DR. WALLACE: My 13-year-old brother goes to a community golf course every day the moment the sun comes up! We live in a community that has a golf course that local residents are allowed to use, but he never checks in with anyone and is generally off the golf course before 7:30 a.m., when the other golfers start to arrive.

He thinks he's going to be the next golf prodigy, but no one else in our family golfs or gives him any assistance. He did request golf clubs for his last birthday seven months ago, and he's been using those golf clubs almost every day.

Do you think my parents and I should encourage or discourage him at this point? I'm a senior in high school, and I play both baseball and basketball, but he's not interested in either of those sports, and I don't golf, so we don't have much in common regarding sports. — He's Obsessed With Golf, via email

HE'S OBSESSED WITH GOLF: As long as he isn't leaving any major divots or damage to the course, he's probably not hurting anything. I trust he's also back home in time to get cleaned up and ready for school on time on school days.

As a general rule, anytime a young teenager or younger child shows an interest in a particular sport or two, it's always good to encourage that activity until it either runs its course naturally or a different type of crossroads is reached for the individual. At this point, it doesn't sound like there's any major challenges, so I would lean into encouraging him rather than the opposite.

MY BROTHER HAS STUNNING TALENT AT THE AGE OF 12

DR. WALLACE: I am a 17-year-old high school baseball player, and I'm both a pitcher and a shortstop. I've been very successful at both positions, but my pitching has really improved a lot over the last season. My younger brother, who is 12, has been going to my games for three or four years, and he's literally my biggest fan. He loves watching me play baseball, and he especially wants to go to the games on days when I pitch.

I've often played catch with him in the backyard, but we generally throw the ball back and forth just with medium speed to each other, because we are not trying to pitch hard, like game speed. We are simply loosening up and playing catch with each other. I've also seen him many times throwing a tennis ball in the backyard into this "pitch-back" netting type of product that bounces the ball back to him.

He never played Little League baseball because he was always so involved in soccer, as he's a really good player at that sport. He was crazy about soccer this summer when watching the World Cup. Recently a friend of his talked privately to me and said that my brother can really throw a baseball super hard and that I would be very impressed if I saw him throw full speed, but he's too shy to say anything to me about what he can do.

So the other day, I asked our coach if I could borrow some of the catcher gear and shin guards to take home over the weekend because I wanted to help catch my younger brother's pitching. I showed my brother the catcher gear and told him that I wanted him to pitch to me for a little while.

At first he declined, but I put on the gear, and what happened next literally blew me away! I could not believe how hard the ball was coming out of his hand and how hard it zipped into my catcher's mitt after he warmed up. I don't know how he's doing it, but he obviously has really good form and a compact and fluid windup before he releases the ball. I can tell you that if he was pitching competitively right now to boys his own age, he would completely dominate them.

After 10 minutes of pitching to me, he wanted me to show him how to throw a curveball, but I wouldn't do it because I was worried about how hard he was throwing and what it might do to his elbow. He's two years away from attending my high school, and I'll be graduated by then. How do you think I can best help him at this point without pushing him too hard? — Little Brother Has a Huge Fastball, via email

LITTLE BROTHER HAS A HUGE FASTBALL: I feel you're doing the right thing by holding off on him throwing a curveball at this point. Tell him that you'll plan to catch him once a week and, in the meantime, to throw the ball at no more than 60% to 70% of his maximum capacity when he's playing catch or playing with the "pitch-back" device.

And when you do catch him, tell him the very best thing he could do for himself right now is to work on locating his fastball when throwing it at 90%-95% of his maximum effort but to concentrate on hitting your glove at various points around the strike zone. Move your catcher's glove from the inside corner to the outside corner, from a batter's knees to a batter's armpits, and have him focus on being able to throw hard to those locations with reliable accuracy. Tell him that this is the most important thing to do right now and that he can work on a curveball once he gets to high school with a high school coach there.

It's great that he has such obvious raw talent at such a young age, but it's really important that he is monitored carefully and not overextended. Ensure your parents know about his abilities, and encourage them to watch some of your sessions where you put on the gear and catch him when he's throwing at 90%-95% speed only once a week.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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