By now, Johnson Wagner is a pro at watching golf. His day job is to analyze the best golfers in the world as the newest member of the CBS Sports golf broadcast team. And when he’s not working, he is often watching his 16-year-old son Graham, who is now on his own promising path to college golf.

One important difference: Wagner the broadcaster has been lauded for his personable and creative reactions to tournament golf. As a father watching Graham, his success has been in knowing when not to react at all.

“ I think the worst thing you can do, no matter how old the golfer is, even if they're on tour, is if they hit a bad shot and a parent hangs their head. The kid sees that,” Wagner said as a guest on the Golf IQ podcast. “I think that body language that a parent presents is gonna go straight to the kid, and they're gonna be like, ‘Oh man, mom or dad's disappointed in me because I hit a bad shot. Now this is gonna turn into I'm disappointed in myself.’”

In the second episode of our Golf Dads series, Wagner describes how his approach with Graham was informed by his own experience in junior golf, in which his parents worked hard to mask their emotions watching Johnson play no matter what they were experiencing inside.

“ I remember when I played my mom and dad would always be up at the green,” Wagner said. “They would tell me if a shot was a little long, or if it was good, there would be a nice clap. But they never got their emotions way up or way down during a round of golf. And so I try to do that.”

Maybe this sounds easy enough, but many parents can recognize the trap. You love golf and you love your kid, and so you’d rather your child avoid the disappointment and heartache golf can bring. But Wagner recognizes this is impossible. Golf is hard, and disappointment is inevitable. Wagner’s advice isn’t to be indifferent, but for parents to manage their own emotions well enough so their child can manage theirs.

“You just can't show it on the outside,” he said. “It's gut-wrenching and nerve-wracking when you see them make a mistake. You just want them to play well for themselves and so it's really hard to watch, but it's exhilarating at the same time. You just can't … you just can't show it outwardly.”

The full interview is rich with insight and advice from one of golf broadcasting’s rising stars, with Wagner explaining how his unique position in the game can often help with Graham, and where he prefers to step back so his son can figure parts out for himself.

Listen to the full interview below, and catch up on last week’s interview with Ian Poulter.