The Short Game

[3] Beginning 6 months before the 2012 World Championships, the movie visits each of the eight subjects at their homes, some of which are as far away as Paris, Manila, Johannesburg, and Shenzhen, China to meet the kids and their parents.

[4] The subjects of the movie are evenly split between children from the United States and other countries with five boys and three girls, including Allan Kournikova (half-brother of Anna), Sky Sudberry, and Augustin Valery (great-grandson of French poet Paul Valéry).

[11] Los Angeles Times critic Annlee Ellingson describes the movie as a "warts-and-all" depiction of youth golfers that is similar to the 2002 documentary film Spellbound about the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

[12] Golf Digest critic John Strege said that "The toxic mix of youth sports and overzealous parents threatened to hijack" the film but the subjects themselves were so entertaining that the movie was not a loss.

[5] USA Today critic Scott Bowles described the film as upbeat and noted that "...for astute viewers and golf fans, Short hits the green consistently and is, at times, a hole-in-one.