Most kids are not interested in golf if it’s not introduced to them first.\u00a0 Kids just don’t generally gravitate toward the Golf Channel.\u00a0 They don’t\u00a0turn on\u00a0ESPN to see what Retief Goosen is up to at the Sony Open.\u00a0 They’re interested in the more popular spectator sports like football, basketball and baseball.\u00a0 And I for one don’t blame them.\u00a0 Face it golfers…watching your sport is relatively dull.\u00a0 As challenging as it is, and as much skill\u00a0is required…watching someone drop a 50-foot birdie putt does not compare to a diving catch in the end zone, a thunderous dunk or an outfielder pulling a homerun ball back into\u00a0the yard\u00a0for an out.\u00a0 You can see what I mean.<\/p>\n
But what golf can offer is a level of competition that can certainly be equivalent to that of any other sport.\u00a0 But it’s not\u00a0just the competition, it’s\u00a0the competition combined with safety and sportsmanship.\u00a0 And those are some qualities that should make parents happy as well.<\/p>\n
When it comes to competition, golfers are a different bunch…and I don’t mean the pros.\u00a0 When you compare your average weekend golfer with that of any other weekend sports enthusiast such as the flag football player, beer-league softball\u00a0guy\u00a0and rec league basketball player (and let’s face it golfing friends, they are their sports equivalent to what you do on the links), it’s only the golfers who question the skill level of each other.\u00a0 Some of these golfers wear their handicaps like a badge of honor…like it makes them\u00a0superior to another golfer.\u00a0 See, someone like me, I can’t even tell you what my handicap is because…quite honestly…I don’t care.\u00a0 But in\u00a0the other sports previously mentioned, you don’t see this.\u00a0 When was the last time you heard two beer-league softball players comparing batting averages?\u00a0 Have you ever heard two rec league basketball players bragging about their average points per game?\u00a0 No, of course not.\u00a0 They would just sound silly.\u00a0 But golfers?\u00a0 It’s a new level of personal competition.\u00a0 And sometimes, I don’t think they even realize they’re doing it.<\/p>\n
Something all parents are concerned about when it comes to their children’s participation in sports is safety.\u00a0 It’s the NFL that really brings this to light, mainly with the concussion problems.\u00a0 Football is a violent contact sport played by big, strong, fast men.\u00a0 There are going to be injuries.\u00a0 There are going to be broken bones, concussions, tears, strains and the like.\u00a0 Some will be short-term, some may be life-altering.\u00a0 And further, during last weekends 49ers-Packers game which was played in wind chills of -20 degrees, is the\u00a0fact that football players play through any weather\u00a0condition other than lightning.\u00a0 One can understand why a parent would not want their child to participate.\u00a0 So what sport, requiring you to get out of a chair, is more safe than golf?\u00a0 There is no physical contact outside of a handshake or pat on the back.\u00a0 And the sport is normally only played in optimal conditions.\u00a0 What’s the risk?\u00a0 You didn’t hear someone yell “Fore?”\u00a0 OK, so it can hurt if you get hit by a ball…but it’s rarely\u00a0been known to cause any serious injury.<\/p>\n
Last but not least is the sportsmanship facet of the game.\u00a0 I don’t know about anyone else, but the trash-talk and self-promotion in some sports has just gone too far now.\u00a0 I\u00a0love\u00a0football…far and away my favorite sport…but I can’t stand watching a wide receiver get up and celebrate every catch like they just won the state lottery.\u00a0 Or every time a basketball player throws down a dunk, they have to let out a scream, pound their chest and stare down the crowd.\u00a0 Congratulations!\u00a0 You did your job!\u00a0 I’m not a trash-talker…never have been and really don’t like them.\u00a0 It’s really beginning to lose its place in sports now.\u00a0 Golf?\u00a0 It doesn’t occur unless it’s at a personal level.\u00a0 But doing it just for\u00a0trash talk’s sake?\u00a0 Enough already.<\/p>\n
Golf may be a relatively dull sport to watch on television.\u00a0 But when introduced and taught properly, it’s a great sport to have your kids pursue.\u00a0 The combination of competitiveness, safety and sportsmanship can teach life-lessons, as well as provide years of entertainment and recreation for\u00a0anyone who sticks with it.\u00a0 If it goes further than just\u00a0the level of a weekend hack, great!\u00a0 But if not, at the very lest it was a useful tool.<\/p>\n
Swing ’til you’re happy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most kids are not interested in golf if it’s not introduced to them first.\u00a0 Kids just don’t generally gravitate toward the Golf Channel.\u00a0 They don’t\u00a0turn on\u00a0ESPN to see what Retief Goosen is up to at the Sony Open.\u00a0 They’re interested in the more popular spectator sports like football, basketball and baseball.\u00a0 And I for one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1999],"tags":[2508,1982,22,19,2510,25,2507,2089,2506,2509,1479],"class_list":{"0":"post-3483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-golf-life","7":"tag-competition","8":"tag-espn-2","9":"tag-golf-stinks","10":"tag-golfstinks","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-retief-goosen","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-sony-open","16":"tag-sportsmanship","17":"tag-the-golf-channel","18":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n