It's all in the hips, Yao.
Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming busted out his six-foot-long golf clubs and played in the Mission Hills World Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament in Haikou, China this weekend.
Image by Tyrone Siu / Reuters
Yao's no Michael Phelps yet, though. Golf is a cruel mistress.
Yao's a true seven footer, so the fact that his swing doesn't just look like a willow tree swaying in the wind is pretty impressive. There's seems to be a genuine, yet unrefined golfer inside that massive frame, a few instructional sessions with David Leadbetter and Yao could be breaking 80.
We've translated the commentary for you:
(Chinese Johnny Miller): "Yao Ming needs to get up-and-down from here for quadruple-bogey. Wind gusting in from behind his back. Not much in this, is there Dottie?"
(Chinese Dottie Pepper): "Johnny shut up we know you used to be really good at golf. Yao just missed the ball entirely."
(Chinese Johnny Miller): "And his playing partner comes over to fix the divot, I've never seen that before."
(Chinese Dottie Pepper): "Yao Ming doesn't fix divots."
(Chinese Johnny Miller): "He addressed the ball. That's a stroke. I'm counting that as a stroke."
(Chinese Dottie Pepper): "I hate you."
Speaking of Michael Phelps, he was in China too, living the life of a retired 27-year-old.
Image by Tyrone Siu / Reuters