Junior Golf

By Allen Kelly, Golf Professional, Parklands Driving Range, East Coast,

“What age is a good age for my child to start golf lessons”?

This is a common question, there is no real answer, only opinions, and of course as with all opinions, they vary.

Hale Irwin was once quoted as saying, “If a parent brings a young child to a Pro and says I want him/her to be a Golf Professional, chances are they won’t be”

Teaching in the USA, we had children from 6 to 16, not very many younger than that, if there had have been, would we have taught them? Of course, but when teaching someone so young, it is not really a Teaching program.

The other question is what is a parent’s motivation for getting their child lessons? There are usually 3 reasons,

1) A babysitting service, parents get a time out from their kids for a while.
2) The parents wanted to be good at sports and for whatever reason did not get around to it and now want their kids to follow up on it.
3) Because of golf’s reputation for rules, fair play and self-policing, the parents have a genuine interest in seeing their children attempt this.

Whatever the reasons, the important thing is to let the kids have fun, enjoy themselves and let them decide for themselves.

The issue being, and regardless of how clever parents think their child is, young children do not have great attention spans, they like to have fun, hitting balls is fun, as soon as you make it a chore, fun over, they don’t want to play anymore.

We had a young bloke in our class, 4 years old, great kid, and has a good swing, we work on basics, but as soon as a helicopter flies over, or a lizard runs by, or a butterfly, or the wind changes or any other of 10 zillion things that catch a 4 year olds imagination.. Lesson over it is fun time again, and we have to let that happen, once you make him stop throwing balls at the Chopper, it stops being fun and the child does not want to come to lessons anymore.

You want your youngster to enjoy golf, then don’t force it, if they want to hit balls, let them, if they want to pick them up and throw them, let them, if they want to hit them in the lake to hear the splash, let them, (as long as they are not your brand new ProV1’s) if they get tired and want to go home, take them. Forcing them to stay is not fun; once it is not fun it is over.

Professional lessons with youngsters concentrate mainly on short game, putting chipping etc. there are lots of games you can play to make it fun, while instilling solid fundamentals to take them through their golfing career.

As far as the full swing is concerned, juniors, both male and female want to hit the ball as hard as they possibly can, the best thing you can do is get them some professional instruction on the grip and stance, 2 basics that will stick with them forever, alignment you can worry about later, because at this young age, there is no target, they just want to see it get in the air and go far. Posture, they will grow into as the bones and muscles develop. Grip, will (hopefully if taught properly) be the same forever, and stance will promote balance, which lets them hit the ball off the ground and into the distance, which after all is FUN!