Golf is a challenging game that many athletes start later in life, says Mitch Thompson.
“The best golfers in the world are usually really, really good athletes,” he said.
“Almost all of our golfers play a second sport – track, cross country or basketball,” said Thompson, the Blackhawks’ new golf coach.
“You definitely have to be in shape because when you go into the heat, we’ll only play nine holes at first, but then when you get to the 18-hole matches, that’s when the endurance comes into play. For these athletes, it’s not just the attitude of not getting frustrated, it’s also about being in top shape.”
Thompson was hired as the head coach for the junior high boys basketball team. He started playing golf later in life when his father-in-law gave him a set of golf clubs. He has been playing for 13 years.
“I’ve been playing quite a bit since I was in college. I didn’t play in high school, but then I started loving it and playing it all the time,” he said.
“When I got the job, of course it was basketball, but when they asked me if I wanted to teach golf, I said that would be excellent.”
“It’s a challenging game. That’s what I like about it. A lot of athletes who play other sports enjoy playing this later in life because it’s a really good challenge. That’s what attracted me to this sport.”
His father-in-law used to be a golf instructor in Dover and he believes he taught him good skills.
“My philosophy is that we train golf-specific things, but even more so we train attitude and lifelong competitive spirit and good habits. I’ve been coaching for six to seven years now and I’ve only taken a couple of athletes to the college level, but a lot of people have stopped and developed great habits when they go to college or into the professional world. Those habits are maintained.
“If you go away from golf and not training for many weeks or months and then come back, you’re not going to be in the same shape. It’s about focusing on those positive daily habits and developing a positive growth mindset. One bad day or one mistake isn’t going to affect you in the long run, you have to be able to recover from that mistake and essentially finish the whole thing.”
“This is an important life lesson that we want to impart to everyone on our golf team,” Thompson said.
Golf is a great social sport and Thompson said he has made many friends through it.
“It teaches you a lot of life lessons, like how to deal with frustration. Golf is a little less accessible than other sports because you have to pay green fees and club fees. But you quickly learn that there’s a reason you’re good at things if you put time and energy into them.
“Golf has been a real challenge for me. It’s a good challenge,” he said.
“It’s you against the court. Everyone plays on the same court. You have to dominate it,” he said, explaining that a player cannot blame anyone else for a mistake or loss. “In team sports, you can have distractions. That teaches you good lessons in competition.”
“You feel a little more pressure because you’re isolated, but you also have some peace – you have control over what you can control. There’s no noise from outside. You have a really good peace in the open air. That concentration can work both ways.”
