http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?id=458880 : check out this video of Alan Kings final shot of his high school career

Alan King from Columbia, South Carolina is part of the State Championship A.C. Flora high school golf team and one of my students. What a great way to end your high school career winning it all and being a part of a team of champions. Alan is one of my elite juniors that I am fortunate to work with and I am so proud to think that I had a little bit to do with his success. I have been working with Alan for about three years and I can’t say enough about the young man and his maturity as a player and as a great young man. As you can tell I am so proud of Alan and what he has accomplished in his career thus far. Alan is going to continue his golfing career at Wofford College which has a great golf program. This will allow Alan to really hone his skills and also not be too far from his coach (only an hour and a half away) which is so important to keeping his game in shape. I think that Wofford got a steal of a recruit as I think Alan’s best golf is still ahead of him. He is a a tall (6’6) and is starting to fill out and get stronger. He already hits it a long way but I am anxious to see what we can do when he fills out a bit. I get so much enjoyment working with hight school kids and I work with a lot of very talented juniors that have aspirations of playing college and professional golf. Behind every talented junior golfer is a parent that ultimately wants the kid to succeed. Unfortunately, a lot of parents tend to get too involved in the process and end up hurting the kid instead of helping.

David King (Alans father) is absolutely one of the best parent that I have ever worked with (The Tobeys are another one that comes to mind). I told David that he should write the chapter in my book on how to be a junior golf parent. Every parent wants to be Earl Woods, unfortunately you can’t. The important thing is to know your role. If you are going to teach/coach your kid then you don’t need a qualified teacher or coach, if not,  I want to give all of the parents a checklist of do’s and don’ts in being a junior golf parent.

Don’ts

1. When interacting with the coach, let the kid express the feelings about their game. Too many times when I am interviewing the child, the parent does all the talking. Little Johnny is hitting his driver bad and he is a horrible putter. Oh, also he makes stupid decisions when he gets in trouble. This does nothing but make the child feel that they are getting scolded and does nothing to help his or her self-confidence. If the kid gives the coach their assessment of their game, it allows them to take responsibility of their own game (Let Your Kid Talk!) This also strengthens the player/coach relationship

2. Getting Too involved in the lesson or questioning the coach on the juniors swing or technique. You are paying the coach to help the junior with their swing technique and overall golfing skill. If you are constantly asking the coach about this thing in their swing or that, you are hurting the process and relationship of the player/coach. If you could teach the child, you wouldn’t be paying the coach to do it so leave the changes to the expert.

3. Leave or Stay out-of-the-way when your child is getting the lesson. I know you want to see what the coach and student are working on but the kid will be more receptive and act differently if they don’t think they are being watched or critiqued by the parent. If you are going to watch, keep it at a distance. If the instructor wants you to know what they are working on, they will let you know at the end of the lesson.

Do’s

1.  Research the coaches in your area that are the best for your child. Ask around to see who has the best reputation for helping juniors and helping them reach there goals. This is the most important thing that you can do as a parent, find a great coach.

2.  Be the eyes and ears for the coach when you are away from the lesson tee. Your job as a parent is the give feedback on the scores that junior is shooting, the shots that they are hitting, the amount of practice that they are putting in and that is all. Leave the rest up to the coach.

3.  Get with the coach and create the schedule. The coach will know the best tournaments and junior tours that will fit your child and their goals and skill level.

4. The most important thing that you can do for your child  is: BE SUPPORTIVE, ENCOURAGING AND POSITIVE ABOUT THEIR GAME. THE KIDS ATTITUDE OFTEN MIRRORS THE PARENT. SHOW ME A POSITIVE CHILD AND I WILL SHOW YOU AN ENCOURAGING PARENT. HOW YOU INTERACT AND TALK TO YOUR CHILD WILL DIRECTLY RESULT IN THEIR SUCCESS.

I would love to hear from you coaches out there that teach elite juniors and also you parents that agree or disagree with my points. I look forward to hearing from you  all.

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru……………704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson

http://www.danarader.com