Path to the Tour?

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Shorty

You need to redifine your interpretation of "negative". You have to be realistic.

At this point, you are exactly where every other 13 year old with a love of the game is.

You are in love with the game and you fantasise about being on the PGA Tour.

Your game is pretty much where everyone else your age is.

Instaed of asking how you can improve and asking specific questions, you ask a general question which has been very adequately answered.

You have to become extremely good.

You didn't ask how many of us got to a plus handicap before they were 20.

You didn't ask who the best player we ever saw at 15 was.

You didn't ask about the best progress we'd ever seen and if the best players in our clubs were young or old.

You didn't ask how many of us had been close to turning pro ourselves or what reality checks we had along the way.

You didn't say that you had read several books about it and your resume shows that you are beating 18 year olds and already have broken par on such and such a course.

You stated that you shoot in the 40 s for 9 holes. On what course? Where? This means that you are someone who is probably shooting about 100 most of the time.

There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. You are probably better than I was at that age.

For the record I was a trainee professional for a very brief time at 18.

If you want the following to be your advice, follow it at your peril. It will get you nowhere:

"Dream big! Anything is possible! If you want it you can do it, as long as you practice your short game."

Now---here is the real answer. Again. Get to a plus handicap before you are 18. Then you might think about winning a club championship at a medium sized club in a medium sized town.

While you are right and I agree, in fairness, he's 13.  I think at 13, it should be acceptable or somewhat understandable to be a bit naive.

There's nothing wrong with "guiding" a young person to the right answers or guiding them to ask the right questions vs. blast them for it.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

While you are right and I agree, in fairness, he's 13.  I think at 13, it should be acceptable or somewhat understandable to be a bit naive.

There's nothing wrong with "guiding" a young person to the right answers or guiding them to ask the right questions vs. blast them for it.

That is fair comment, but I'm not blasting him.

I'm blasting (your term) the people who think that the difference between them and a Tour pro is a few hours of practice a week and a good short game.

I'm also fairly intolerant of people who have such a limited understanding of of the game that deny reality and focus on "touchy feely" and "positive" posts which amount to nothing.

[Kobey]

I think Shorty is right. (Did I just say that?)  If he had explained things in his earlier sarcastic post the way he did in the later ones I don't think it would have become such an issue.  Every time I read one of his posts I picture a guy on a porch yelling at the kids to get off his lawn.

[Cracker24]

Originally Posted by Domenic

OKAY..............thanks to all who encourage me

unthanks to all who say I will never make it, I suppose your just stating your belief but come on.....just remember what you say when your watching me light up your TV screen in 10 years.....

upside to thread: its gotten the most responses I've ever had

downside to thread: I'm going to have to insist that Shorty and all other negatives go listen to "Mean" by Taylor Swift

I'm sorry, but i think that you are being naive and extremely unrealistic. I'm 16 years old, and i'm of a 1 handicap, not a "get it round" 1 handicap, but a tournament golfer 1 handicap. The last 3 tournaments i've played in I've won with scores of 73, 74 and 70. All on par 72 courses. Will i play on the pga tour when i grow up? No. I have travelled to state tournaments, and believe me , the talent out there exceeds what Shorty or anyone else is saying. I have come across 13 year old +3 handicaps, an 11 year old scratch, and trust me, however much you think you "want it," these kids have been bred into golfing machines, they get homeschooled in the evening, and play golf all day. It sounds corny, but this is all these kids know.

Unless you can convince your parents to drop you out of school and allow you to LIVE ( no joke, to catch up to these people you will have to live on the course), with all due respect, it just can't be done. If you want to play for a living: 1. Win Lotto

2. Start practicing for the Champions tour.

Sorry man.

[I-league]

HE IS 13 YEARS OLD

sorry if I offend the old grumpy posters and the bratty wiz kids on here, but at 13 he's got time on his side. He can achieve virtually ANYTHING if he really wants to, in golf or in any other field for that matter.

[I-league]

HE IS 13 YEARS OLD

sorry if I offend the old grumpy posters and the bratty wiz kids on here, but at 13 he's got time on his side. He can achieve virtually ANYTHING if he really wants to, in golf or in any other field for that matter.

I didn't mean to come out like a troll but all the negativity gets to me sometimes. 13 is very young and life is not a straight line. David Duval was world n1 in his 20's, he got injured, went through ups and downs and now in his 40's he is back to q school. I knew many super talented kids who ended losing interests in golf, while late starters and mini tour strugglers can sometimes make it big. Starting early is only one of the factors in this equation. Many other things come into play.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by I-league

He can achieve virtually ANYTHING if he really wants to, in golf or in any other field for that matter.

Read above the biggest lie told to young people.

Obviously, the people who achieve great things were once young.'

This does not mean that anyone can achieve anything no matter how much they want to.

That is sentimental BS and you know it.

It doesn't mean that people can't have ambitions though.

But those ambitions have to be tempered with a serious dose of reality.

[I-league]

Read above the biggest lie told to young people.

My post might have been a slight exaggeration but so is yours. This world would be a much better place if that was really the single biggest lie told to young people.

[Domenic]

alright, alright I should've asked how to get to the 30's. Sorry I even asked. "Negatives" I get your just being realistic, i'm fine. "Positives" thanks for the encouragement.

****Deasy55*******she's really not that bad, you know.

[Domenic]

Shorty's just telling his old man truth, but Cracker 24, go to hell, your just.......ICKY!

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Domenic

Shorty's just telling his old man truth, but Cracker 24, go to hell, your just.......ICKY!

Telling people to go to hell isn't going to get you far.

If you want to accomplish your goals, being humble is the first step before anything else.

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Shorty

I'm also fairly intolerant of people who have such a limited understanding of of the game that deny reality and focus on "touchy feely" and "positive" posts which amount to nothing.

I see your point

[Kieran123]

Shorty isn't being pessimistic, he's being a realist.

To actually have a chance, the kid would need to play/practice 8 hours a day for however long it takes - and it still would be so far from being guaranteed.

The problem with youth of today ( kids 10-18 generally ) is that they expect things to take care of themselves and for someone to always help them. And a lot of adults aren't helping the fact by telling kids that they can do anything they want and achieve the impossible. Life is not like that.

There is nothing wrong with having goals - but they have to be realistic.....why influence people with these grand ideas and goals only for them to realistically never get close to it? It's kinda sick in a way.

A better goal might be to become a club pro. That's a good goal and a far more realistic one.

You're 13 years old. There are more important things than aspiring to play on the PGA Tour.

Soon, you'll be thinking with your other head and golf will be a fart in a hurricane.

[Dave H]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Shorty isn't being pessimistic, he's being a realist.

To actually have a chance, the kid would need to play/practice 8 hours a day for however long it takes - and it still would be so far from being guaranteed.

The problem with youth of today ( kids 10-18 generally ) is that they expect things to take care of themselves and for someone to always help them. And a lot of adults aren't helping the fact by telling kids that they can do anything they want and achieve the impossible. Life is not like that.

There is nothing wrong with having goals - but they have to be realistic.....why influence people with these grand ideas and goals only for them to realistically never get close to it? It's kinda sick in a way.

A better goal might be to become a club pro. That's a good goal and a far more realistic one.

You're 13 years old. There are more important things than aspiring to play on the PGA Tour.

Soon, you'll be thinking with your other head and golf will be a fart in a hurricane.

I agree and disagree. I agree because it's important to be realistic and realize that goals and dreams are just that, they're not guarantees. They take a ton of work and discipline, some luck, and of course having "it" when it comes to things like golf, where a very few make it. Even then, someone "who wants it more than anything" may never make it. That's just a reality of life.

I disagree in that the "negatives" on this forum seem to come with the perception that a person (anyone, not just this OP) may as well not even try since there isn't much chance of making it. As it relates to youth, the message seems to come across as "since average is your best shot, don't bother hoping or trying for anything better". Well, that won't get anyone anywhere, except, well average. Why would we want to encourage our youth to mediocrity? When it comes to my own children (and I have 2) I'm certainly going to encourage them to go for whatever they want to do. As a parent, I hope to help them make a plan and understand what's involved to achieve their dreams. Now, that comes with some qualifiers. If my son says he wants to be a pro basketball player but is 5'2" and has no hand eye coordination I may encourage him to seek out other gifts he has. Here on this forum, none of us know anyone well enough to see this aspect.

So, to stay on topic, I say to the OP, if your dream is to make it on the PGA. Research and understand what it will take. Come up with a plan. Get a swing coach, commit to the effort. And if you still want to pursue the dream, go for it, but be ready for obstacles and defeat. Good luck.

[x129]

A realistic goal is to get good enough to play DI and get a scholarship. Get an education in case golf doesn't work out. When your 22 you can decide if trying to be a pro is worthwhile. I personally have no problem with a 12-18 year old kid spendin 3+ hours playing golf every day to see how good they can get. It sure as heck beats playing Halo for that amount of time. Is he likely to be a PGA pro at the end? Nope. But he can have a lot of fun along the way and it will most likely be clear in 2-3 years if he has any prayer at all.

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Shorty isn't being pessimistic, he's being a realist.

To actually have a chance, the kid would need to play/practice 8 hours a day for however long it takes - and it still would be so far from being guaranteed.

The problem with youth of today ( kids 10-18 generally ) is that they expect things to take care of themselves and for someone to always help them. And a lot of adults aren't helping the fact by telling kids that they can do anything they want and achieve the impossible. Life is not like that.

There is nothing wrong with having goals - but they have to be realistic.....why influence people with these grand ideas and goals only for them to realistically never get close to it? It's kinda sick in a way.

A better goal might be to become a club pro. That's a good goal and a far more realistic one.

You're 13 years old. There are more important things than aspiring to play on the PGA Tour.

Soon, you'll be thinking with your other head and golf will be a fart in a hurricane.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Domenic

Shorty's just telling his old man truth, but Cracker 24, go to hell, your just.......ICKY!

Knock it off, Domenic.

[RPMPIRE]

I've learned this during a training session at work about a goal-achieving strategy and I think it could relate to what you should be doing. For us, we had to set up quarterly goals for each location and they used this method:

S pecific

M easurable

A chieveable

R ealistic

T ime

It sounded corny at first when I attended the training class, but we did incorporate this and you actually do stay focused on achieving your goal and what we needed to do. You can probably set up multiple goals at a time reflecting each part of your golf game. For the specific category, the goal can be to increase your GIR%, or Scrambling%, etc. Then it gets you to think how you can do that? Practice more putting, chipping, etc. Start keeping stat tracks and if you want, compare them to a tour player (since that is your ultimate goal).

[RPMPIRE]

Also, golf was and is still considred to be a "gentleman's" game. This doesn't just happen on the course.