Children and Golf
Questions and Answers
By Dr. Gregg Steinberg
USGTF Sports Psychologist, Clarksville, TN

Parents are concerned if they are making the right decisions for their children. This relates to all topics, from the right doctors to the best sport coaching. I have given many sport psychology presentations to parents of young athletes throughout the country and most parents ask similar questions at these seminars. The following are some questions that I usually receive in terms of parenting a young golfer. I have also provided the answers that are usually given.:

1) What is the age that my child should start if he wants to be on tour? Tiger started playing at 2 years of age. But starting a child at that age is not necessary if they want to be on tour or just achieve their potential at the highest level. In fact, starting that young may burn out the child and many do. Not everyone can be like Tiger. A better way to answer this question is to address the question “by what age should the child learn golf if the goal is to be a professional”. To answer this question, we have to look at the issue of critical periods. A critical period is a window of opportunity that the child must be exposed to the sport. If they do not get exposed to the sport at this time, they may not develop to the highest level. We have found that for violinists, they have to learn to play before the age of 12 if they are to reach the highest level in their field. If you look at golf, the same would be true. Most players on tour started before the age of 12. Their bodies and mind had a chance to develop around the sport. Now, there are some exceptions like Greg Norman who started at age 16, but he is a rare example. Therefore, a good answer would be that the chances of your child reaching the tour increase if they start before the age of 12.

2) Should my child play golf solely or will playing a combination of sports help him become a better golfer? To answer this question, I will refer to one of my favorite sport psychology studies that involved Swedish Tennis players. The researchers investigated who made it to the tour and who did not. They found that the ones who made it to the tour played three different sports: hockey, soccer and tennis. However, once they reached the age of 15, they focused only on tennis. The ones who were less likely to play professional tennis played only tennis.The reason for this finding is twofold: First, playing a variety of sports allows the body to develop in all areas, in balance as well as in muscular development. That may carry over as an advantage to the chosen sport later. Second, playing a variety of different sports takes the pressure off when the athlete is not playing well in one sport. It is analogous to the reason that diversifying your portfolio in the stock market is the best bet. When one stock is not doing well, the others may be increasing. One stock balances the other out. The times that the child was not playing well in tennis were balanced by his excellence in hockey or soccer.

3) How much pressure should I put on my child to excel and compete? This question can also be answered with the same Swedish tennis player study. This study also found that the tennis players who made it to the tour had parents who had lower expectations of them than the expectations held by the parents of the tennis players who did not make it. This seems a little counterintuitive, but when parents have high expectations of their children, the children will internalize these expectations and as a result, feel more pressure when they are competing. With more pressure, comes burn out and lower levels of performance.

4) Should I stick with one coach throughout my child’s career? In a famous study investigating high level performers from all walks of life, there was a similar pattern found in the mentoring process. It did not matter who the study investigated, a musician, painter or an athlete, the best performers typically had three levels of instructors throughout their training. The first level was the local instructor teaching the basics. Then the next level of coach was the regional coach. This is the instructor who knows more than the local coach and provides competitive values to the child. The last is the national coach. This is the coach that can take the player to the highest level of competing. Interestingly, Tiger Woods followed this process. He had three main coaches ending with Butch Harmon.

5) What would be one secret to training young athletes? Make it fun!!! When it is not fun, they will not want to learn. Always keep it fun, and the chances are the child will want to practice and compete.

If you would like to contact me with regard to this article, my phone number is 931-920-3533 and my e-mail is steinbergg@apsu.edu.