Junior Golf: Life Lessons From Rio

It’s always a little sad in our house when the Olympics end and we realize we have to wait 2 years for the Winter Olympics and 4 long years for the next Summer Olympics. Enjoying these amazing athletes always exposes us to major life lessons, so let’s look at what Rio 2016 offered. (Dufner photo golfdigest.com)

In no particular order and certainly not an all-inclusive list: 1st, virtually every athlete interviewed for more than 5 seconds mentioned that being an Olympian was a dream come true/living out their lifelong dream. As a dear friend of ours stated, “If you don’t have any dreams, why do you bother to get out of bed?” What a true statement! Please encourage your junior golfer to dream and dream big!

2nd, no athlete, well hopefully no one, was just given a spot on any country’s team. These places are earned through competition in most cases as tough as, or even tougher than the Olympic events. Competition is the fire that tempers the steel of an athlete and the tougher the competitors the better. Dad and Mom enter your young golfer in as many tournaments as budget and schedule will afford. Feel free to enter him/her up 1 level of competition. For example, enter your beginner in an intermediate level and see what happens. And put your intermediate golfer in an advanced event, perhaps not in every tournament, but once in a while to understand the higher level of competition. It’s important to get used to playing with the best! (photo Rio2016.com)

Pressure is a fact of life. Nearly every pro golfer will tell you they sense some extra pressure on #1 tee at the start of every event and feel even more pressure at the majors. Well, by their own admission, every golfer at The Olympics felt pressure on #1 tee every round. I mean they were the 1st Olympic golfers in over 100 years and they were vying for the rarest trophy in golf! They were in the most special place they could possibly be and worst case scenario they would always be Olympians! Put together a plan to begin teaching your young one how to handle pressure. Depending on the personality, there are different approaches for each kiddo.

Parents, if your junior golfer is going to be competitive and have a passion for our wonderful game, it’s important that dreams, a serious work ethic and learning how to properly handle pressure become integral parts of daily life.

See you on #1 tee looking ahead to the next Olympics… Sam

Junior Golf: Olympic Golf

In today’s Wednesday Waggle let’s go somewhere we’ve never been before or at least since 1904, let’s visit Olympic Golf. (golfdigest.com)

This is a very busy and exciting time for golf fans. The Open Championship just ended and the Olympics and men’s PGA Championship are coming up soon. So let’s talk some Olympic Golf.

What could be better than playing the sport you love while representing your country! Yes, golfers have multiple international men’s and women’s cups that are amazing spectacles for players and fans alike. But The Olympics is different, I mean it’s THE Olympics for goodness sakes!

An Olympic Gold Medal is in a level of prestige all by itself. It is a world championship of the highest order! So why are so many of the top men golfers dropping out of the Olympics? Many have mentioned health concerns about the zika virus as their reason. Others who are playing have said they are not worried about a few mosquitos. There are some rumblings about schedule problems with PGA Tour events conflicting with the Olympics. And there is no prize money. And the men’s tour doesn’t need the exposure as much as the women’s tour does, and on and on and on.

I am not judging here. Any and all worries have some degree of validity and I respect them. The fact remains that when the competition is over, a men’s and a women’s 2016 Olympic Champion Golfer will be crowned along with 2nd and 3rd place. If you are qualified to go but choose not to go, that’s fine. That’s your choice, but please don’t knock someone else who is going. Guess what, if you’re not going to Rio, you’re guaranteed not to be the Olympic Champion, but someone will be!

1of your competitors took advantage of your absence and scarfed up the gold medal. He/she is the 1 who will be remembered as being a pioneering champion who helped bring back prestige and glamour to Olympic Golf! (Rio photo archive.golfweek.com)

What does this mean to your junior golfer? In the short-term, record the men’s and women’s golf and watch all of it. Your youngster will get excited just soaking up the Olympic atmosphere. In the long-term, it means enter all the tournaments that budget and schedule can allow. Don’t worry about how many entrants there are or who’s playing. When the event is over there will be a champion and nobody will remember if there were only 3 people or 300 people in your child’s division. Go play!

See you on #1 tee ready for The Olympics… Sam