Gifted Child: Grandparents pride - Parents dilemma!

Nandini called me to tell me that Neil had done well in the latest Jr. golf tournament. He came first along with another kid but lost in the play off! Neil was upset and parents were disappointed. In fact, she had told me just the day before that Neil was not interested in practice anymore but they would take him to play anyway as it was his last tournament for the season!

Neil took part in the Callaway World Junior Golf Tournament at San Diego in July and did well. He was the youngest from his state of Washington and was given the honor of carrying the state flag! He was placed 18th and could have finished higher, if he had not become uncomfortable on the second day.The reason was that he had too much Gatorade to drink but refused to take a toilet break! He did have lots of fun and played with kids from different parts of the world. He and a boy from Peru became good friends!



















He has a natural swing and a feel for the game, in fact any game! He drives well and without holding back. Predictably the short game has not interested him as much as driving. He is in a hurry to get it over with and go on to the next tee to drive! I know that he can take pressure when challenged. He has made long putts to beat me!

He had shown this aptitude for sports as a three year old! Nandini's friends had given him a set of plastic golf clubs and he could connect and hit well with them. I used to take him out to play and tell him to play like Tiger Woods. His reply was very sure! He was Tiger Woods! He was always ready to demonstrate his swing and was thrilled with all the wow's he got from people! Similarly he was Andre Agassi when playing tennis and Tendulkar when playing cricket!














The reason I am writing this is no surprise! As his Granddad and fellow golf player I am very proud of him and thrilled that he has the talent to play well and the temperament to compete!

Another reason is that I came across this review of a book, Hothouse Kids: The dilemma of the gifted child. I know it is a hard job to handle talent, especially in the US. Neil is in the age where he wants to be with his friends. Many of them are not into golf. Raxit and Nandini will be hard pressed to find a balance between his needs as a kid and nurturing his talent.



















To compound this problem, Nikhil is also showing a lot of interest in golf and wants to play as well!



I hope they do find the balance. Being a kid is still a priroity and an all round development and growth is more important! I am sure that they will find a way to do all this and more!

Science in golf!

I never imagined the seriousness with which the academy has taken to golf. It is really something! Consider this:
Science and Golf III - Proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf
Martin R. Farrally, Alastair J. Cochran
Copyright 1999 ISBN: 0736000208 768pp Hardback

Science and Golf III is the ultimate one-volume source on current research about the game-from how to play better, to selecting the best equipment, to the latest advances in golf course design, and more!

The book includes 92 articles that were presented at the 1998 World Scientific Congress of Golf held at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. The conference was approved and grant-aided by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the United States Golf Association.

Regular Price: $75.00 (U.S. dollars)
(In case you decide to buy, I would appeciate it if you mentioned this blog! I have listed a few chapters to give you an idea of the sweep or should I say the swing plane of this book)

Chapter 1. A Three-Link Mathematical Model of the Golf Swing
A.B. Turner & N.J. Hills

Chapter 2. A Mathematical Swing Model for a Long-Driving Champion
M.G. Reyes & A. Mittendorf

Chapter 3. A Kinetic Analysis of the Knees During a Golf Swing
C.J. Gatt, Jr; M.J. Pavol; R.D. Parker, & M.D. Grabiner

Chapter 5. A Kinematic Analysis of Foot Force Exerted on Soles During the Golf Swing Among Skilled and Unskilled Golfers
K. Kawashima; T. Meshizuka, & S. Takeshita

Chapter 6. The Effects of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Flexibility on the Clubhead Speed of Recreational Golfers
D. Jones

Chapter 27. Who Chokes and When? Situational and Dispositional Factors in Failure Under Pressure
D.E. Linder, R. Lutz, D. Crews, & M. Lochbaum

Chapter 28. Superstitious and Routine Behaviours in Male and Female Golfers of Varying Levels of Ability
V.C. Melvin & M.A. Grealy

Chapter 40. Skirting the Issue: Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Golfing World
M. Haig-Muir

Chapter 44. Golf and Italian FascismR.J.B. Bosworth

Chapter 46. Hole Size, Luck, and the Cruelty of Putting: A Thought Experiment on the Impact of Quantization in Golf
L.M. Landsberger

Chapter 58. Golf Ball Spin Decay Model Based on Radar Measurements
G. Tavares, K. Shannon, & T. Melvin

Chapter 63. Optimum Design of Golf Club Considering the Mechanical Impedance Matching
T. Yamaguchi & T. Iwatsubo

Chapter 70. A Study of Clubhead Speed as a Function of Grip Speed for a Variety of Shaft Flexibility
T. Miao, M. Watari, M. Kawaguchi, & M. Ikeda

Chapter 71. Does It Matter What Driver You Use?
T. Hale, P. Bunyan, & S. Squires

Chapter 91. The Passion for Green: Experimental Insights Into the Power of Golf's Primary Color Over the Mind of the American Golfer
J.R. Hansen

Why do 'bad shots' remain and the good ones seem to vanish?

(Quote: The simple explanation is that our brains memorize passageways from stimulus to response at nearly imperceivable speeds. What is also obvious is that once the electro-chemical coding takes place and becomes entrenched, it is very hard to dislodge.)

(Quote: Unfortunately, the golf swings of most amateurs are not repetitive enough to make this happen. You're better off controlling your mind, where golf really takes place. - Golf Chick)

These two observations, one scientific and the other very practical, explain why we face such an uphill task while trying to perfect our swings and play a decent game of golf!

We are constantly cautioned by our spiritual gurus about being under a delusion, they use the term 'Brameh!' and we hear it often as they try to guide us through life and its tribulations!

I am sure all us have our own pet delusions! One of the first mantras I heard was to remember only the good swings I made. With this in my mind, I used to stop practicing with a club, as soon as I got one good result! I hoped that my brain would store it for me permanently. Invariably, a good swing was a rare occurrence and after hacking away at many balls on the range! The net result as you can guess, was that the brain did not recall this particular one on the golf course, where it was needed most! (I assume the brain had to work through a whole bunch of electro-chemical codes and could not locate it soon enough!)

I had also been advised not to use the driver as it was tough club to master for a beginner. While on the golf course I once accidentally picked up the driver, I thought what the heck, and just drove. Amazingly my first drive sans any practice is still my best! Obviously, I did not practice with my driver for a while and swung it only on the course, with very predictable results. I know it is better to use a 3 wood on the Tee, but it is not easy to give up trying the driver again(and again)!

I also remember the day when I had a great golf shot on a par 3 hole. Later, when the caddie gave me a 3-iron, I declined and asked for a 4 iron. Told him that I had never used a 3 iron so far! He acted surprised and said I had just used it on the last par 3! Well I did try it again and as you can guess the ball went nowhere! Ignorance is bliss sometimes!