My son now thinks golf is a waste of his time

[JoePete]

It's absolutely a terrible waste of time.  As are all sports and hobbies.

Maybe I am missing the intended sarcasm?

The point of sports is they teach cooperation - not just at a team level but at the individual level of having mind and body work together. In my experience, golf teaches this very well. Unfortunately, we have become so obsessed with outcomes in our society we have completely lost appreciation for the process. Whether you are talking standardized testing, investments, or the way youth sports are structured and taught today, we have no interest in the struggle, only the result. Golf may in fact be the last remaining activity where how you do something is as important as the outcome, but we even see this withering (best example is the ballooning pace of play; attention toward our fellow golfers is being replaced by self-centeredness). As we continue to march down this hyperbolic results-only path, is it any wonder that teamwork - in the workplace, in government, even on the highway - has disappeared?

[joekelly]

As much as it hurts, your days of influence are over and he wants to explore the world without your inputs. If  you have taught him how to make decisions, the consequences and rewards, the best road for you is to be happy for him.  If one day he seeks some guidance or help, be happy he trusts you.

[dave s]

Sorry Chanceman.  Losing your best golfing buddy would be sad and painful for all.  Having 2 boys, I can opine that your son has probably been feeling this way for much longer than you can imagine and that telling you what he shared with you is no knee-jerk decision.  If he has other time consuming interests, he should explore them as well.

In the mean time, give him his space, encourage him and find some others to play with.  This will allow your son to come back to golf on his terms.  And what better way to spend time with dad than on the golf course.  And as they say, 'the only constant is change.'

dave

[Strandly]

I will say that at least he is looking to read and write, and not play video games.

It is a sad situation, but like one of the other posters said "Father's Day" is coming up. Play a round together!

The guilt trip route is always an option. One thing that might help is if you only play when he plays over this summer. That might get him feeling like you would prefer to play with him or just mope around the house.

My son plays for his High School and has the incentive that he does not need to take any PE classes. He also plays reasonably well, although lately has trouble with his woods. This has slowed down his desire to play this last month. He starts training again in the middle of the month, and I was invited to also participate in the lessons at his high school this summer with a college player.

There is hope that we will play for a while, but I fear this day will come for me as well.

If I had an ounce of irony for every time I've heard this from some 30 hour a week reality TV sponge Shakespeare would burst from his coffin and blow me.

[Lihu]

If I had an ounce of irony for every time I've heard this from some 30 hour a week reality TV sponge Shakespeare would burst from his coffin and blow me.

Forgive my ignorance, or a limited understanding of the American-English language, but that did you just say?

[Strandly]

Forgive my ignorance, or a limited understanding of the American-English language, but that did you just say?

You got it in quotes, it must be true!

[GIANTSFAN]

Fathers Day is here and for the last three years my brother and I have played golf with Dad and it is priceless .I have been playing since I was 18 and didn't start playing with my brother until about 9 years ago . My dad played when I was little but we never got to play until we got him back into the game about 5 years ago. If anybody has the chance to get out this weekend and golf with there father take advantage of every minute because they won't be around forever,my dad just turned 67 !

[Strandly]

You got it in quotes, it must be true!

Actually, this may have come across wrong.

I've owned some sort of game system going all the way back to Nintendo in the late 80s and it seems the more time goes by the more I see this video game insult.  Games aren't for everyone, I get it.  What has gotten old however is being told, repeatedly, how terrible it is to play a game.. usually by couch potatoes who have no problem camping out in front of a TV every night after work.  Anyway, video games aren't nearly the mind rot that a random TV show is imo.  Most games have you thinking and solving some sort of puzzle, most TV shows have you sit there and gawk at people getting butchered, scammed, or mocked.

[GIANTSFAN]

Actually, this may have come across wrong.

I've owned some sort of game system going all the way back to Nintendo in the late 80s and it seems the more time goes by the more I see this video game insult.  Games aren't for everyone, I get it.  What has gotten old however is being told, repeatedly, how terrible it is to play a game.. usually by couch potatoes who have no problem camping out in front of a TV every night after work.  Anyway, video games aren't nearly the mind rot that a random TV show is imo.  Most games have you thinking and solving some sort of puzzle, most TV shows have you sit there and gawk at people getting butchered, scammed, or mocked.

TIGER WOODS GOLF FOR THE WII AWSOME TIME KILLER T.V SUCKS MOST OF THE TIME

[Lihu]

Actually, this may have come across wrong.

I've owned some sort of game system going all the way back to Nintendo in the late 80s and it seems the more time goes by the more I see this video game insult.  Games aren't for everyone, I get it.  What has gotten old however is being told, repeatedly, how terrible it is to play a game.. usually by couch potatoes who have no problem camping out in front of a TV every night after work.  Anyway, video games aren't nearly the mind rot that a random TV show is imo.  Most games have you thinking and solving some sort of puzzle, most TV shows have you sit there and gawk at people getting butchered, scammed, or mocked.

Ah, yes, now I understand what you are saying. Sure, I agree that games are far superior to watching mindless shows all day.

Our family does not watch any TV, and we are trying to limit my son's time playing the on-line games (albeit they are strategy games, they are still games). We just rent movies or some occasional selections from Netflix on line.

[MS256]

Ah, yes, now I understand what you are saying. Sure, I agree that games are far superior to watching mindless shows all day.

Our family does not watch any TV, and we are trying to limit my son's time playing the on-line games (albeit they are strategy games, they are still games). We just rent movies or some occasional selections from Netflix on line.

I knew several families that didn't have TV in their homes at all. For some it was against their religion and another one (well I don't really know why) other than they were very busy running a camp.

The ones that didn't for religious reasons also didn't have the internet. Not sure about the other one. Probably did but mostly for study and business reasons.

I know it's a small sample group but two things every single kid in all of those families had in common was that they were all honors students and read tons of books.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that all of those kids were very, very smart but maybe they were spending their time more productively than the rest of us watching TV.