Pushin' Too Hard

Pushin’ Too Hard

I read a story in the Tribune the other day about golfer Michelle Wie, who’s 26 now and has all of four victories in her ten-year pro career.  Worse yet, she has a number of aches and pains—ankle, hip, neck, wrist—that are likely affecting her game.  So, you have to wonder if it was worth it for her to start competing at the age of 12.

Every parent of a young athlete has to confront the Goldilocks Question: what’s just right for my kid?  I seem to remember that Wie’s parents thought she could handle a whole lot more than I would’ve allowed.  I’m not saying they wanted to share in an early payday, but way too many parents push their athlete kids to reach for the gold ring well before their legal drinking age.  The one-and-done phenomenon of NCAA basketball speaks for itself.  Isn’t that right, Jahlil Okafor, Mr. Speed Racer?  The mind needs to catch up to the body, and the body needs to grow at its own pace.

If Clare were Wie, I would’ve done everything in my power to have had her athletic talent develop more along the lines of a normal kid.  Making the varsity golf team her freshman high school year should’ve been enough; ditto college, with the exception of an occasional summer tournament, NCAA permitting.  Anything more and you’re risking damage to body and/or soul.

When Clare was in middle school, I did push, especially one-on-one practices.  My daughter took grounders and BP more than she wanted to.  Then, come eighth grade, outsiders saw the same talent I did years earlier.  Clare made her first softball travel team at the age of 13, and it was for 16 and under. (Note: they then farmed her out to a 14u team.)  She in fact did make varsity as a freshman and was a starter all four years in college.  I lit a fire under my daughter in middle school, and it never went out.  I also let her set the pace after eighth grade.

I could’ve pushed Clare to try out for other, tougher travel teams; take more hitting lessons; and go to more camps, at which point the question would be, who’s the parent and who’s the athlete here?  I think I always knew the answer.  I wonder if the Wies did, too.