One Half Hour Not Enough
First of all I missed the cut in my tournament. I was happy with my play but scoring good and hitting the ball well sometimes are not the same. It is the number that counts.
I said in my past blog I would write to you on a subject that is very dear to my heart. Part of the reason I do what I do for junior golf and teach this game is because when I was young, I was a good junior player, I ran into trouble and couldn’t help myself, I felt I had no one to turn to. This is nobody’s fault as I probably didn’t express the pressures that I was under and they didn’t know how to help anyway.
I ran into one of my first junior champions on the tour that I run and he had gone on to play college golf and now just plays for fun. When he was young, he displayed tremendous composer and won on a regular basis. He won when he was supposed to win and that says a lot for a person’s strength. If there was one junior who I thought had it all he was the guy. It shocked me to learn later that he has basically given up the game because he felt too much pressure. He told me that his coaches and mentors all wanted just work on his swing. Once he went to sports psychologist for ½ hour and that was it. Golf is 90% to 100% mental at his level and all he got was a ½ hour. It takes hard work to change your swing so it takes hard work to change your thinking. It was a great conversation and he is willing to talk to all the young kids about this.
This is so important to help our young athletes cope with the pressure of being talented. Everything that is said or conveyed before, during and after the game must be monitored to make sure that the right message is being sent. Trying to motivate someone based on what you think will do the job does not cut it. Saying to someone that this is their year to get a scholarship might seem like motivation but certainly can put a lot of pressure on the young player. We need to ask the child to give their take on it and we certainly need to engage the help of professionals.
I know of three young men that hardly play anymore that are probably the three best golfers in the Niagara area. They seemed content but it would be a shame that they are not playing due to underlying issues or other people’s agendas. I/2 hour is not enough.
