This podcast and community is dedicated to junior golf helping golf parents, players and coaches through the fun yet complex journey you and your junior golfer will experience. We dive deep into the real stories golfers go through and as a community answering the long list of questions we all have! We learn from the most experienced golf parents, top coaches, players and child development experts on how to help groom your junior golfer to their best potential!
Episodes
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
This episode kicks of Season 2 of the Raising Golfers Podcast where Neil Plimmer interviews Travis Howser on his take of raising golfers. In this episode you will hear Travis' golf journey and how he got where he is today as a player, parent and golf coach. Throughout this episode both Neil and Travis will share actionable tips summarizing wisdom and important points guests have shared on the episode. We will also discuss how the idea for the podcast came about and Travis will reflect on season 1, what he has learned, what he enjoyed most and what he is most thankful for.
Season 2 is going to a great addition to this podcast where we will have professional player's parents come on the podcast, dive deeper into group discussion topics that we adults can all relate to and get more researchers to come on the show. There is a lot to look forward to in 2021 and Season 2 of the Raising Golfers Podcast!
Discussion Timeline:
- How Travis’ golf journey began (4:10)
- Where did the idea of the podcast come from? (12:05)
- What is the one thing you have learned so far from the podcast (16:06)
- What was your goal for the podcast and have you achieved it yet? (18:15)
- The power of networking (21:55)
- Biggest challenges of the podcast and what would you have done differently? (25:33)
- Words of Wisdom and range of guests on the show (28:08)
- What topics do you want to discuss in the future? (37:25)
- Actionable tips for players who want to play college golf (39:45)
- Actionable tips for young children just starting out (46:30)
- Actionable tips for coaches (48:20)
- Actionable tips for adults (52:45)
- Whats next for Travis in America and the Podcast (54:33)
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
The power of a positive environment and community can be huge for your success in anything and I have found so to be the same in junior golf. From my experience it is one of those things that may not be tangible, and often is over looked, blinded by the nice practice facility you may go to, or the technology used in lessons or even the quality of your coaches 1-1 lessons. The environment holds so much value towards child development and yet it gets lost and forgotten about.
I have seen the difference between junior golf programs first hand. I've been involved in the ones that flourish, where kids are continuously successful in their own ways, parents are happy to be involved and everyone appreciates calling that community home. I've seen the other side as well, the one where on the surface, it looks like the learning environment has it all, from the tech to the practice area, yet a lacked in environment, community, culture that keep junior golfers wanting to come back, stay, play and turn new friends into family.
The point of this discussion with Neil Plimmer is for us to help you see through all the noise, to see how important putting your junior in the right environment really is. I've been blinded by it all and had to do a lot of reflection to really see through it, and hope this helps you jump through it all faster than I did.
Discussion Timeline:
- Where this episode idea came from (1:54)
- The All Blacks (4:52)
- Communities and Practice (10:23)
- The environment we can’t physically see (14:49)
- Exposing your players to different coaches (19:28)
- What does a positive learning environment look like for junior golf? (22:45)
- Junior golf mentor program (25:55)
- Parents should get more involved (28:43)
- Who is responsible for creating this environment? (33:44)
- Self Determination Theory (35:46)
- Advice for listeners (44:25)
Show Links:
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Alexis Hayes shares her story about going through the ups and downs of golf, going full circle from loving the game, quitting, playing college golf and loving the game even more now. Alexis started golf at a very young age with positive influence from her parents, proved her coaches wrong and got onto a college golf team, playing 4 years at Sonoma State. She tells us her story that I think will be so relatable for many of you listening.
Golf gives us so many life skills and I think some Alexis shares exactly how great this game really is for the development of us in life.
Discussion Timeline:
- Alexis’ start in the game of golf (2:25)
- At what age did Alexis start caring about scoring (12:25)
- Why Alexis quit golf for almost two years (14:00)
- How she felt coming back to the game after quitting (15:55)
- Her high school golf experience (18:50)
- What made your golf swing so good? (24:50)
- Travis’ take on swinging hard from an early age (25:51)
- What advice would you give a parent or player who is considering taking a break or quitting golf? (27:43)
- What wakeup calls did you have your first year playing college golf (32:51)
- What advice would you give someone who wants to play college golf? (40:23)
- Final words of inspiration (44:14)
Show Links:
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
This episode is part of the Raising Golfers ‘Parent Stories,’ where David and Jennifer McLaren share their experience as parents raising their son Liam in the game of golf! Liam is a 9 year old boy from Ontario, Canada. He has played golf since he was 18 months old and still loves everything about the game. He regularly competes in local tournaments and has big dreams for his future! His favorite players are Rory Mcilroy and Bubba Watson.
David and Jennifer share conversations they have had with their son over winning and losing, the feelings and emotions they feel during competition, and how important it is for their son to not be someone else but just to be Liam! Jennifer talks about wisdom she learned from her mother growing up and how she has passed that on to her son. This is a great conversation many parents currently raising golfers can relate to!
Discussion Timeline:
- David and Jennifer’s introduction (2:55)
- Golf in Canada (5:10)
- How Liam’s journey in golf began (6:39)
- When did he join group programs? (14:20)
- Why is Liam so competitive? (17:50)
- What conversations do you have about losing? (20:13)
- My opinion on the quality of the caddie (31:25)
- How to know how to speak to your child about winning and losing (33:05)
- These professional golfers do a lot for kids now (37:20)
- What have you learned as golf parents so far? (38:25)
- What do you do as parents to help him reach his dream and goal? (42:45)
- Expectations of him as parents (45:40)
- Where can others follow Liam’s journey? (48:20)
- Final words of inspiration (50:30)
Show Links:
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Winning is often linked with competition and who comes first. And for sure we can understand that winning may be important to adults, elite players, and those that have invested time and money into their goals. Everyone has different experiences of winning and will have a different viewpoint.
In this episode Neil Plimmer, founder of JOLF, and I discuss the hot topic of winning in junior golf. We discuss our own opinions on winning, and dive deep into some of the potential pros and cons of winning for junior golfers. Neil and I reference other relatable topics such as olympic athletes, education in schools and different types of reward systems.
This is a fantastic conversation that is full of our opinions, research found and actionable tips for you, the listeners to implement in raising golfers. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback on this topic so please reach out to both of us and let us know your thoughts.
Discussion Timeline:
- Introduction to the topic of winning (1:32)
- Winning based on goals (7:22)
- Winning will look different for everybody (8:05)
- What does winning feel like and look like for them (11:10)
- Where winning ranks among children (11:33)
- The “pros” of winning (16:20)
- Comparing winning to the school system (19:14)
- The values of winning we want to portray on children (22:12)
- Children don’t cheat (24:06)
- Sports regulation on results in Sweden (26:20)
- What’s the culture around the sport, child and family (34:04)
- Teaching/ coaching the whole child approach (36:32)
- Rewards at school and golf that aren’t results (37:40)
- A soccer (football) coach analyzed his coaching after years (43:58)
Show links:
Winning vs. Development Article
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
In this episode Shreyas Yadav a young amateur golfer from a rural village in India shares his humbling journey in the game of golf! He has overcome adversity in the sense that he does not have any golf course or practice facility remotely close to his village. So what does he do? He walks twice a day to an animal grazing field 1.5 kilometers away to practice the game he loves so much.
The last time he played a round of golf was a year ago and even when he does play, he can play! He usually shots under 80 with his best round of 71 (-1) beating a local professional. Although he has been told by many that he should stop playing golf and just focus more on education, he still has big dreams to play professional golf. He has maintained an extremely positive outlook on life and that has carried over to his golf game. He recently wrote a book called "Triangle of Life" which shares his advice on how to have such a positive outlook on life!
This is a heartwarming story that you don't want to miss!
Discussion Timeline:
- Where are you from and what golf in India is like (2:30)
- Who introduced you to golf? (5:35)
- Where do you practice if your village has no golf course or driving range? (8:34)
- How do you know how far you are hitting the ball? (12:49)
- How much does it cost to play golf in India? (16:47)
- What is the plan to be able to practice and play on a golf course? (21:12)
- What are your 18 hole scores, when you get a chance to play? (23:20)
- How to control your emotions and stay positive in this journey (25:47)
- Are your parents supportive of this journey? (30:21)
- The idea for his book “The Triangle of Life” (31:45)
- He shares some wisdom from his book (34:04)
- Where can people purchase your book “The Triangle of Life.” (41:15)
- What are you ultimate goals in the game of golf? (42:13)
- What are your final words of inspiration? (43:33)
Show Links:
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
In this episode Richard Franklin, founder of DiscoverGolf discusses the crossroad that junior golf is at. He says there is one way points to MORE DATA, MORE COMPARISONS, LEVELS , TESTING. The other points to focus more on junior golfer's EMOTION, EXPERIENCE, and PLAY. He also talks about the psychology of learning and what we need to understand to best support kids growing up through the game of golf.
Richard Franklin is on a mission to use technology and gameful thinking to synthesize a lifetime of playing and coaching experiences into a program design that irreversibly changes junior golf. When he is not coaching and testing new DiscoverGolf concepts at his home facility in Lake Forest, IL Richard can be found travelling the world educating fellow junior golf professionals.
His gamified junior golf training program is built from a “play to learn“ coaching philosophy that will inspire your junior athlete to earn points, set and achieve goals, collaborate with friends on “game quests”, evaluate their coach produced swing lessons and “level up“ their golf games!
Discussion Timeline:
- Richard’s journey coaching golf (3:13)
- More data, testing, comparisons (15:25)
- The death of gamification (15:37)
- How to help parents understand the importance of play (26:54)
- The emotional and experience parts of play (29:12)
- The neurochemistry of fun (32:02)
- How do you create the right amount of chance and randomness in your games (35:58)
- The self determination theory (38:49)
- Games (44:02)
- The importance of the environment (45:50)
- The amount of chance and randomness does two things for kids (50:02)
- When do you “teach” Johnny the kid? (53:24)
- Find out more about Discover Golf (57:50)
- Final words of inspiration for raising golfers (61:44)
Show Links:
Follow DiscoverGolf on Instagram
Follow DiscoverGolf on Facebook
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
In this episode with Euan McIntyre, author of Gregor the Golf Ball, we discuss the emotions and experiences junior golfers go through. It is hard to fully understand exactly what a child is thinking or experiencing when introduced to the game of golf, but we as adults have to do our best to try to understand how they are feeling.
We discuss a variety of topics and Euan relates these emotions and experiences to those of the characters in his book, Gregor the Golf Ball. The book says "There are a lot of ups and downs in a round of golf, especially if you are a golf ball." He put together a fantastic book for children to help them related to characters in a story.
Discussion Timeline:
- How did the idea of Gregor the Golf ball come about? (1:58)
- How to control nerves on the golf course (7:20)
- What would be some ideas on how to get kids more excited about the game of golf (10:18)
- The importance of curiosity (14:45)
- What is it that we as adults misunderstand about kids making mistakes? (17:10)
- What are the positive things kids take away from continuously improving in the game of golf? (20:26)
- The importance of being in a positive learning environment (22:07)
- How to introduce the rules of the game (27:46)
- Setting simple goals (30:36)
- What is next for Gregor the Golf Ball? (32:58)
- Clarifying the authors name (34:56)
- Where can you purchase Gregor the Golf Ball? (35:27)
- Euan’s final words of inspiration for raising golfers (36:50)
Show Links:
Purchase Gregor the Golf Ball via Paypal
Purchase Gregor the Golf Ball via Amazon
Golf Cubs Race to 18 Board Game
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
In this episode, Nicole Katz, single mother of Asher Katz shares her experience raising Asher in the game of golf. She has seen it all, the good, bad and ugly of junior golf and feels that she and her son have grown a lot through this journey. Nicole has done a lot of reflection along the way and continuously adjusted what she has said and done with her son to make his experience in golf a positive one that will hopefully last a life time!
Although results aren't everything, Asher has had 12 wins this year and a number of top fives. Last year he had a hole-in-one caught on video from his mom that went viral on social media around the world! He attends a full time golf school at The Golf Performance Center in Ridgefield, Connecticut and really taken ownership of his own game.
Discussion Timeline:
- Nicole’s golf game (2:10)
- How golf was introduced to her son Asher (4:45)
- How did you know how to introduce the game in such a positive way? (6:52)
- Mistakes made early on in raising Asher as a golfer (9:30)
- What to talk about after a tournament (14:30)
- When did Asher start showing interest in wanting to play more golf (20:57)
- Other sports Asher plays (24:11)
- Asher’s full time academic and golf school (27:03)
- How to balance work and time off for golf as a parent (30:30)
- What parents misunderstand about the progression in the game of golf (32:25)
- Asher’s hole-in-one video that went viral (34:04)
- How Asher persevered through the tough learning experiences of golf (39:40)
- Nicole on failure (41:17)
- Asher’s longterm goals (49:47)
- Nicole’s final words of inspiration raising golfers (55:20)
Show Links:
Follow Asher's journey on Instagram
Hole-in-One Heard Around the World!
Asher Katz interview on The Perfect Par Podcast
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
In this episode, David Emerick, PGA member since 1988 and I discuss many topics related to junior golf. He is based in sunny San Diego, California at the famous Goat Hill Park. David has many ideas on how to make golf fun, affordable and competitive which we discuss together. His vast experience and deep roots in the game of golf has given David a clear vision for junior golf in his area. David's whole life is golf, he even lives just next to the 18th hole of Goat Hill and commutes to work by golf cart.
David has had a positive influence on many junior golfers in the San Diego area through his instruction, North Country Junior Golf Association and affiliation with Goat Hill. He is a two time Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher in California and been the San Diego PGA Teacher of the Year.
- David’s involvement in golf (7:06)
- About Goat Hill (15:52)
- Goat Hill’s Wishbone tournament with celebrities (20:10)
- Golf can take you places (23:11)
- Xander Schauffele (25:45)
- What is the junior golf team and support system? (29:27)
- When is a good age to get have a junior start seeing a mental coach? (32:16)
- The Do’s and Don’ts for junior golf (37:54)
- Why kids should play other sports (40:13)
- Junior golf don’ts (41:37)
- What is fun? (43:27)
- How to make junior golf more affordable (45:50)
- When is a kid ready for competition (47:17)
Show links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lH61x0rgFk&feature=youtu.be
OGILVY DUNKS AN ACE TO WIN THE WISHBONE BRAWL ON THE PLAYOFF HOLE