68 replies to this topic

[ump23]

ok, this past week i made some calls around to different clubs looking for a pro that will get my 8 yo ready to play tournement golf this spring.  I have to be honest with you if i hear one more "wanna be pga pro" tell me that just take him out and let him hit the ball i'm going to.... never mind.  you get the point. My son has been playing for over two years.  I like the fact that he asks me to go play not the other way.  We have worked on the proper way to swing a club and putt and so on but now he is getting to a point where he needs to start competing against other kids.  Don't get me wrong i love playing with him and i think we both find enjoyment with that but well let me just flat out and say it, the kid is pretty good.  i know, another bragging dad thinking that their son is the next Tiger.  I wish, Earl made a lot of money from Tiger.  But seriously, my thinking is this children that strive to win (not at all cost) and work and compete hard usually carry that over into their studies and life.  My thing is that winning is important and if a child is getting ready to compete why not prepare him mentally and physically to win.  I need someone to help him and me.  I have never been involved in tournement golf besides club events.  The last thing i want to do is make winning more important then enjoying this great game.  Last, the tournement thing was not my idea it was his..dam youtube.  I would like to hear what people think and what direction should I go in his golf.

[Man In The Miura]

To be honest, whether you sayit to a "wanna be pga pro" or write it on an internet golf forum, your point comes across a little weird.  It's just the medium.  However, if you took your son to the pro in person, and said, "Hi, we're the Whoevers and this is my son.  He's interested in tournament golf, and we're looking for a good coach to help him get started on the right path," your point would be gladly accepted.  I think it requires face to face interaction for the best result.

[ump23]

thank you thats a good point.  i have done that in the past.  with some strange looks without ever seeing this child strike a ball.  i'll take your advice though and keep looking.  thanks again

[TheMackDaddy]

ump23, on 15 November 2012 - 11:00 PM, said:

ok, this past week i made some calls around to different clubs looking for a pro that will get my 8 yo ready to play tournement golf this spring.  I have to be honest with you if i hear one more "wanna be pga pro" tell me that just take him out and let him hit the ball i'm going to.... never mind.  you get the point. My son has been playing for over two years.  I like the fact that he asks me to go play not the other way.  We have worked on the proper way to swing a club and putt and so on but now he is getting to a point where he needs to start competing against other kids.  Don't get me wrong i love playing with him and i think we both find enjoyment with that but well let me just flat out and say it, the kid is pretty good.  i know, another bragging dad thinking that their son is the next Tiger.  I wish, Earl made a lot of money from Tiger.  But seriously, my thinking is this children that strive to win (not at all cost) and work and compete hard usually carry that over into their studies and life.  My thing is that winning is important and if a child is getting ready to compete why not prepare him mentally and physically to win.  I need someone to help him and me.  I have never been involved in tournement golf besides club events.  The last thing i want to do is make winning more important then enjoying this great game.  Last, the tournement thing was not my idea it was his..dam youtube.  I would like to hear what people think and what direction should I go in his golf.

There is alot that I don't agree with in this post. First, you come off as the kind of guy that pushes his kid into golf. And NOBODY in the junior golf community will appreciete that. Just make sure that you don't force it upon him.

Second, the "wanna be" PGA pros (who probably all carry single digit handicaps) are correct when they say that your son should just hit the ball. He doesn't need to be put any tournament pressure at age 8. Which leads me to the third point, when you mention he played for 2 years.. Thats not always enough, I played for 8 years before my first tournament at age 11, and still wasn't at the top of the leaderboard.

Fourth, children at that age do not strive to win. They play the game to have fun, and spend time with people their own age. They are never concerned with thoughts like "If I birdie 14, 15 and then par out, I can win this tourney." They are more excited about what kind of milkshake their parents will buy them  after the round.

Fifth, and most importantly winning is not important at that age level. It is not even as close to as important as the values that one can take out of golfing. It does however please me to see you write, "The last thing i want to do is make winning more important then enjoying this great game".. If you follow that line, you and your son will be in good shape.
Hope I wasn't too harsh,
-Jr. golfer

[ump23]

first thanks for your comment, I'll continue, i knew i was going to see something like this so your ok.  let me start out by saying i nor my wife dont push any of our children into anything, i introduce it to them and see where it takes them.  no different then taking them to tee ball or swimming class or anything else.  I teach them how to hit a ball and catch it because striking out stinks and getting hit in the head hurts.  This should of actually been my point what is the difference from an 8 yo old playing in a baseball game or hockey or any other sporting compitition and competing in a golf match?  none, actually if you fail at a team sport you feel worse becuase you feel that you have let your team down.  and my young friend, winners think that way. at any age.  Winning is important at anything.  We compete at everything we do in this life.  my sincer apology to any one who took this wanna be thing to heart. this was not intended to all just a few. i agree with the milk shake thing.

[TheMackDaddy]

ump23, on 16 November 2012 - 12:12 AM, said:

first thanks for your comment, I'll continue, i knew i was going to see something like this so your ok.  let me start out by saying i nor my wife dont push any of our children into anything, i introduce it to them and see where it takes them.  no different then taking them to tee ball or swimming class or anything else.  I teach them how to hit a ball and catch it because striking out stinks and getting hit in the head hurts.  This should of actually been my point what is the difference from an 8 yo old playing in a baseball game or hockey or any other sporting compitition and competing in a golf match?  none, actually if you fail at a team sport you feel worse becuase you feel that you have let your team down.  and my young friend, winners think that way. at any age.  Winning is important at anything.  We compete at everything we do in this life.  my sincer apology to any one who took this wanna be thing to heart. this was not intended to all just a few. i agree with the milk shake thing.

I still think this is a flawed logic. Performing to the best of your ability is important at anything, but not winning. If I played in a tournament, and played my heart out and posted a 65 and somebody else comes in and shoots a 63, finishing in second place would be fine with me because I gave it everything I had. Finishing in second place is not as important as me shooting my best round.
After the tournament when I go home to eat dinner, guess what's going to be the topic of discussion at the table? It's not going to be how I finished runner up, its going to be how I achieved a new personal best.

[ump23]

i agree doing your best and working hard is commendable.   My question is are you going to work harder because 65 was not good enough?  let me relate this to a young person's terms and business.  the young person worked realy hard and got a 32 on their ACT but another student got a 34 same grades same everthing.  both want to go to the same university and this university is offering one full ride scholarship now both worked hard but in the end the person with the 34 is walking of campus four years later not six figures in debt. ok, business and this sort of relates to me.  i have a big account and they needed to be closed/win and things are not looking so good if i dont get this job done.  I will work hard and spend every last minute to try to figure the best was to sell my ideas to close/win this account. if i loose there is a chance that perhaps my company may seek someone who will lose/win.  Talk about pressure.  But im not going to loose.  thank god i didnt.  Do you understand. these are the things that prepare us when we become adults.  successfull people hate second because they are winners and that what they do.  the taste of defeat makes them want to vomit.  As for the my son, its a game thats all it is and as his parents like all parents we want our children to be succesfull and happy.  oh one last thing the junior golf community was un to fond of a young man once. one because he looked different, two because he won all the time.  I think you know who i'm taking about.  You know why he was so good because he worked and practiced harder then anybody else and winning was his reward.  He changed the profesional golf like nobody ever has.  I'm not talking about thats the focus the focus should be the thrill of competition and what went into it.  thats the great thing about this game you get out of it what you put in it.  like life.

[TheMackDaddy]

ump23, on 16 November 2012 - 01:06 AM, said:

i agree doing your best and working hard is commendable.   My question is are you going to work harder because 65 was not good enough?  let me relate this to a young person's terms and business.  the young person worked realy hard and got a 32 on their ACT but another student got a 34 same grades same everthing.  both want to go to the same university and this university is offering one full ride scholarship now both worked hard but in the end the person with the 34 is walking of campus four years later not six figures in debt. ok, business and this sort of relates to me.  i have a big account and they needed to be closed/win and things are not looking so good if i dont get this job done.  I will work hard and spend every last minute to try to figure the best was to sell my ideas to close/win this account. if i loose there is a chance that perhaps my company may seek someone who will lose/win.  Talk about pressure.  But im not going to loose.  thank god i didnt.  Do you understand. these are the things that prepare us when we become adults.  successfull people hate second because they are winners and that what they do.  the taste of defeat makes them want to vomit.  As for the my son, its a game thats all it is and as his parents like all parents we want our children to be succesfull and happy.  oh one last thing the junior golf community was un to fond of a young man once. one because he looked different, two because he won all the time.  I think you know who i'm taking about.  You know why he was so good because he worked and practiced harder then anybody else and winning was his reward.  He changed the profesional golf like nobody ever has.  I'm not talking about thats the focus the focus should be the thrill of competition and what went into it.  thats the great thing about this game you get out of it what you put in it.  like life.

First of all this is a very poor metaphor and can't be compared with Junior golf. How is junior golf going to set your son's life up? Maybe if he was 13 or 14 and a phenom, he would be getting attention from Universitys, but he is 8. Colleges don't care what a kid shoots when he is 8.
Second of all, you obviously haven't competed with anybody in terms of grammar.

[ump23]

yes its late my grammer did suck.  your not getting my point. sorry you did not get it. im done

Edited by ump23, 16 November 2012 - 01:29 AM.

[Hattori Hanzo]

http://www.golfdiges...0-05/sean-ohair

You have to be careful about pushing too hard. Your kid should want to win with you, not despite you.

[ump23]

thanks for the article.  sean has made almost 17 million dollars playing golf..playing on the best coarses in the world.  flies first class everywhere sometime on chartered jets.  Never pays for anything, golf equipment wise.  can live just about anywhere in any neighborhood.  can send his kids to the best schools.  not a bad life.  Most of us would say he's living the dream.  He works hard no doubt about it but thats not a genetic trait that is something that is taught at an early age and contiues into their informal teenage years.  we have become a society where you can get something for nothing.  children are not raised with one size fits all, nor do they come out with an owners manual. you do the best you can and pray that everything works out in the end.  about your comment i want him to win for himself because he earned it and it made him feel that he had accomplished something.  dont get me wrong i'll feel good to if he does but what parent wouldn't.

[super7]

Let me start with the background of my point of view. My son was the #1 junior in the country, Rolex AJGA player of the year and received over 50 Div 1 college inquires and offers, played  in his first PGA event in high school and won a lot of national junior events. You may consider this bragging on my son, and believe me I have no problem doing that. He has worked hard and deserves it. But my way of giving back to junior golf is to try and help other kids and parents navigate the junior golf landscape. A point of view from someone who's been there and done that. And someone who has spent hours on the course with other parents of the top ranked juniors in the country and questioned them about how they got there. So ump23 I share in some of your frustration. 
Why are we as parents afraid to put our kids in tournament golf? We sign them up for Tee Ball and soccer and flag football at 5 or 6 years old send them straight to the field to compete. But for some reason parents don't want their kids to compete in golf until they are older. My sons first tournament round of golf was his third round he ever played. He didn't win, far from it, but he was not scared for life either. Most of the top kids he competed against at 10 years old were also top ranked kids at 18. I personally don't think you can get them in tournament golf to soon. Second- Why are we afraid to give our kids any real meaningful instruction when they are young and instead throw them out there to learn on their own? Just like a foreign language kids learn faster than adults. And golf can sometimes be like a  foreign language. My son worked on swing plane and pivot at six years old and the instruction was not lost on him. He may not have understood it but his swing is not much different today. And last when did winning or striving to win become a bad thing? My son can still tell you who won the first tournament he played in at 6. And can tell you the tournaments he won at 6 years old. Now as a parent I didn't care where he finished as long as he was having fun, but I can tell you he cared. The most fun he ever had in junior golf was bringing home trophies with Tiger and Phil's   Name on it. Thats why it's a competition and learning the art of  competition is best done early. I have found that most of the kids that won at a young age carried that thru into older age  brackets. You don't learn much from winning other than knowing you have been in that situation and you got it done. Coming up short however teaches us a lot gives us a form of reference to show us where we need to improve. And that's where they need their parents support and understanding the most. Just like you ump23 I received some of the same advice and I am thankful I did not listen. Find yourself a great instructor that will work with young kids that is not shy about working on serious swing flaws. Let you kid compete and succeed and fail, it's a great teacher of life Lessons. Make sure you are always in tune with what you kid wants and can handle. And good luck. 
  

[Kadin 25]

I didn't read all the posts here, I'm touching on the fact that your in need of a teaching pro. Just a thought, have you contacted the First Tee program and see if they have any resources that would aid in the search?  Or maybe do an internet search for top 100 junior instructors.

Hope this helps, Kadin

[ump23]

thanks for a taking time out to write this.  i commend you both your son and you for your hard work.  the last time i checked a 8 yo just does not get in the car and head to the coarse to work on putting.  And the winning thing i could not agree more.  we had a putting compition hitting 3 footers. i got schooled and guess what when he walked in the door to tell his mother?  Did he say "well we just practiced putting", no, he said i beat daddy today.
This poem is framed in all our childrens rooms.
http://skdesigns.com...r_deepest_fear/

[ump23]

thanks im doing it right now

Edited by ump23, 16 November 2012 - 11:39 AM.

[KILLEDBYASHANKEDWEDGE]

Kadin is pointing you in the right direction. Fundamentals are what is important at this age, find a teacher/instructor who will focus on the fundamentals and putting/short game. The best way to prepare for tournaments at his age is proficiency at the short game and putting. They will be competing on short tracks and that is where these tournaments are won. Nothing wrong with winning in my book.

[ump23]

i agree, with the day so short that's about all we are able to do during the week. plus im getting better too.  so who's teaching who.

[super7]

I was just sitting here reflecting on my sons first big state run junior event. He was in the 8 and under bracket a two day 9 hole event. He was in the final 4some on Sunday. All 4 of those kids are now playing Div1 golf for top university's. Those 4 have battled it out throughout their entire junior careers. And they are the best of friends.
About instructors be careful about who you employ. The first tee can be hit or miss. I would contact my state golf association or junior golf association. Any college coaches in your area or talk to parents of older successful juniors in your area. Also Be Leary of high school coaches. Some (not all) are in that position because they have a vehicle big enough to carry the team. 

[rogera13]

Coming from a tournament baseball back ground with my son at around age 8. I have only one suggestion. Make sure your son enjoys each step of the process and it doesn't become a grind. Help him find a balance between practicing, playing and competeing. My son from 8 to 12 played at a very high level of baseball. Traveled through  out the state. One day he came to me and said he didn't want to go to practice, didn't want to play baseball anymore. Kids can burn out. Granted some don't and go on to extreme heights! But I've seen more extrodanirly talented kids burn out before they reach their full potential and then never look back. Tread lightly and let him set his pace. Don't be affraid to slow him down at times too.

I let my son stop playing baseball. 4 years later he's skipped a grade, dual enrolled (college and high school) carries a 4.0 GPA and will start is Senior year of High School as the #2/3 golfer on the team! He's signed up to start a Junior tournament trail locally over the winter and spring. All this of his own doing and at his own pace. He's just now considering the possibilties of a coach!

[super7]

You definitely need to know your kid. Talent and desire are not always hand in hand. My nephew was a very talented junior golfer played at a very high level even traveling to St Andrews to play in a world junior team competition  event. Very talented, played against and beat several of the guys that are now on tour. But he didn't have the passion that goes with being great. After he signed his college letter of intent he didn't play another tournament until he enrolled in school. And once at college he did not pursue golf very much. However he did get his degree and is a successful businessman at the moment. My son however set his own summer schedule and only had one week off from tournament golf. Now these were events that he had to fly to and stay in host housing. I did my best in talking him out of playing that grulling of a schedule. But he would have none of my reasoning. He said " I wanna play just tell me how I can keep hydrated." I'm saying this because each kid is different and no matter what they are capable of, the passion has to come from within. Understanding, encouragement and patience is what we as parents have to have for our kids. We have to understand their wants and needs even if it's not aligned with  ours or their talents. 

[ump23]

this is my point.  your comment is what is wrong with the attitude and junior golf.  How many balls off the tee did your son hit? how many soft toss did he take? how many grounders and flies did he take. i bet he took a bunch. did you just throw him out their and say catch or hit it?  no, you showed him and his coach showed him the proper was to field a ground ball (gator)or catch and how to swing a bat.  And as he got older you went into more detail where he needed to hold the bat how to squish the bug and top hand up.  and then they were repeated over and over again. did he play his first game when he was 5 (tee ball).  whats the difference.  if you son started playing baseball at 14 would he be as good as kids playing since tee-ball? not likely. its no different.  children need to be guided expecialy in golf.  while your son might of checked the daily box scores. my son checks what bubba was shooting or phil or tiger.  who made the cut and who didn't.  Christ, the kid knew what bubba shot to win the masters.  does anybody remember that?  because i don't.  I remember that great shot but his final score. NO. heck even knew how phil finished and tiger and list goes on and on.  so when is pasion only dedicated to other sports.  this steriotype that golf is an old mans sport must die like the dog that it is.  the reason why this existes, and this is a doozie, this may offend some people but to be honest i realy don't care. it is because older retired men don't want to see kids jacking around on their coarse.  i see the looks or sometime the snide remark.  I say you want peace and quiet find a retirement home.  Or fork over the big money to a prestigious country club where there are only certain days young juniors can be out on the coarse.

[ump23]

i agree.  would not be discussing this if the passion was not there.

[ump23]

i contacted the golf coach at the university my wife and i went to he actually gave me quit a bit of information.  he had a clinic and he gave me some names.  thanks that was a big help

[teejaywhy]

ump23, on 16 November 2012 - 01:06 AM, said:

i agree doing your best and working hard is commendable.   My question is are you going to work harder because 65 was not good enough?  let me relate this to a young person's terms and business.  the young person worked realy hard and got a 32 on their ACT but another student got a 34 same grades same everthing.  both want to go to the same university and this university is offering one full ride scholarship now both worked hard but in the end the person with the 34 is walking of campus four years later not six figures in debt. ok, business and this sort of relates to me.  i have a big account and they needed to be closed/win and things are not looking so good if i dont get this job done.  I will work hard and spend every last minute to try to figure the best was to sell my ideas to close/win this account. if i loose there is a chance that perhaps my company may seek someone who will lose/win.  Talk about pressure.  But im not going to loose.  thank god i didnt.  Do you understand. these are the things that prepare us when we become adults.  successfull people hate second because they are winners and that what they do.  the taste of defeat makes them want to vomit.  As for the my son, its a game thats all it is and as his parents like all parents we want our children to be succesfull and happy.  oh one last thing the junior golf community was un to fond of a young man once. one because he looked different, two because he won all the time.  I think you know who i'm taking about.  You know why he was so good because he worked and practiced harder then anybody else and winning was his reward.  He changed the profesional golf like nobody ever has.  I'm not talking about thats the focus the focus should be the thrill of competition and what went into it.  thats the great thing about this game you get out of it what you put in it.  like life.

You want to put all that on an 8-year-old?

[CCUgolfer23]

TheMackDaddy, on 15 November 2012 - 11:32 PM, said:

ump23, on 15 November 2012 - 11:00 PM, said:

ok, this past week i made some calls around to different clubs looking for a pro that will get my 8 yo ready to play tournement golf this spring.  I have to be honest with you if i hear one more "wanna be pga pro" tell me that just take him out and let him hit the ball i'm going to.... never mind.  you get the point. My son has been playing for over two years.  I like the fact that he asks me to go play not the other way.  We have worked on the proper way to swing a club and putt and so on but now he is getting to a point where he needs to start competing against other kids.  Don't get me wrong i love playing with him and i think we both find enjoyment with that but well let me just flat out and say it, the kid is pretty good.  i know, another bragging dad thinking that their son is the next Tiger.  I wish, Earl made a lot of money from Tiger.  But seriously, my thinking is this children that strive to win (not at all cost) and work and compete hard usually carry that over into their studies and life.  My thing is that winning is important and if a child is getting ready to compete why not prepare him mentally and physically to win.  I need someone to help him and me.  I have never been involved in tournement golf besides club events.  The last thing i want to do is make winning more important then enjoying this great game.  Last, the tournement thing was not my idea it was his..dam youtube.  I would like to hear what people think and what direction should I go in his golf.

There is alot that I don't agree with in this post. First, you come off as the kind of guy that pushes his kid into golf. And NOBODY in the junior golf community will appreciete that. Just make sure that you don't force it upon him.

Second, the "wanna be" PGA pros (who probably all carry single digit handicaps) are correct when they say that your son should just hit the ball. He doesn't need to be put any tournament pressure at age 8. Which leads me to the third point, when you mention he played for 2 years.. Thats not always enough, I played for 8 years before my first tournament at age 11, and still wasn't at the top of the leaderboard.

Fourth, children at that age do not strive to win. They play the game to have fun, and spend time with people their own age. They are never concerned with thoughts like "If I birdie 14, 15 and then par out, I can win this tourney." They are more excited about what kind of milkshake their parents will buy them  after the round.

Fifth, and most importantly winning is not important at that age level. It is not even as close to as important as the values that one can take out of golfing. It does however please me to see you write, "The last thing i want to do is make winning more important then enjoying this great game".. If you follow that line, you and your son will be in good shape.
Hope I wasn't too harsh,
-Jr. golfer

I cant agree more. I understand the kid is 8, but look at all the stories of kids pushing their parents away and getting turned off of a sport because they were forced to feel like winning is a way of life and if they dont win their parents are dissapointed. Now I AM NOT saying that is you, but he is a kid, let him live out his childhood. I spent the first 9 years of my life eating, breathing, and sleeping baseball and feeling like winning/ and being the best catcher was important. And now I'm glad I quit baseball. Before you pound him with lessons and tournaments make sure it is what HE wants to do and let him know that whatever he chooses YOU won't be dissapointed. Don't burn him out on golf before he can fully enjoy it. At 8 years old he has his whole life ahead of him to enjoy golf dont pressure him to win and be great at such a young age.

[Jc0]

ump23, on 16 November 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

this is my point.  your comment is what is wrong with the attitude and junior golf.  How many balls off the tee did your son hit? how many soft toss did he take? how many grounders and flies did he take. i bet he took a bunch. did you just throw him out their and say catch or hit it?  no, you showed him and his coach showed him the proper was to field a ground ball (gator)or catch and how to swing a bat.  And as he got older you went into more detail where he needed to hold the bat how to squish the bug and top hand up.  and then they were repeated over and over again. did he play his first game when he was 5 (tee ball).  whats the difference.  if you son started playing baseball at 14 would he be as good as kids playing since tee-ball? not likely. its no different.  children need to be guided expecialy in golf.  while your son might of checked the daily box scores. my son checks what bubba was shooting or phil or tiger.  who made the cut and who didn't.  Christ, the kid knew what bubba shot to win the masters.  does anybody remember that?  because i don't.  I remember that great shot but his final score. NO. heck even knew how phil finished and tiger and list goes on and on.  so when is pasion only dedicated to other sports.  this steriotype that golf is an old mans sport must die like the dog that it is.  the reason why this existes, and this is a doozie, this may offend some people but to be honest i realy don't care. it is because older retired men don't want to see kids jacking around on their coarse.  i see the looks or sometime the snide remark.  I say you want peace and quiet find a retirement home.  Or fork over the big money to a prestigious country club where there are only certain days young juniors can be out on the coarse.

If you want attitude you are the kind of parent who will burn their child out of golf.  I played multiple tournament level sports when I was young.  Top 50 in the state in tennis when I was 10, burned out because coaches pushed to hard.  Varsity baseball as a freshmen, highest average on the team (.500) in the strongest region in the state.  Burned out from injuries and coaches pushing when I was hurt.  You kid enjoys golf, so let him enjoy golf.  I also played with a junior instructor for over 10 years and he sent multiple kids into college golf.  I never saw him push a 8 year old.  At about 10 is when he starts encouraging them to get more competitive in local tournaments and around 12 start traveling.  

From my experience in state, region and national level events that I played in high school (4 years ago), most kids hate parents who think and act the way you do.  This isn't just your kid either, I hated playing with dad's who acted like you because if your kid started to play bad there was a multiplier effect from you being there that made it worse.

The best way to do things is let your kid play and see what he wants to do.  If he wants to play tournaments, let him play tournaments.  If he just wants to play for fun let him play for fun.  If you want to encourage him to try something different, like move up tournament levels, that is fine but forcing anything is just a recipe for disaster.  You're the dad you are supposed to be the cheerleader.  You get him a coach he respects to be the dick who tells him to play and practice more.  Having it come from you will cause all types of problems.

[ump23]

thats good advice thanks

[ump23]

first you know nothing about myself or my children.  because your situation sucked does not mean that his will.  first i posted this get find out some information about instructors and how i was having the heck of a time trying to get him an instructor that would prepare him for tournement golf. and we got on another rampage talking about don't push him or if you read some of these topics i'm going in the history books as the worste father in history.  Go to callaway world golf and you will see almost 300 juniors under the age of ten competing. there are literaly thousands of kids that competed in these three days, oh they must be just terrible parents to spend resources taken their kids to lessons, tournements, clinics or playing a round with them. Give me a break.   First i didn't need a parenting lesson.  the last time i check kids did not just fall out of the sky, he does have mother, my wife.  thank you super 7, kadin 25 and shanked by wedge your information was well recieved and will help.

[super7]

Couple of questions
Why are parents of successful juniors always looked at as pushy parents? Because they spend time with them on the range and on the course? Because they support them sometimes working two jobs so that they can play tournament golf? Because they buy them equipment and get them lessons? Because they encourage them to practice.  Every kid should be so lucky! Of most of the top ranked kids in the country I don't see any of the pushy parents people think are out there. The top kids would not be there for long unless they are self motivated.  

If  your child comes to you and says they really want to learn the piano do you get them lessons or do you say go bang on the keys, I don't want to be pushy?  Do you tell them that they are not going to do the recital that they wouldn't be able to handle the pressure?  

My point is lessons and age appropriate tournaments are not going harm your kid. If they want to quit and try something else fine. Starting early is key! I am familiar with most of the college signees in the south east in div 1 and there were very few late bloomers most all competed in the 10 and under brackets. I have pictures of  my son with his 7 year old friends holding clubs as big as them. All ended there junior careers in the top 100 of junior golf. Most on full rides they are so lucky they had parents that cared. It is unfortunate that some people had bad experiences with overly aggressive parents or coaches. What is worse to me are the questions I get from parents of 16 year olds wanting to get a golf scholarship and they are just starting tournament golf. Unfortunately they are so far behind the eight ball it's sad. Most of the big golf schools are working on the 2016 class right now. With top juniors like Brad Dalky verbally committing to Oklahoma at 12 years old, 14 year old Guan Tianlang qualifing for the Masters, 14 year old Andy Zang qualifing for the US Open, 17 year old Beau Hossler leading the US Open during day 2 the list goes on. These kids have hundreds of tournament rounds under their belts. Lots of experience that came from parents that started their kids early. 

[semi]

There have been many replies on this and I can't help myself - I have to say my bit too. My son won his first father\son alternate shot tournament at age 5. He's got a couple years of HS left and is playing at a high level and enjoying the game. I don't see any problem with introducing your son to a coach for lessons. I did. I THINK the problem some people may be having is when you said "get him tournament ready".

You will find out soon enough what your desire or motives are when he starts to play in these tournament and doesn't play very well. Are you going to be the kind of dad that says "come on Johnny you need to play better, this is costing allot of money and taking up my time or are you going to get into the car on the way home and say "let's talk about your good shot" or wasn't that fun - good job out there...if you do the first, when your son starts playing really well don't be surprised if he comes home from school one day and says "I never want to swing a club again". This does happen and I remind myself of that all the time. I still do.

He can work hard on his game through lessons or whatever - just keep it fun, keep it fresh and remember, it’s a marathon not a sprint!!!!