Blog Post #8

        In Josh Greenbaum's documentary titled "The Short Game"(2013), he displays that children that are so young can be extremely dedicated to a sport. The author first shows dedication by interviewing the kids on their drastic methods to get better; he then shows clips of them actually performing these training tactics to show how hardworking they really are, and to conclude he finishes by showing the end result of the tournament. His purpose was to show how invested kids can be. He most likely has a younger audience in mind and not just athletes, but just to let them know to work hard at their dreams. 

        Children at the age of 8 and younger are being documented on their journey to the World Championship of Golf in the documentary titled "The Short Game". It shows the path these kids take one by one. How they started playing golf, how they got good, and all the sacrifices they made to play the sport they love. It uses interviews from the kids asking about things like what their daily life is and what they do to get better. At first the interviews are just to help you get to know the kids. Their future goals are also included, like what they wanna be, and what they want to achieve in golf. Their names are Allen, Amari, Sky, Jed, Agustin, Alexa, Kuang, and Zama. When the Championship comes, they all meet their expectations for the most part. Zama was the most improved player from last year. Allen placed first for theyboys division. Jed showed up late once due to rain delay and received a 10 stroke penalty who would have won without it. Amari was the winner of the girls' division. The rest played well but nothing special. One plus is that almost all of the kids said they made new friends and had fun.

        Personally, I really enjoyed the film. It is so impressive to see such a great amount of talent that young. However, I do not like how their parents were so hard on them. I mean I understand why they wanted to see their children do well and succeed but sometimes it seemed to be over the top. An example is when Agustin's mother was talking down to him and yelling at him. I would imagine that the competitiveness might get the parents fired up. Another thing is I have never seen so much heart and dedication in children that young. They leave themselves no time for a true childhood. At least that's how I viewed it. When he was asked though Allen disagreed. He said that he was not giving up his childhood, rather this was his childhood. I have such a great respect for that and that heart was shown in all of the children.