If there’s anything Grace Wang has learned from her athletic journey, it’s that second chances are worth taking.
Very rarely is a person 100% invested in something from the first second they try it out. There’s typically a bit of hesitancy, even fear for what the future could entail. There’s plenty of ‘what ifs?’ thrown around, questioning if something new could align with their values and vision for the future.
Now picture this: Wang is a competitive figure skater, earning gold at the national level and traveling all over to demonstrate her immense talent. She has her friends, coaches and a routine. But most of all, she has an identity.
And then, after years of crafting that identity, it suddenly finds new life.
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At the age of 5, Wang’s parents opted to place her in a variety of sports, hoping that one would ignite a passion in her. The first time Wang tried figure skating, she didn’t like it. But one month later, with a bit of encouragement, she eventually fell head over heels for the sport.
“My parents put me into a lot of different sports at a young age, like gymnastics, swimming, skating and dancing,” Wang told The Michigan Daily. “Above all, I really loved skating.”
After her initial hesitation, Wang was all in. At an early age, she was already working one-on-one with coaches to perfect her craft. She spent countless hours at the rink, working to the point where some skills became second nature. Skating was of utmost importance to Wang, and the sport was her chosen community.
Skating took deep roots in Wang, not only as an athlete, but a person as well. Her understanding of hard work and dedication carried over to all aspects of her life. She held high expectations for herself, persevering even in the face of failure.
And her career only kept progressing. Wang went on to win U.S. Figure Skating gold for senior free skate, asserting dominance on the ice. In eighth grade, she earned a spot at sectionals, achieving one of her long-time goals. It seemed like she was at the height of her career.
But Wang saw that as the perfect time to end it.
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Wang’s father, Dahai, had been a golf fan for a long time. He was interested in introducing his 13-year-old daughter to the sport, hopeful that Grace would fall in love with it.
She hated it.
Grace had her heart set on figure skating, making her somewhat apprehensive to try something new. With a bit of persistence, though, Dahai’s influence rubbed off on her, and she caught the golf bug. Grace began working with different coaches for golf, and they all came to the same conclusion: Her promising swing gave her the chance to be a successful golfer.
Hearing those words can be convincing for just about anyone. Grace’s ears perked up when she discovered the belief complete strangers had regarding her promising golf career. That external belief prompted her to seriously consider her position as a golfer for the first time, contemplating how the sport could fit in with her established skating career.
“Going into ninth grade, it was weighing the pros and cons of what would ultimately help me in the future,” Grace said. “Because at that point, it wasn’t like I hated golf. I was kind of just scared, or a bit nervous to step into a completely new sport.”
Ultimately, Grace’s parents sat her down, and the Wang family considered all possible options with their corresponding outcomes. Golf was still a relatively new sport to Grace, and taking it up would require her to build from scratch. Skating, on the other hand, already had a strong foundation in her life.
But unlike golf, figure skating was heavily taxing on the mind, especially with how high the athletes set their expectations. Both skating and golf, being individual sports, come with the baggage of mental pressure. To understand the difference, though, sometimes you just have to experience it yourself.
Skating contains one routine made up of 160 seconds. Each skill must be executed with perfection. There is no room for error, or else the overall score will pay for it. Golf is a round of 18 holes. A common phrase, ‘They don’t ask how, they ask how many,’ holds plenty of truth in the game, as a mistake on a single swing or an unfortunate bounce can be recovered by plenty of skill — and sometimes a little bit of luck — on the rest of the course.
Grace found the different mental approaches were some of the greatest challenges in making the switch between the two sports. The way any athlete approaches their style of play varies from person to person, while mental approaches typically vary from sport to sport as well. Physical talent is always one thing. It’s relatively constant, especially within each competition. An athlete’s mentality, on the other hand, can shift based on the situation they’re in.
As a figure skater, Grace was taught to strive for perfection, that no mistakes were allowed if success were to become a reality. But if there’s anything that an athlete learns from golf, it’s that perfection is nearly impossible. Not even Tiger Woods goes and has an absolutely perfect weekend. It just doesn’t happen.
“I think (golf) helped me ease up a little bit as an athlete, just knowing that it’s not done for you,” Grace said. “For example, if you screw up on the first three holes, you have 15 holes left. It’s definitely just a whole different mindset.”
As a freshman in high school, Grace decided that golf was best for her future plan. It seemed that Grace had made the switch from skating in its entirety, but Grace wasn’t done with the sport quite yet.
Grace opted to join her high school’s figure skating team, finding it a great opportunity to stick with her first love while simultaneously improving her golf game. As a captain of the figure skating team her senior year, Grace helped lead Rochester United to back-to-back state championships. Naturally, high school sports become less demanding than elite year-round teams. For Grace, that shift was the skating community she found.
While participating in high school figure skating, golf was still full speed ahead in Grace’s mind. She was competing on the junior tour, playing summer golf and propelling Rochester Adams High School’s women’s golf team to a state runner-up her freshman season.
In her junior year, Grace took time off of high school golf to dial in on her game and reach out to college coaches. It was a period in which things somehow slowed down and sped up at the same time. But with the security of committing to her dream school, the University of Michigan, Grace decided it was time to return to high school golf for a last ride.
In 2022, Rochester Adams was the heavy favorite to win the Michigan high school Division I tournament. Grace’s performance was dominant, putting the Highlanders in solid contention for something that the team had never seen before: a state title.
After two days of play and 36 holes later, Grace lifted the wooden mitten-shaped state championship trophy with her teammates, as they had accomplished something that no other Rochester Adams women’s golf team had done before them.
“I think she’ll be successful in her career, because she is a hard worker and has good time management,” Dahai said. “And she has a very good personality.”
Grace’s mark as a high school athlete is undisputedly dominant, showcasing how she was able to excel in whatever sport she put her mind to.
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Now in the full swing of things as a sophomore on the Michigan women’s golf team, Grace has dedicated the last seven years of her athletic career to golf. But that doesn’t mean she’s totally out of the loop when it comes to skating.
Grace will find herself on the ice at Yost Ice Arena from time to time. Her skates are kept in Ann Arbor, waiting in the wings for the time when she’s ready to bust them out. Skating has been a great way for Grace to check out for a period of time, as it’s just her and the ice.
Although golf is now her main focus, skating will forever be a part of Grace’s journey. She would not have become the athlete she is today without the skills and mindset cemented into her habits long before golf was even in the picture.
Imagine Grace’s world if she’d never given either sport a second chance.
