Summer junior golf season is in full swing and many parents are very dedicated to their children’s golf game. If you have a son or daughter who is interested in golf, you want to create the best psychological environment to support their development.

The biggest roadblock to a long and happy life on the golf course is burnout. Once the fun goes out of the game, so goes desire. Kids want to have fun. Golf is a game and it should be fun. If golf becomes a burden and feels like work to get better, then the love of the game can die. It is important for you as a parent to create an atmosphere where sports are fun, not a burden to fulfill parental expectations for winning. The danger from some parents is that their ego gets into their child’s game. Parents put too much pressure on their child to practice and perform well. Winning becomes more important to the parent than to a child who is playing the game. Practice should be fun and if too much pressure is put on drills, outcome, and making sure Mom or Dad don’t get angry, then the fun can be lost and burnout may be just around the corner.

Great golf performance results when the mind is clear from all expectations. A player can access the zone when mind, body, emotions are in balance. When a child is worried about pleasing a parent in a round of golf, then too much pressure exists and too much thinking is happening to allow for peak performance. Good parental support must include unconditional acceptance for your child’s score. It is good to want success, but not so good to put too much pressure and emphasis on outcome that the fun and love of the game is lost.

Golf provides great opportunities for kids to learn emotional maturity and responsibility. If you are over-coaching your kids, they may be deprived of the opportunity to explore, make mistakes, learn and adjust. The more you empower your child to become responsible for his or her game, the faster your child will mature emotionally. Sometimes less is more.

If you would like to explore how to best coach your child, I will be providing seminars through the Dixon Desert Junior Golf Tour. 

Dr. Ron Mann is a Peak Performance Coach who integrates a mind/body/spirit for mastering all of life’s challenges. He is the author of the LA Times Bestseller, Integrating Spirituality with Psychotherapy, The Yoga of Golf, and the audio CD Find the Zone II: Master the Mental Game of Golf. His latest book, Bouncing Back: How to Recover When Life Knocks You Down is now available online at Amazon.com. You can contact him at mannr@ronmann.com or 602.687.7644. Please visit his website www.ronmann.com for more free materials.