THE SHORT GAME (on ESQUIRE NETWORK)..

[Iwastherein1969]

does anyone watch these idiots for parents make their children up to 10 years of age nervous wrecks by caddying for them in these 9 hole junior tournaments....the kid can have a six inch put and the parents are standing right next to their kid saying, "don't push it, don't pull it, not too hard, not too easy"....Good lord, 99.99% of these kids will never even play in college and their parents are dreaming they have the next Dustin Johnson or Lexie Thompson.....it really is hard to watch, but it's so ugly, just like the elephant man (John Merrick), I just cannot look away.

[GolfNut57]

does anyone watch these idiots for parents make their children up to 10 years of age nervous wrecks by caddying for them in these 9 hole junior tournaments....the kid can have a six inch put and the parents are standing right next to their kid saying, "don't push it, don't pull it, not too hard, not too easy"....Good lord, 99.99% of these kids will never even play in college and their parents are dreaming they have the next Dustin Johnson or Lexie Thompson.....it really is hard to watch, but it's so ugly, just like the elephant man (John Merrick), I just cannot look away.

I watched a little of it tonight and could only shake my head in disgust. That whole show has to be fake. What real parent would want to look like a total ass as they berate their kid on national TV for not being the greatest golfer ever since Jack or Arnie? Just once I would like to see one of those "kids" throw their clubs down and tell daddy to cram it. If it is real I can only think it would do more harm than good as pressuring children that young to succeed at a game that's difficult enough for adults, let alone young kids would more than likely kill any chance they would have in playing the game later in life.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

.....it really is hard to watch, but it's so ugly, just like the elephant man (John Merrick), I just cannot look away.

Elephant Man not bad golfer.  Won Northern Trust Open few years ago.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

I watched a little of it tonight and could only shake my head in disgust. That whole show has to be fake. What real parent would want to look like a total ass as they berate their kid on national TV for not being the greatest golfer ever since Jack or Arnie? Just once I would like to see one of those "kids" throw their clubs down and tell daddy to cram it. If it is real I can only think it would do more harm than good as pressuring children that young to succeed at a game that's difficult enough for adults, let alone young kids would more than likely kill any chance they would have in playing the game later in life.

Sean O'Hair's dad says hello.

[EastexHawg]

I see the same thing with kids in every sport.  Parents who can't or don't want to pay for college are dreaming of little Johnny...or little Jessica...getting a scholarship and maybe even bankrolling the entire family.  Hell, I see parents of 12 year old girls hiring coaches to "tutor" their kids in softball.  How many softball scholarships are there, anyway?

These kids are playing all year 'round and their parents are driving them all over creation to "tournaments", which are usually nothing more than a few parents or coaches getting together and saying, "Hey, why don't we put together a tournament in Siler City two weeks from now?  Goodness knows we can't have an entire weekend off."  If the parents weren't spending so much money year after year driving lil Jess to tournaments and staying in hotel rooms they could probably pay for college instead of hoping for a scholarship.

Every single time I asked one of my friends if he wanted to play golf, go fishing, or come over he told me he had either a tee ball game or practice.  I finally asked him how many games they played in a year.  Do they have a 162 game MLB-like schedule?

[GolfNut57]

Every single time I asked one of my friends if he wanted to play golf, go fishing, or come over he told me he had either a tee ball game or practice.  I finally asked him how many games they played in a year.  Do they have a 162 game MLB-like schedule?

Maybe he just thinks the excuse "washing my hair" has been used too much. 

[ricepig]

I see the same thing with kids in every sport.  Parents who can't or don't want to pay for college are dreaming of little Johnny...or little Jessica...getting a scholarship and maybe even bankrolling the entire family.  Hell, I see parents of 12 year old girls hiring coaches to "tutor" their kids in softball.  How many softball scholarships are there, anyway?

These kids are playing all year 'round and their parents are driving them all over creation to "tournaments", which are usually nothing more than a few parents or coaches getting together and saying, "Hey, why don't we put together a tournament in Siler City two weeks from now?  Goodness knows we can't have an entire weekend off."  If the parents weren't spending so much money year after year driving lil Jess to tournaments and staying in hotel rooms they could probably pay for college instead of hoping for a scholarship.

Every single time I asked one of my friends if he wanted to play golf, go fishing, or come over he told me he had either a tee ball game or practice.  I finally asked him how many games they played in a year.  Do they have a 162 game MLB-like schedule?

There's an extreme for every situation, and who would watch it if was just "normal" parents and their kids? As to the parents taking their children to games, if the kids want to do it and it's within the "norm", no problem.

[clutch]

I see the same thing with kids in every sport.  Parents who can't or don't want to pay for college are dreaming of little Johnny...or little Jessica...getting a scholarship and maybe even bankrolling the entire family.  Hell, I see parents of 12 year old girls hiring coaches to "tutor" their kids in softball.  How many softball scholarships are there, anyway?

These kids are playing all year 'round and their parents are driving them all over creation to "tournaments", which are usually nothing more than a few parents or coaches getting together and saying, "Hey, why don't we put together a tournament in Siler City two weeks from now?  Goodness knows we can't have an entire weekend off."  If the parents weren't spending so much money year after year driving lil Jess to tournaments and staying in hotel rooms they could probably pay for college instead of hoping for a scholarship.

Every single time I asked one of my friends if he wanted to play golf, go fishing, or come over he told me he had either a tee ball game or practice.  I finally asked him how many games they played in a year.  Do they have a 162 game MLB-like schedule?

I was one of those kids who had parents driving him all over the place for tournaments year around. I loved every minute of it and am grateful they did that for me. I played in college for a little while, until injuries ended it, but that was never the main objective for us. I loved playing and they loved watching. My mom still talks about the weekends at the ballparks from years ago.