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My 8 year old approached by college golf coach


TN94z
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It's Monday afternoon and I have taken my 8 year old to his golf academy for the week. They worked on chipping and putting (the two places that he needs work on) and I am sitting there talking with the Pro. As we are talking, the local college golf coach comes up and starts talking about tryouts coming up and how the course is looking (it's their home course), etc....He asks the Pro if he had any High School students that he had worked with that might be interested in trying out. The Pro told him that right now, he only had students in the 7-12 year old age group and he pointed out to the kids practicing. The college coach starts watching them and talking about odds and ends and then he asks who the kid was in the white shirt. The Pro told him that I was his dad and the he has a ton of potential and that he is starting at a good age...blah, blah, blah. So the coach walks down and starts watching Jacob and talking with him and showing him some things. After the academy is over, they walk up to me and ask me if I can stay around a little longer and let Jacob hit some balls on the range. I said sure, that won't be a problem. After the range session, the coach asks me if Jacob had ever said anything about playing in high school. I told him that golf was all that Jacob talked about and that he says he wants to play forever....but that he changes his mind weekly.

The conversation went back and forth for a while just chit chatting and he ended by telling me that if Jacob sticks with it and doesn't get burnt out, he sees the potential for him being a great college player and said the he would love to have him on his team. Of course this got Jacob all excited and all he is talking about now is going to college to play golf.

Now, I have taken this for what it's worth, but I thought it was pretty cool that he got singled out and noticed like that. Now the local Pro keeps hitting me up wanting to work with Jacob in individual lessons after the academy is over. I'm going to ask him what he wants to do, because I don't want to get him burnt out.

Anyway, this made me pretty proud, so I thought I would share!

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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tear......

seriously dude, that is friggen amazing!
i live in Canada, and i tell you that sh*t would never happen here man
we just dont have the opportunities for junior golfers like you do in the US
unless you live in Ontario or BC, it might get a little easier to get noticed, but not from Sask

my kids are 2.5 and 3 months.....so i obviously have some time

i want to introduce them at an age early enough they get the bug, but like you said not get burnt too early and lose interest
i was really wanting my daughter to go on and play, but now that i had my son, my daughter may get into competitive fastpitch like her mom
my wife easily could have gone to the US on a full ride for school, but her parents are old school and wouldnt let her
i had a try out with two US college scouts when in grade 12 (with the help of my pro), and got in trouble w the law bwfore the try out and couldnt go (my parents)

both us of have promised eachother that if the kids get the opportunity to go south and play ball and or golf, that we will make it happen no matter what

great thread and story dude
i wish your kid the best and hope he gets his chance
keep him in the game, we need more JR golfers in this sport
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Congrats - BUT kids have to go along way from now til college.
There is a lot out there that might throw them off or get them intrested in a completly different thing. Its rare to see that kids are able to keep the focus on one thing for a extended period of time, and when it actually happens parents are not seldome the driving force behind it, which can cause other problems of course.

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Exactly. Tiger called his dad everyday at work asking him if Mom could take him to meet Earl at the range after work. Sometimes Earl would act like he was going to say no, but then always said yes. He never pushed Tiger. If anything, Tiger pushed him. He wanted to learn and loved to play.

It's great that he got noticed. Here's an idea to see if he's naturally passionate.

Don't say anything about golf each day unless he says something to you about it first. If it's on his mind before you put the thought there, you know he's truly interested.

Or if you do say something, say something very subtle like to your wife perhaps when your son is in the room. "I'm going to the golf course today" or what not in casual conversation with her. You will know if he goes "Daddy daddy can i come with you!?!" haha you get the point though. something along those lines haha
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Congrats - BUT kids have to go along way from now til college.

Well, I mean I'm not quitting my job or anything over the comments....

I understand he is only 8 and may not want to play golf anymore after he turns 10....who knows? But out of 10 students that he watched and he singled Jacob out, it made me feel good for him "now" not when he is 18
Exactly. Tiger called his dad everyday at work asking him if Mom could take him to meet Earl at the range after work. Sometimes Earl would act like he was going to say no, but then always said yes. He never pushed Tiger. If anything, Tiger pushed him. He wanted to learn and loved to play.

Already passed that test. I haven't played in about 1.5 months because of work. He reminds me of his academy each Sunday, swings his driver every time we go outside, and takes my impact bag in his room 2 or 3 nights during the week and bangs on it for an hour. All of this without me saying anything about golf. He really loves it. The last few times I have played have been because he asked to go. I really haven't had the time or money to go myself lately.

The funny thing is he will come inside and ask me to come outside and look at his swing. I say okay, and I'll get up and go outside. He will swing to the top and stop and say, "I feel like I'm off right here. Do you see anything wrong? Something just doesn't feel right." I'll start laughing because here is this 8 year old diagnosing his swing. What he is feeling is that he goes WAY WAY WAY passed parallel. That's one thing I am trying to get him out of right now. I just think it's funny that he thinks like that.

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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Now the local Pro keeps hitting me up wanting to work with Jacob in individual lessons after the academy is over. I'm going to ask him what he wants to do, because I don't want to get him burnt out.

Smooth sales pitch from the coach there

Presumably he'll be giving the lessons for free......... This coach sounds like a weirdo!!!! Rather than saying "That kids got a nice swing, I hope he sticks with it", or "He could become a nice player" he says he "has the potential to be a great college player if he doesn't get burnt out" Talk about warped focus! For crying out loud....the boy is 8 years old.

In the race of life, always back self-interest. At least you know it's trying.

 

 

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Smooth sales pitch from the coach there

I doubt that!! HAHA!! He probably sees dollar signs in his eyes and thinks I will be paying him to give lessons every week until Jacob goes to college or quits...WRONG! The nice swing stuff was in there too. I thought it was a good compliment personally. I guess some people just look too deep into what was said. It is what it is...

Bryan A
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That's really cool man. Take it for what its worth now, and let everything else come naturally. There is a lot of time between now and college for your son, and many things, including golf, to enjoy between now and then.

It's nice that golf is the game of a lifetime, and that it can be enjoyed at many levels, whether its at the range, a Sunday round with friends or playing competetively at any level. It seems ti me that you have the right things in focus.

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Thats got to be some kind of recruiting violation? Did he hand your kid and Xbox 360 and a couple games?

"There's more where that came from kid"

Did he also say that there might be a six figure position on staff as the executive university assistant consultant of golf rules and etiquette...and that you seem to be perfectly qualified?

All kidding aside, Im sure your son was pretty excited about that.

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Thats got to be some kind of recruiting violation? Did he hand your kid and Xbox 360 and a couple games?

I wish.....if that were the case, it would be kept a secret between me and him

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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If you want to try something funny and have a little bit of acting ability . .the next time you take a lesson ask the teacher, seriously, what he thinks your potential is. Ask him if he thinks you can learn to play competitive golf . .ask him if he thinks that if you practice hard enough, you could play on a mini-tour or reach a low single digit handicap.

Chances are he will not say "No way you loser!", which, of course, would be the truth.

I'm sure your son has talent and a passion for the game but I would take him to another coach just to see get a second opinion. I'm sure there has to be some truth behind the compliments . .obviously he's not going to say "wow, your kid's got potential" as he's whiffing another tee shot . . but you never know if he is more interested in your son or your wallet (not that he's a bad dude for trying to sell lessons. .everybody has to make a living!)

In my opinion, there are thousands and thousands of kids who are "really good" at golf and will probably enjoy the game for a lifetime but only a very small percentage have enough raw talent to risk screwing with thier childhood over.

Wanted to add that I realize you are not talking about screwing with his childhood or anything like that . . .

also wanted to add that when I was about 12 I was in a jr golf program and there was one kid who stood out over everybody else. He was clearly head and shoulders over all the rest of us and was always the focus of the coaches attention. As far as I know he never even played high school golf . .let alone college golf or beyond.
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If you want to try something funny and have a little bit of acting ability . .the next time you take a lesson ask the teacher, seriously, what he thinks your potential is. Ask him if he thinks you can learn to play competitive golf . .ask him if he thinks that if you practice hard enough, you could play on a mini-tour or reach a low single digit handicap.

He thinks I have great potential to reach

my goals. I already play competitive golf. I have already been a 2.5, so I know I can do that. My current coach says that "All players should have the opportunity to learn to play golf the correct way." I really don't see what this has to do with Jacob though.
I'm sure your son has talent and a passion for the game but I would take him to another coach just to see get a second opinion. I'm sure there has to be some truth behind the compliments . .obviously he's not going to say "wow, your kid's got potential" as he's whiffing another tee shot . . but you never know if he is more interested in your son or your wallet (not that he's a bad dude for trying to sell lessons. .everybody has to make a living!)

Why should I take him for a second opinion? It's really not that serious. I'm not going to take out a second mortgage and start dumping my money into making him the next Tiger Woods because some college coach that I don't know told me he had potential. I'm 32 years old and I have been around the block a time or two. You have to take these compliments for what they are....compliments. The Pro is not the one that initiated the conversation. The college coach started the talk about Jacob. It was the first time they had met and the coach was coming to discuss the local college using the course as their home course. The local Pro knows that I take lessons from a well known teacher in my area that is 1.5 hours away from us. He is not trying to sell me lessons. We came to him to get Jacob in the golf academy. The local Pro knows me better than that.

In my opinion, there are thousands and thousands of kids who are "really good" at golf and will probably enjoy the game for a lifetime but only a very small percentage have enough raw talent to risk screwing with thier childhood over.

Which is exactly why I am taking this as a compliment....not a sign that Jacob is the next big thing.

The whole reason I started this thread was ONLY because I was proud that someone else besides me actually thinks Jacob has a good swing. I was proud that Jacob got singled out of 10 kids. I was proud that Jacob's practice was actually paying off. I was proud for Jacob and I was proud of Jacob....it goes no further than that. My realm of reality is not all of the sudden skewed. The coach and the pro weren't in cahoots to get into my wallet. And as long as I have been around golf, I understand that just because some local coach makes a compliment about Jacob's swing, that Titleist won't be knocking my door down next week to set up a sponsorship. In other words, don't read too deep into this thread. It was just a little vent to express my happiness for my 8 year old son.

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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Now that's some Bruce Pearl recruiting if I've ever seen it... ;)
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Now

Got to catch them while they are young...HAHA!

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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TNZ I know this is wayy off topic. But do you let him watch MMA because I know you watch alot of it?

If he is interested in it would you consider kids BJJ/MMA classes? Can you imagine a ProGolf/MMA Fighet Combo that'd be sick!
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TNZ I know this is wayy off topic. But do you let him watch MMA because I know you watch alot of it?

Absolutely!! The other night he told me that he wanted to learn BJJ and I said "Yeah you do!" But there aren't any schools close by. We will go down that road next year as I want to get back into BJJ myself. I was a blue belt but I'm sure I'll have to work my way back up that ladder and it would be cool to have him doing it at the same time. I have taught him a few things along the way, but he hasn't caught on completely to the principles of what he is doing.

As far as MMA fighting....I don't know about that. I don't see that in him right now, but that may change. He LOVES to fight....but to dish it out more than take it, you know what I mean? I will not push him into anything he doesn't want to do. But at the same time, I will make sure that he has the opportunity to do whatever he wants do to. If he wants to be a golfer, I will do what I can to help him be as good as he can. If he wants to be a fighter, the same thing applies. I was brought up like that and that is the way I will raise my kids. I refuse to be one of those parents that push their kids into certain things because they didn't get to do it when they were kids, and they want to live through their kids like that.

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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Note: This thread is 4906 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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