Sweden 2026... What an Experience!

I'm just sat here reflecting on what was an incredible week last week in Sweden.

Not only was it a complete honour and a privilege to go and play for my adopted country, but it was just the most amazing experience. The team I was with Ana our captain, Arminda, Paula and Madalena were just the best . So supportive , encouraging, and was so great to share the experince with them

There were 18 countries competing in the Senior Team Championships and 13 teams in the Master Team Champs.

I've never seen driving ranges, short game areas and putting greens so full of people practising before they played. Everywhere you looked people were warming up, practicing  and getting themselves ready. 

The practice round on Monday morning was a chance to see the course. The condition of the course was immaculate, and it was just a beautiful course and surroundings.

I quickly realised that driving, you could be a little bit off line, but your shots into the greens really had to be accurate. The greens were very challenging ! 

On a lot of the holes, if you missed short, the ball could roll a long way away from the green, into bunkers or even into water.If you missed long, you were often in thick rough or more bunkers. There were very few straight putts and very few flat greens. 

Then, especially on the final day of the match play, I think they thought we were playing the US Open or something because some of those pin positions were quite mean ! 

I think the course was probably one of the hardest I've ever played. To give you an indication of how difficult it was, I actually got an extra five shots compared with what I would normally receive at home.

Monday evening was the opening ceremony .  Where the teams paraded to their national anthem. I actually felt quite emotional during the opening ceremony.

We were all standing there in alphabetical order and, obviously, Portugal is towards the end. Then you literally walk out to your national anthem with the captain carrying the placard with the name, one of the other team members Arminda had the flag. We were all there in our navy blazers and green skirts .It was really quite special.

One of the really lovely parts of the week was who I got to play with.

The first day of stroke play my playing partners were from Finland and Czech Republic. 

The second day I actually played with the Swedish captain, whose team went on to win, and a lady from Belgium.

I think most of the people I played with and against all played off around 6hcp, so It was really interesting playing alongside so many very low handicappers, just watching how they went about things and seeing what I have to work on if I want my game to get to that level.

The first two days were stroke play, which in one way is a bit like playing your Club Championships. But at the same time it's completely different because you're not just trying to get the lowest score for yourself. You're trying to get the lowest score for the team so that you finish in the best possible position going into the match play.

Then, the match play on the next 2 days is completely different again so it made it quite interesting having the 2 formats.

I was really lucky. I won my match against Switzerland 5&4, which was a lovely start to the match play and we won against them so got to play Finland the following day, where I was not so lucky and lost,  but luckily Portugal won 3&2 overall so we finished top of group C so 9th overall. 

Ideally, we'd have loved to have been in Groups A or B from the beginning, but that's given me something to aim for next year to shoot lower stroke play scores ! The 10 on the first day on the 17th hole didnt help the cause ! 

As the rookie in the Portuguese team, I was super pleased to have contributed three out of the four days for the team, which I was really happy with because it is a huge learning experience. It is so completely different from anything I've done before.

Alongside everything I learned about golf, there was something else the week really reinforced for me in terms of my work and what I teach.

I don't normally play five days of competitive golf in a row.

Once I knew I'd been selected, I had about five weeks to prepare. During that time I made sure I practised or played at least 5 days out of 7, because I wanted my body to get used to doing what I was going to ask it to do in Sweden.

I kept my strength training going, although I eased off it a little bit before the tournament because I wanted more time to practise and I also wanted to make sure I didn't go there carrying any little niggles.

It was a long golf course and I averaged around 22,000 steps every day, so it was a lot of walking, but no hills like we get at PDF so walking there is great way to keep your golf walking fitness levels up ! 

It was really reassuring to know that all the mobility work we do in the Golf Fitness classes, together with the strength training I've done over the years, gave me such a good base.

Every morning I warmed up before I played, but interestingly every warm up was slightly different.

There wasn't anything  that was painful, but some days my hips felt a little tighter, another day my lower back. It really reinforced something I talk about a lot.

There isn't one perfect warm up.

There isn't one perfect mobility routine.

The more movement options we have, the easier it is to give our body exactly what it needs on that particular day.

That's exactly why we do so many different mobility exercises in class alongside the strength work. You're building a toolbox that you can draw on whenever your body needs it.

It was a really good reminder that looking after your body isn't about the next six weeks or six months. Its about giving yourself the best chance of still being able to do the things you love in 10, 15 or 30 years' time.

Of course I came home with lots of golfing goals for next year, and my poor coach Huw had the longest breakdown of what worked, what I felt didn't and what I need to work on for the next year to enable me to shoot those lower scores in the stroke play and to beat all the 6 handicappers I come up against in match play !  Next year's Championships are being held near Versailles, just outside Paris, so yes... I've definitely got plenty to work on over the next twelve months to try and make the team again and hopefully improve on my scoring, it really was a fantastic experience I would love to repeat.

But I also came home even more convinced that strength, mobility and looking after our bodies really do make a difference.

Whether that's playing golf, walking the dog, gardening, travelling or simply enjoying everyday life.

That's what Fit2loveLife has always been about.

Helping people build a body that's fit to love life.

Now... I'd better get practising for Paris!