While it’s easy to tell if a kid has the potential to be a pro in other sports, it’s harder for parents to recognize and foster golf talent in children. Learn the best ways to find out if your child has the potential to succeed and how to support your young golfer’s endeavors to the fullest.
Offer Encouragement
The first step to finding out whether your kid has golfing potential is providing encouragement. If you don’t encourage your child to go all-out in trying golf, you’ll never get the chances you need to observe your young golfer’s in-game potential. Plus, encouragement is the top motivator for kids; if you show your child that you’re there to support his or her golfing ambitions, your kid will view golfing more positively and truly get involved in the game.
Provide Access to Golfing Opportunities
If you don’t make it easy for your kid to golf, you’ll never be able to see your child’s hidden potential. Ensure that you provide your child with regular opportunities to visit local golf courses and driving ranges, and make sure to express that providing opportunities for golfing is important to you. Even better, give your child the chance to experience one-on-one golf coaching. In some cases, only a professional will be able to foster your child’s latent talent to the fullest.
Lay off the Pressure
Providing encouragement is great, but pressuring your child to succeed in golf will be counterproductive. Remember that golfing is your child’s choice, not yours. It won’t reflect poorly on you if your child doesn’t have any golfing talent, and it isn’t your accomplishment if your child succeeds. Once you remove your personal feelings from the equation, it’s much easier to treat your child fairly and help your kid’s golfing talent grow.
Remember That Golfers Grow at Different Rates
When kids are small, their size determines their golfing talent. A ten-year-old is almost guaranteed to be a better golfer than a five-year-old based on physical size alone. Remember that if your kid can’t hit the ball very far, physical size could have a lot to do with it. In many cases, it takes multiple years of observation to recognize golfing talent as your child grows. Be patient, and remember that every aspiring young golfer grows at different rates, and your child may be either ahead of or behind the pack.
Evaluate Interest
Remember that you can communicate with your young golfer to determine your kid’s interest in golf directly. You can observe your child to find the answers to the following questions, but it also doesn’t hurt to sit your kid down and have an honest discussion about golf:
Does your child ask to go to the course?
Does your child show an interest in golf clubs and how they work?
Does your child practice away from the course?
Does your child have a good attitude with coaches?
Does your child talk about golf off the course?
Offer the Option of Competing in Tournaments
You should never force your child to compete in a golf tournament. However, these regional youth tournaments can be great opportunities for children to realize their full golfing potential. Pitted against other kids their age, young golfers have to give their all to shine in the spotlight.
Success in regional tournaments is tantamount to proof that your kid has what it takes to achieve great things in the golfing world. Remember, however, to gauge the talent of the kids your child competed against to get an accurate read of your young golfer’s skills.
Provide Your Child with Aussie Kids Professional Coaching
It’s understandable if it’s hard to find the time you need to evaluate and foster your kid’s golf dreams to the fullest. It might make sense to provide your child with the gift of a golf camp or private lessons to allow professionals to encourage your child’s latent talent on the course.
Here at Aussie Kids, we offer a variety of summer camps and after-school packages that provide your child with the coaching he or she needs to attain long-term golfing success. Our high-end indoor facilities beat the Atlanta-area heat, and we also provide your child with opportunities to golf at some of Atlanta’s finest golf courses. To learn more, reach out to us at Aussie Kids today!