Dr. Kiran Kanwar: Golf Guru

This is a ‘then and now’ interview, especially because I had the advantage of having met the young Golfing Teacher at the beginning of her professional journey in 1992 —and now, 34 years later to — the renowned Golf Educator-cum-Scientist, Researcher and Biomechanics Expert.

Then, a notice on a club board about a golf teacher looking to teach ladies and young students caught my attention. Contacted and met India’s then first Professional Women’s Golfing Champion and trainer. Bombay-based Kiran Kanwar had also included two educational sessions at golfing schools in USA to her portfolio to make her a licensed teacher.

My initial story ‘Teaching Golf to the Young Ones’, appeared in ‘Young Mothers’, which I found recently while going through my old scrap books of articles. Wondered where the ambitious young lady, who had started golf at 16 to “play better than her father does”, was.

Dr. Kiran Kanwar was easily located online. Sent her a ‘From the Distant Past’ message and a copy of her 34 year old article. What was heartening, was her prompt, warm reply. She also mentioned that mine had probably been her first published interview ever. She was now living in Los Angeles, and was wiling to do another interview of where her passion for golf had taken her.

In an online interview, she begins, “an aunt said to me in 1989, ‘I’d like to learn golf, can you arrange for a lesson for me?’ Every golfer believes they know a lot about golf so I volunteered to give her a lesson myself. One day she said ‘you’re good at this why don’t you become a golf teacher.’ This was the turning point that changed the direction of my career. My interest got a further boost after I married Army officer Major Deepak Kanwar, an avid single handicapped golfer.

“From the start, I decided I did not want to teach like the typical male coach. Aware that I might possibly be India’s first female golf teacher — as teachers of that generation were all known to have attained ‘enlightenment’ simply by ‘sitting’ under a banyan tree and yet playing serious golf — I went to USA to learn from some of the leading golf educators. Requests for appointments were done by sending them telegrams in those days! One of my biggest lessons learnt was the way how golf was being taught in USA — this was greatly missing in India. Now am in the process of finding a location for the International Golf Science Academy where the best coaches and players come to learn,” she says candidly.

Over the years Kiran has tried, learned and passed every new swing concept on to her students. She frankly comments: “Fast forward 37 years of golf teaching — a lot of ideas in golf are junk! Golfers are not being taught with adequate science to account for their different body capabilities. Not in India. Not in USA. Not then and not now either.”

“Going back to the beginning, I was never a professional golfer. Merely an amateur who won the national championship more through her mother’s prayers than anything else! When I first started teaching only women and children, someone told me it was not nice for a married woman to teach men!” Men too mostly did not wish to take lessons from a female teacher either! But that changed when I started conducting highly popular group lessons at Bombay Gymkhana. The attitude of its members was refreshing,” she adds.

“ As I wore spectacles, for years people often called me Doctor. Yet I never imagined actually becoming one! It’s still a thrill to be titled after doing my PhD and knowing all that went into attaining that degree. I always wanted to study golf biomechanics but got a ton of anatomy at the chiropractic school at Logan University where I also did my Master of Science in sports science. Next was my PhD in Kinesiology from Texas Woman’s University with a minor in neuroanatomy at the University of North Texas Health Science Centre. This course also has to do with the human brain and motor control movements. Biomechanics comes in a distant third! I soon realised where all the answers lay,” she recalls.

Kiran confesses she has constantly changed her approach to the content of what she teaches as she acquired new information through years of research and study. It took her a while to get rid of the concepts she had imbibed initially from the traditional golf swing, making her realise each swing should be based on what each human body is actually capable of doing. After decades, she has finally found the positions and movements that give the best performance with reduced injury risk.

Another feather in her cap is being the Developer of the science-based Minimalist Golf Swing System. Based on three decades of swing research, giving golfers of all skill levels better performance with less risk for injury.

Speaking about the power of Golf Science, Kiran elaborates, “I am developing a detailed coach education program. Further, it is all important to get the best possible results — more so for professional golfers who earn a living from golf. The average hobbyist golfer will not spend much time and attention on fitness, sports, psychology or nutrition. Yet in each case, it is always the physical (swing) before the mental aspect (visualisation, self-talk, relaxation). If your body is not in the appropriate position, no amount of practice will allow you to deliver the club to the ball in the perfect way.”

As a golf educator, she now wishes to work with professional golfers only — yet needs a breakthrough. “Over my almost four decades of having worked with golfers of all ages and skill levels and both genders, I have seen people take numerous lessons and years of diligent hard work to improve their game. However, if one knows exactly what to teach, one just goes in and gets the job done in a few lessons.”

She fondly remembers, “it has been my dear friend and fellow golfer from Mumbai, Dr. Rohini Chowgule, who continues to be my guide, mentor and critic. Not only did we write a golf research paper together in 1993, over the years since, she has often ‘suffered’ through many of my latest swing changes, as we both learned via new information!”

Future? “Teach three-four of the world’s top pro-golfers, as validation for all my hard work in understanding what does, and does not, matter in the golf swing. And make a sensor-based app which any golfer on the planet can easily and cheaply use to learn an appropriate golf swing.”

Finally her words of advice to golf teachers: acquire correct golf science knowledge. To players: find teachers who understand the design of the human body instead of telling you to do something without realising the repercussions!

Looking back at the young woman I met in 1992, and the lady I am interacting with in 2026, it’s so obvious — Dr. Kiran Kanwar knows a ton lot more about golf!

Contact: Dr. Kiran Kanwar
Mobile:+1-323-348-1156
Email: YourGolfGuru.com/contact/
Instagram:@kirankanwargolf
Website:YourGolfGuru.com