In this Monday Mulligan we’ll look at some feedback we received during and after yesterday’s anger seminar we held at The First Tee of Greater San Antonio.
As we anticipated, the room was overflowing. As our Parenting Junior Golfers seminars have become a regular part of TFTGSA’s calendar more of the parents and their young golfers now put us on their schedule. (image jennleforge.con)
The topic was Anger: Manage It, followed Dr Nick Askey’s presentation of lacrosse ball exercises to gain mobility in the upper neck, back and shoulders. Great stuff!
Here are a few of the less obvious situations with anger:
1. Many junior golfers will have issues with anger, both boys and girls. If you and your junior golfer do not have to address anger issues, ever, count you both as extremely blessed.
2. How to handle it when a member of your son’s playing group loses it to anger. We were excited to have S3 with us and when I asked him how many times he encountered this in tournaments, he said, “A lot. It can suck the life out of the whole group so it can be really hard to stay on your game.” Then I asked what can you do? S3 said, “Get away from him. Walk to the other side of the fairway, put some space between the 2 of you. You might try saying something, but it probably won’t work and you must be careful not to offer coaching or advice. Say to yourself, now I must take a breath, try to remain calm and continue to hit good shots. It’s tough and a real test of your ability to focus.” (image Collins Golf Bar)
3. Another question for S3, “What is a college coach’s reaction when he sees a junior golfer exhibit anger?” S3’s reply, “He’ll quit watching your son and start watching someone else. He may remove your son’s name from his list of recruits. That coach has hundreds of kids who want that same spot on his golf team and he doesn’t need to deal with anger issues with anyone on his team.” S3 still talking, “You will play in a lot of events where college coaches are present but you don’t even know they are there. Always be on your best behavior!”
Anger in junior golf is a genuine issue. And parents, plenty of you have anger issues as well, so please don’t think you are immune. Please remember that Linda and I are not sports psychologists or PGA professionals. We are parents sharing our experiences over 17 years of our youngest son’s junior golf and college golf careers.
See you on #1 tee looking happy to be playing golf… Sam
Parenting Junior Golfers... 