None of you want to hear this…

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

2 minutes ago, Noles said:

I didn't respond to the rest of his post because I don't think it was directed at me and I honestly have no idea what his point is anyway.

He has no point. Just rambles mainly and tell folks about how he knows things.

 

None of us have the crystal ball he does.  He see things only us commoners wish we could see.

 

"If Bhatia never wins another tournament he will still have no problem  finding a country club that pay him 150k plus to be their pro.  Last time I looked that better then most people make. "

 

BTW this wasn't your point early.  If a kid was good enough to win on THE PGA TOUR then why go to college.

 

He hasn't won on the tour.  So move the goal post if you want. 

[RmoorePE]

Three weeks ago daughter played in the state championship tournament. It was WJGA event. 13 y .o.  daughter had a couple of terrible blow up holes that knocked her out of the top 10 which was her goal (she got 11th). She came off the course both days red faced, bummed out, and looked like she never wanted to see another golf hole in her life. It was a lot more pressure than she was used to (this was her first summer competing). After the tournament we never really even talked about golf for quite a while. I congratulated her, told her about a couple of shots I liked and asked about some of the kids she met, that was it. She had a 3 on 3 basketball tournament the following weekend and so we didn't have to talk golf. She didn't consider golf for about a week. I got to play with my friends and leave her at home, it was great.

 

The next week she said out of the blue "I wish I would have grinded harder leading up to the State Tournament".  All I had to say was "If you make it next year, we can do that, or whatever you want." If indeed she does decide to grind and push for it next year, then I think I did what I was supposed to. I knew she wasn't practicing enough before the tournament, but I think she was just a little burned out, and her friends distracted her, etc. I could have gave her the "Other kids are practicing every day" speech, and drug her to the course, but what would be the point? Make us both miserable?

 

This past week has been completely different. The high school boys golf team is out on the course playing a lot of golf to get ready for their season. So she has been able to play with friends every day. On Tuesday she played with some kids on the local JuCo team in the morning, a second 18 with kids from the HS team after lunch, and an evening 9 with her oldest sister. I think she said she has played 162 holes between Sun and Thurs.

 

I picked her up yesterday and was in the clubhouse talking with the pro. He was commenting on how cool it was to have so many kids out on the course, and we were watching a group of them out by the putting green goofing off, having little competitions and just having fun. My daughter was in the mix. She got in the car yammering about who she played with, who she beat, a couple birdies she had, next weeks plans for golf, some drama among the JuCo team due to a new freshman and other stuff.

 

I never felt like a more successful sports parent. I have been told by lots of people she has the mechanics and strength for a good golf career, maybe they are just being nice, maybe it is true.  She may fall out of golf, but she will always have warm memories of 8th grade summer days with her friends on the golf course. If anything is going to make your kid successful in a sport, #1 is loving the game. I always want her to fall back on how much fun being good at golf is. That is the foundation we are going to work from, we will see where it leads.

 

 

 

[DevilDog]

On 8/18/2021 at 10:36 PM, wildcatden said:

Here is what I heard/gathered from the interviewee Kevin Kirk (starts talking about youth golf at 17:49 into the podcast):

 

1. A lot of junior golf programs may try to push kids down the "high performance pathway" in golf (vs just teaching them the game and letting it grow from there). Doesn't think the high performance pathway approach is a good idea and none of the sports science supports that.

 

2. Kevin Kirk says that the idea of 8 year old World Champion drives him crazy.  Doesn't think that is healthy. Those types of championships belong with kids after puberty. Mentions Golf Australia doesn't allow Worlds events until age 15 (?).

 

3. They hit on the subject of 9 year olds who have played 200+ tournaments by that age.

 

4. Many of the kids who are the best performers early don't turn out that way. Maybe they are just bigger and stronger compared to their peers at that age.

 

5. He believes early specialization is a bad idea.  Need to build athletic skills over time. Need to build golf skills over time.

 

Certainly, it all falls under the "parents ruin everything". I personally know a few 10 year olds who have played over 200 tournaments to date.  I blame Instagram. 😉🤣

Totally agree with the points made.  Especially 4 and 5.  Have seen kids who are terrific up to age 12 or 13 and never heard from again at age 16 in golf terms.  What happened is the other kids kept getting better, got bigger and longer hitters as courses got longer.  Was a kid my son competed against that was a high nationally ranked kid at 12 and now can't break 80 in big time tournaments because he doesn't have the length.  Only about 250ish off the tee and my son is over 300.  Makes a difference.  

 

As for number 5, seen several kids who specialized early burn out. All golf, or any sport for that matter, all the time eventually can burn a kid out.  

 

As for tournaments, I think that depends on the type of tournament.  There are some state run local tours that are one day events that aren't high pressure and fun for the kids then there are the highly competitive tournaments.  The latter can wreck a kid's confidence if not ready for them and add to the burn out.

[phillyspecial]

https://foundation.uskidsgolf.com/tournaments/world/world-champions

 

This list is very instructive, especially on the Boys side.  I'm not a college or am golf geek so perhaps some of these kids went on to have stellar golf Am careers, but I've never heard of a single one of these players beyond the current champions I see on IG or the kids from The Short Game.