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ENDORSEMENTS
Top Performers Perform with Zero Friction™
Zero Friction™ does not focus solely on the exposure that other brands seek through front line logo placement on athletes. Rather, they invest in those whom share their values and can inspire others, like Manuel De Los Santos.
Manuel was a promising young baseball player from the Dominican Republic with hopes of making his fortune as a professional. But such thoughts were brought to a shuddering end the day Manuel De Los Santos was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle and awoke from a coma four days later to discover that his life had been turned upside down.
Put simply, De Los Santos has become an inspiration. Now 27, he plays off a barely believable handicap of three, can hit the ball 260 yards through the air and, perhaps most surprisingly, refuses to use a prosthetic leg. He walks, with the aid of crutches, between shots and will not countenance the use of a buggy. “It’s a sport,” he said. “I’m an athlete. I walk.”
After his accident, he moved from his home in the Caribbean to Paris with his wife, Elena, and attempted to rekindle what had been a keen and lively spirit. Now, seven years on, he admits it was an uphill struggle. Then he came across The Legend of Bagger Vance—a film about a golfer defeating adversity —and was inspired. The next day, he took himself to his local driving range and became hooked. Equipped with a seven-iron and a baseball grip, De Los Santos found that not only could he hit the ball, but also that he still had natural balance. Unable to keep himself away, he would turn up at 9am and stay until dark. The people running the centre were so impressed that they told him he could hit as many balls as he liked and they would not charge him. He took them at their word and did just that, hitting thousand upon thousand of them. It was not long before he was playing the game for real.
Zero Friction™ believes in Manuel and his story and is proud to endorse him. Manuel continues to push the boundaries in life and in the game of golf. He has won tournaments for handicapped players throughout Europe, including the highly regarded Swedish Invitational Open, in 2008.
