mental game
Mental skills for junior golfers (and their parents)
Junior golfers like 11 year-old Lucy Li (who qualified for the US Women’s open) require a specific set of mental skills in order to succeed (photo: AAP)
Mathew Howe
[email protected]
E
ven though this article is designed to
help the needs of junior golfers I am
fully aware that most of the readers will
be the parents! Over the last thirteen years I
have worked with juniors and their parents
one on one to help them learn mental skills
for golf in a fun structured way. Over this time
I have noticed some important skills that need
to develop in order for golfing progress to
continue and for the junior to still be playing
the game with enjoyment. This article will
explore what mental skills are needed to
encourage/assist a champion human and
golfer of the future.
What are big mental issues that junior
golfers face and why do they occur?
Rapid physical, mental and emotional
change
It can be mentally tough to deal with rapid
changes in hormones and appearance. Not
only because the rapid growth phase affects
the junior’s swing mechanics but it also can
affect self-esteem and confidence levels.
Something I notice about some 15-16 year
olds is they are almost full sized physical
adults but mentally and emotionally they can
be still pretty immature. Society can find it
hard to treat them accordingly when they are
looking at a giant.
Mental Skills needed: Adaptability, strong
self-image, listening skills.
Managing social media
The social media plays a huge role on the
life of a teenager these days. Technology has
advanced so fast that we instantly are linked
in to what happens all around the world.
Sporting stars these days live a different
life to the rest of the population and have
become almost ‘godlike’ in the eyes of many
youngsters. Media highlights these points and
young aspiring golfers have a mental abyss
to cross to even think about becoming great
at their sport. Sometimes mental issues arise
with a lack of access to social media or on the
other hand too much undisciplined freedom
of what they can look at and time spent on it.
It’s a captivating digital world now and just
like adults, kids need to escape the tasks of
everyday life. If the parents are not careful, the
kids will get lost in the new exciting world of
digital addiction.
Mental Skills needed: Self-discipline, selfawareness and task management.
Parental Relations
Each family has their own set of unique
struggles and personalities. Every child had an
innate need to please their parents or make
their parents proud. Sometimes they may
not show it, but it is there! If the relationship
with the parent and the junior is not carefully
maintained the bond can be torn and it can
cause the junior to look for bizarre ways to
try and show the parents that they are good
enough! e.g. raging on the golf course, not
talking with them about their performances.
Etc.
Mental Skills needed: - Communication
skills, role understandings, emo ѥ