How long to overcome a plateau

[CalBoomer]

Wow. And I thought Little-League dads and Soccer moms were bad. Show the kid the right way to do the basics and then leave him alone until he asks for help. Maybe he should just be out on a practice facility playing his own golf "games" rather than out on a course keeping score. Clearly keeping score is not making golf much fun for him.

[dozu]

Wow. And I thought Little-League dads and Soccer moms were bad. Show the kid the right way to do the basics and then leave him alone until he asks for help. Maybe he should just be out on a practice facility playing his own golf "games" rather than out on a course keeping score. Clearly keeping score is not making golf much fun for him.

there is always a balance to be made between the 'leave-alone' and 'guide-along'.

have to give the kid room to experiment, to collect her own sensations, to communicate with the teacher. but also have to stress the key coaching points - grip, balance, distance to the ball, hand action, body clearance, weight shift...... you let her see good results, she will come back for more.... some kids are so much into experimenting, they may not be so keen to ask for help... the result is bad shots repeated over and over and frustration will set in.

[Golfing Dad]

Wow. And I thought Little-League dads and Soccer moms were bad.

Thanks for the insult.

Just to let you know, when he doesn't want to play we don't play or practice. I always tell him it is up to him. I guess in my OP it looks like I am putting pressure on him to break 50. I'm not. I just wanted to know how to he can overcome a plateau. Whenever we get done with a round I always point out the positives of his round. BTW, he also does fencing and singing. We go out because he wants to go out. I was just looking for some advice on how he could help his game. You may be right though about not keeping score.

[David in FL]

There are people out there that can't consistently break 50 for 9 after playing for a lifetime!

Let him play and enjoy the game. It appears that he has the natural talent and it'll come. 6 or 8 weeks does not a plateau make......

[verse214]

Thanks for the insult.

No matter how you cut it (and I know a ton of people will disagree with me on this) kids

do need to be pressured. All successful athletes and performers, etc. have had to be pushed along when they were younger by their parents/mentors. Of course there is a point where it becomes excessive, however a balance needs to be struck. I have to disagree with those who say "let the kid decide when he wants to practice". You need to let him make the decision as to whether he wants to play golf and get good, however you have to hold him to his decision and show him what it means to be dedicated/committed; otherwise, he will not succeed. This is from personal experience (not with golf).