Padraig Harrington’s best advice for golf parents might surprise you

Next up on The Scoop: Padraig Harrington!

The three-time major champion and instruction fanatic joined me for a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream (why pick just one? There are no rules on The Scoop!) to discuss all things golf.

I’ve become a big fan of Padraig Harrington over the last few years. I mean, I’ve always appreciated his game, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t until I really started watching the PGA Tour Champions press conferences that I realized just how much the Irishman loves talking golf. At the U.S. Senior Open last June, Harrington turned what could’ve been a 10-minute chat with the media into a 30-minute one. When my coworker, Zephyr Melton, asked him about instruction, Harrington gave a long, thoughtful answer with examples. He wanted to make sure Zeph’s question was properly answered. After that, I knew he’d be a dream guest for The Scoop.

Harrington and I discussed a lot, including how he almost became an accountant, his favorite pro-am moments and the biggest mistakes he makes casual golfers make, but his advice for parents of athletes is what stuck out to me the most. He had a lot to say on the subject.

“Look, you can’t force your kids to do anything. You’ve got to bring them along and put them in an environment that they’re going to enjoy. And once they’re enjoying it, they’re gonna like the sport … bring them to a place where you’re certainly not putting any stress on them … It doesn’t matter what skill level they are. As parents, we get very anxious. We want to jump in and help our kids get better straight away because we think they don’t have time. They have all the time in the world. They don’t need to be better next weekend. They’ve got years to get better. I think we’re anxious to get them better straight away. They’ll find a way themselves. They’ll figure it out. I think we get anxious to try and get them there quick, instead of letting them at their own pace and enjoy it.”

“If you want your kids to be good at sports, put them somewhere where they’re bored and where they have nothing else to do. Again, if you went to most professional golfers, we cycled up to the club all summer, 9:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the day and just hung out there cuz there was nothing else to do … If you want them to be good, let them hang out with their friends, play football in the field, and they get that love. They join the local club and they go on like that.”

So there you have it, folks. Let your kids be bored! Let them hang out with friends and discover their own love for the game we all love. And make sure to check out this episode of The Scoop, now on GOLF’s YouTube page.