Now more and more parents encourage their toddlers to pick up a 9-iron and showed great joy in thrashing around the backyard chasing a little white ball. It seems to show the great enthusiasm on golfing. After all, have you ever looked at a young child bouncing a ball around the house and immediately said we should get him or her basketball lessons?
Then, what are the differences? You should mind two reasons. The first and most obvious is that a parent looks at their offspring and envisions the next Tiger Woods. Please note the omission of the next Michelle Wie (more on her later). The kids are too young to have dreams at a tender age, so parents will dream for them.
And what’s the harm in this? There is no harm, really. As long as parents accept that their children will grow with dreams of their own and those dreams might not necessarily mesh with those of mom and dad. These dreams, the child’s dreams, are the ones they should be encouraged to follow, not the dreams of the parents.
The second reason is that a lot of parents are a bit skeptical of their ability to teach their kids how to golf. Sports like basketball, baseball and football are played by kids all over the country and parents see no harm in teaching a child how to shoot baskets or to throw a baseball or football. But there’s a stigma when it comes to golf that if you don’t teach someone the correct way from the start they’ll develop a number of unrecoverable bad habits. So parents who dream of their kids becoming the next links superstars but are too afraid their lessons will only teach them how to slice seek out a local PGA professional to do the dirty work.
You can meet many parents who see that “special something” in their kids; a little glimpse that their child can become a great golfer. A PGA Tour player, in fact. These are the parents who come to me about getting their kids to tap into that potential. These are also the parents who need to realize that it’s going to be about 20 years before we find out if that potential is fulfilled.
But there’s a second realization parents must also grasp. At the risk of bursting some bubbles, say it: There are literally thousands of kids of all different ages all around the world who have what seems like limitless potential when it comes to golf. But it’s a very small percentage of these kids who ever fulfill that potential.
Michelle Wie is a great example. Five years ago, when she burst onto the scene by winning the U.S. Public Links Championship at ripe old age of 13, she wasn’t alone in her skill set. She wasn’t the best 13-year-old golfer the world had ever seen. The national media hype surrounding her just made it seem that way. But truth be told, there were a ton of kids – some of them a little older and some even younger – who have Wie’s same ability and potential to become great, and maybe one day become the world’s best.
Just ask a coach of any major college golf program about the kids they’re recruiting today. They’ll tell you of youngsters barely in high school who go out and post scores in the low 60s and easily drive the ball over 300 yards. No, Michelle isn’t alone. A lot of people were just made to think she was. Sadly, Wie, like a lot of other kids, will probably never reach her potential. She’ll probably never win an LPGA Tour event, let alone a PGA Tour event, and will be relegated to the “Whatever happened to…” files of golfers-past.
So what does all this have to do with me teaching a 4-year-old with well-intentioned parents how to golf? What I’m saying is this: Parents shouldn’t think they’re missing the boat if they don’t get their kids golf lessons at a tender age. They’re not going to be permanently damaged if they start golfing at a prepubescent age without the guidance of a trained teaching professional. They’re not going to fall behind other kids enrolling at the David Leadbetter Academy with a golf bag in one hand and a diaper bag in the other. And, perhaps most importantly, they’re not going to take a wealth of knowledge away from me or any other golf pro that is going to turn them into a star.