In The End...
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What really matters?
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Many of the conversations I have
with parents often discuss the issue of what
can the player or parent do to improve the
chances of first being invited to the best
tournaments and second being noticed by
coaches. The answer always boils down the same
thing. Shoot lower scores. You'd
be surprised how much effort some families put
into trying to do anything but that. More than
once I have said "save your money and pay for
good lessons and to practice at good courses".
Some families are disappointed too when they
invest in some recruiting service to place
their child in a program when that money could
have been better used in paying for
instruction. Another point I try to make is
for parents to stop deluding themselves about
how good their player is. It often puzzles me
why players are paying to be in tournament
when they cannot break 90. It makes sense the
first couple of times to let the player know
what it takes but after that it is pointless.
Setting goals is important and if the player
cannot consistently break 85 (90 for girls) on
their home course with an adult present, then
entering tournaments is not likely to improve
on that. You can improve at home and the
decision to "take the game on the road" should
be made after the attainment of some very
specific goals. Yes, scoring does matter.
It's always the first thing a coach wants to
know and it's the first thing people ask -
"What did you shoot?" There is no getting
around it. |
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