggest to Spieth that it may have been performance-enhancing gum, to which Spieth responded, “I don’t think that exists.”

But actually, it does, if one considers caffeine to be a performance aid.

Caffeine, which is perfectly legal in golf and other sports, has been shown in numerous studies to boost athletic performance and—yes—is available in the form of chewing gum. It has become popular among some endurance athletes because it does not pass through the digestive system, meaning it delivers an energy boost faster than coffee.

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison dumps a bucket of bubble gum on shortstop Daniel Robertson in the dugout.
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison dumps a bucket of bubble gum on shortstop Daniel Robertson in the dugout. PHOTO: WILL VRAGOVIC/TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESS
Carl Paton, an associate professor at New Zealand’s Eastern Institute of Technology, has conducted three studies on the impact of caffeinated gum on athletes in two other sports: cycling and rugby. He said he has found a consistent performance boost of between 2% to 4% in athletes that chew the gum.

While his research did not touch on golf, he said caffeinated gum would likely help there too, given other studies that show the benefits of caffeine in general on amateur golfers.

A 2015 study published by the American College of Sports Medicine found that caffeinated golfers drive the ball further, hit their irons with greater accuracy and score better than their non-caffeinated peers.

To be sure, there is no evidence that Spieth’s gum was caffeinated or beneficial in any way. He did not appear to chew gum during his Saturday and Sunday rounds. “I don’t think it’s beneficial at all,” he said. To win the Claret Jug, his stellar play, his ability to think his way around the course and his stirring finish were more than enough.

For everyone else, the science is clear: Drink peppermint essential oil, load up on caffeine and if at all possible, find a stick of gum that combines the two. Just don’t chew it for five hours.