Helping a HS golfer - Mental Game/Nerves/Etc

[gioguy21]

Thanks again fellas - i spoke to Brian yesterday about all this and he is excited about mixing things up.

[4Par]

Just another point of view from a dad who has a kid playing college golf and has seen a lot of the same thing Ive read here.....

Step back dude! It's up to the kid to figure it out.... just be there when he's ready to move to the next level..... AND let HIM be the one to define what that level is

[joey2aces]

invite a couple of 'working girls' over next time he comes by... that will help the nerves!

ETA: ok, I now see he is 16. Read it as 18 first time I saw it... still have them come over but tell them to just wear scantily clad outfits and coincidentally drop things as they walk by him

[gioguy21]

[quote name='joey2aces' timestamp='1414000387' post='10333495']
invite a couple of 'working girls' over next time he comes by... that will help the nerves!

ETA: ok, I now see he is 16. Read it as 18 first time I saw it... still have them come over but tell them to just wear scantily clad outfits and coincidentally drop things as they walk by him
[/quote] haha...hey, he goes to public school...i highly doubt he hasn't seen it already haha

[ginger718]

Hey man so I can totally relate to this topic. In highschool I played on an extremely competitive team we won states once, and came in second another year. We had players go to play at UNC, Elon, Vandy, Wake, Clemson. I was not one of those players, and a matter of fact do not play college golf. I look back on that decision and do not regret it even though I had offers to go and play places. The reason that I am sharing this with you is because my mental game by the time I was finishing up with high school was so shot. I had played my best year stats wise but was mentally exhausted. So when it came down to the last couple of tournaments I played terribly. That summer I played in a lighter workload then I had in the past only playing in 6 tournaments. Came in top 7 for 4 of them. Then went off to college played occasionally with some buddies. That summer I came home dying to play so I put in a ton of time and effort again to try and make myself better. I stayed until at the range most nights until it was dark, and got up many mornings and went to go and practice before I had to go to work. I played the best golf of my life this summer and set a course record that stood for over 40 years. I won a big tournament as well. What I am contributing to my getting better is that I did not stress out over golf I went out had fun with it. I didn't worry about pace of play I just went out and worried about the shot that I was going to hit. I also broke the OCD habitats that i had with golf and just went with the flow. The biggest thing with the mental game is realizing there are other things in the world besides golf, and so when you are playing you should have fun with it, and not treat it like its your job and get upset over it hitting bad shots. Because for every bad shot you hit there is an opportunity to make up for it with a great shot.

[TFlo]

Im a 15 yr old with the same aspirations as the kid you work with. Sounds like the game is too much about beating you. Do what my dad did and still does for me. Make sure you show him the mystical, magical side of the game of golf. Its not just about beating this guy or beating that guy. Have him read "Golf in The Kingdom". My dad had me read it when I was 12.