God’s Green Earth
The Front Nine Tips for Parents Raising Junior Golfers, Hole 7
Instruction, training, entry fees, travel and equipment can be very expensive. But when costs and finances are brought up as reasons for your son or daughter to perform well it is a dangerous combination of words.
“I take off work and pay for you to travel all over God’s green earth and yet, you seem to be getting worse!” said one of my parents at the end of a tournament round. The 12-year-old superstar bowed his head and went behind the scoring table to cry.
“There is no greater pressure on an athlete than money. It doesn’t matter what age. To be constantly reminded about costs will not result in top performance.”
Betty Baird Kregor is an LPGA Master Teaching Professional and owner of StraightShot Inc., specializing in the DISC personality system to mentor and advise athletes of all ages and abilities.
In 2014, Kregor retired from over 27 years of teaching golf to consult athletes in the mental aspects of sport an serve as a "performance coach" for goals, scheduling, practice programs, college advising and more.
Her LPGA education in DISC profiling allows an athlete to maximize their performance with "self awareness" of their strengths and weaknesses. It is also an important tool in finding the right college fit. College athletic consulting is a service that benefits 9-12th graders in learning how to market their talents, schedule college visits and value the importance of academics.