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Teaching the game to a youngster

DocTrussell

DocTrussell

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Like the title implies, I am wondering the best way to properly teach a kid (my 7 years old son) the game. My concern is that I don't want him to struggle with a poor self taught swing (or non taught) down the road. I have actually never had a lesson (plan on that changing this year) and have recently been trying to change 20+ years of ingrained bad habits from no instruction at all (I have only recently started learning to proper address position).

I know the proper answer for this would be to find somebody who gives lessons to kids. That at this time is not a viable option from both a financial and logistic standpoint, same reasons I have yet to start a lesson plan with a coach.

I recently picked up the PGA tour academy home edition from the marketplace (thanks manny) and have stated the program myself. It seems, so far at least, that it is easy enough to understand (application is a different story from the years of bad habits) that anyone could follow along and at least learn most of the principles of the game.

That is just a little background to the actual question, with me being able to understand and help my son with the application of the program, is this a viable option to get him started in the right direction for the game? We started a couple of nights ago and just went through the grip session and with my help he seemed to be getting and understanding the proper grip. Stopped at that part because a kids attention span is short.

What do you guys think?
 
I'm currently reading "Daddy Caddy, On the Bag" and it is along these lines as I've got the same question as you. So far it has been a good read and might be worth recommending.

I'm curious to hear what others have to say on this topic.
 
I just tell my boy (younger than yours) to hit it as hard as he can. Some day if he is still interested we'll look at golf camp or lessons. At his age I'm not worried about bad habits, aside from the bad habit of not trying to hit the ball hard. Kids are fearless. I do give him really general pointers like 'point the face of the putter at the hole', but that's it.
 
Hawk said:
I just tell my boy (younger than yours) to hit it as hard as he can. Some day if he is still interested we'll look at golf camp or lessons. At his age I'm not worried about bad habits, aside from the bad habit of not trying to hit the ball hard. Kids are fearless. I do give him really general pointers like 'point the face of the putter at the hole', but that's it.
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My boy is 5 and I tell him the same thing. I tell him to knock the letters off the ball. Let him literally grip it and rip it. Maybe some day I'll get him lessons or a clinic if he still wants to do it. I'm not going to pressure him and never coach him.
 
ForTheLovOfGolf said:
My boy is 5 and I tell him the same thing. I tell him to knock the letters off the ball. Let him literally grip it and rip it. Maybe some day I'll get him lessons or a clinic if he still wants to do it. I'm not going to pressure him and never coach him.
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All he wants to do is hit the ball in the air as far as he can, so I try to help him do that in any way I can. I tee it up for him, even in the fairway. He developed a really strong swing pretty quickly that way, though he's big for his age anyway.

He actually started to enjoy putting more from watching the PGA Tour. Before he just sort of skipped it, but now he tries to make it so I can give him a high five.
 
Im taking a different approach with lil man. We work on drills together. Posture grip and other fundamentals. He as a decent swing and hits the ball pretty decent for just taking up the game. We have chipping a putting contest when we are at the range and if I dont get my stroke down he kight start winning.
He is alot like me and analyzes alot of things. He trys to mimic . He already has checkpoints in his swing where he knows whts wrong.
Have no clue if this is the correct method, but hes still interested in learning and well that's all I can hope for.
 
Hawk said:
All he wants to do is hit the ball in the air as far as he can, so I try to help him do that in any way I can. I tee it up for him, even in the fairway. He developed a really strong swing pretty quickly that way, though he's big for his age anyway.

He actually started to enjoy putting more from watching the PGA Tour. Before he just sort of skipped it, but now he tries to make it so I can give him a high five.
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My boy would spend all day there if I let him. Right now he would hit as many buckets of balls as you put in front of him.

On the course I tee it up for him around the 100 yard marker let him hit his driver then give him and iron and tell him I'll meet him at the green. He loves every second....especially when I let him drive the cart if we get one.
 
ForTheLovOfGolf said:
My boy would spend all day there if I let him. Right now he would hit as many buckets of balls as you put in front of him.

On the course I tee it up for him around the 100 yard marker let him hit his driver then give him and iron and tell him I'll meet him at the green. He loves every second....especially when I let him drive the cart if we get one.
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Love it. One of my favorite things that him and I get to do together and sounds like it's the same for you. He's been asking me constantly when the snow is going to melt so we can go play again.
 
A big thing I'm experiencing with my kids is that we have to let them have fun and develop their own love for the game at their pace. It is hard. But I think this is the most important thing.

I think the second most important thing is to resist our adult temptation to start getting technical about the swing with them. This feeds into #1 - it isn't fun to be overwhelmed.

I've had our kids in camps and that's where they got basic instructions. The instructors didn't worry about things like grip so I chose not to go there either, yet. When we go to the range I mostly let him have fun. I try to be hands off. I will give him a friendly reminder about something I know he already knows if I see him getting frustrated.
 
Hawk said:
Love it. One of my favorite things that him and I get to do together and sounds like it's the same for you. He's been asking me constantly when the snow is going to melt so we can go play again.
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That is the best!

A few months back my son told me he was tired of going to the range (I had him signed up in an after school kid's program). I was bummed but didn't push it. I pretty much hadn't heard any interesting until last weekend when he asked me if we could go play together. I LOVED it.
 
For kids that young it's gotta be all about fun. I'm with the other guys, just have him grip it and rip it. little Kids will figure out a way to hit the ball. Show them what you do but let them find their swing on their own. One caveat is, make sure his/her clubs aren't too heavy - that's a killer.
 
Good point on the club weight. Something I figured out pretty quickly.
 
Hawk said:
I just tell my boy (younger than yours) to hit it as hard as he can. Some day if he is still interested we'll look at golf camp or lessons. At his age I'm not worried about bad habits, aside from the bad habit of not trying to hit the ball hard. Kids are fearless. I do give him really general pointers like 'point the face of the putter at the hole', but that's it.
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Heard Michael Breed say the same thing, just get the kids swinging the clubs, dont worry about correcting issues at the early stages of life
 
Thanks for the responses so far guys. A little more info for clarity, he has been swinging a club some for a little over 2 years, mostly just here in the back yard. The last few times we have went to the range he has gotten frustrated because he sees everybody else's shots get up in the air and go, and most of his stay on the ground and average 25-50 yards.

So maybe I asked the wrong question. Maybe the question I need to ask is it it time to start putting some technical aspects to his swing so that he can make a better swing and get the shot to look more appealing to him?

The main thing I don't want is him to lose interest because of frustration at this age. So far he is till asking me at least every other day if we can go hit the range or course. He is a little upset at me right now for not taking him with me to Dallas this weekend for the #ownthesecondshot event.

He actually asked about the tour academy videos when I started telling him what I was doing. I told him "I was watching some videos to see if they would help me play better." His response was "can I watch and try?"
 
DocTrussell said:
Thanks for the responses so far guys. A little more info for clarity, he has been swinging a club some for a little over 2 years, mostly just here in the back yard. The last few times we have went to the range he has gotten frustrated because he sees everybody else's shots get up in the air and go, and most of his stay on the ground and average 25-50 yards.

So maybe I asked the wrong question. Maybe the question I need to ask is it it time to start putting some technical aspects to his swing so that he can make a better swing and get the shot to look more appealing to him?

The main thing I don't want is him to lose interest because of frustration at this age. So far he is till asking me at least every other day if we can go hit the range or course. He is a little upset at me right now for not taking him with me to Dallas this weekend for the #ownthesecondshot event.

He actually asked about the tour academy videos when I started telling him what I was doing. I told him "I was watching some videos to see if they would help me play better." His response was "can I watch and try?"
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When this happened with my son I went with a very simple two-pronged approach: tees and hybrids. Voila, ball in air.
 
What club is he hitting? Are you teeing it up for him?

As for instruction or the videos, I really don't know. My kid can hardly sit still long enough to eat, so I haven't really gone there lol.
 
Hawk said:
I just tell my boy (younger than yours) to hit it as hard as he can. .
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That is exactly what I was going to say. It is really by theory for most sports. Don't worry too much about accuracy off the start, try and get speed built up. It is way easier to teach accuracy later than it is to increase speed. Golf is a lot easier with a wedge on a par 4 than a 5 iron.
 
My buddies daughter came with us two last summer probably around 10 rounds on the cart. She was very well behaved for a 4 year old, and learned a bit of golf etiquette. She made a 30 ft. putt one day, and now really wants to play this summer. Always asking me about golf, etc.. They were going to put her in lessons, and got her clubs. So is that a waste for a 5 year old? Should she hold off on the lesson or go through with them? Especially after seeing the Hannah Pearson video, they now really want her in lessons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5BzOEp_jys&list=LLuxRRbOuEMxgD4KTX7WS1Gw&index=3
 
Does he want to play?
 
My best advice, especially to those parents that don't yet have a teenager, is don't think you can make them love a sport just because you do. I have introduced all 3 of my kids to golf, and if I'm lucky I might have 1 (my 8 year old) that has any passion for the game. My 16 year old has passion for other sports(skiing, track, cross country), as does my 14 year old(tennis) but not for golf. I could get them to go to the course, especially when they were under age 12, but they never wanted to go practice or play by themselves. My son has a lot of natural ability and can shoot in the 80's with zero short game, but only plays about 5 times a year when the clubhouse is 500 yards away and his rounds are free! IMO, lessons for kids are overrated, most single digits gofers are good because they took up the game young and have good hand eye coordination, not because they had lots of lessons as a kid. Almost without exception, the scratch index players I know first made it to scratch as a teen with zero or maybe a handful of lessons. When I took up the game at age 12, I was constantly begging my dad or mom to drop me off at the local muni. I practiced many times for 8 hours each day with no help or guidance from anyone. All the kids that are playing on the high school team in our town had passion for the game by age 12 - meaning they were at the course 5+ days each week WITHOUT their dads around.

As far as the technical aspects, leave it to a pro unless it's just basics like grip, posture, alignment. I'm perfectly capable of teaching my kids the technical points of how to golf or ski, but they take advice and improve dramatically more when they get a lesson/advice from someone who isn't dad. The kids under age 15 at our club that have regular lessons with one of the pros can't fix there swing by themselves and I honestly believe the game is less fun for them. Bottom line is the vast majority of kids don't want or need the technical advice that you think they need. The best way to get good at golf is to practice and play 30+ hours each week. That is also the reason most golfers who take up the game as adults never get down below a 5.0 index - there simply isn't time as an adult to get good at it.

Out of the 15 or so dads that I know that pushed their kids the hardest to play golf, only one of them has a son that hasn't quit the game by age 16. Zero of the male or female varsity golfers here have a pushy golf parent.

Keep it fun. Some days my 8 year old want to chase geese or pull balls out of the water hazards after a few holes, and some days she wants to play a full 18 and then go hit balls afterwards. Both are great!
 
Tadashi70 said:
Does he want to play?
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Yes, he is always asking about something golf related. He likes to go with me to the course or the range, gets a little upset if I am going and he can't go with me (I try to play in my day off but he is in school).

The last few rounds he has went with me, he wants to play in the course, so if we are not holding anybody up he drops a ball anywhere from 5-15 yards off the green then chips on and putts out. He has figured out what birdie, par, and bogey are and he tries to make par or better from his chip/putt routine, and will rib me a bit if he gets a par and I bogey the hole and he doesn't care if I started 350 yards from the whole and he was only 30 yards, he says par is par.

On the range I will tee it up for him, or he will put it on the tee. Next time we go I think I am going to start him about 50 yards out and let him go from there, teeing it up whenever he wants (except the green of course)
 
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My dad had me swinging when I was that age and like everyone said, its about the fun and not so much about the technique at that age. But part of the fun is getting the ball to get into the air, so it might not hurt to introduce the idea of hitting down on the ball now if he's hitting off a lie. Another thing is putting - you can turn putting into many kinds of mini games, to keep it fun while also building control and perception.
 
My son's 5, and I tell him to hit the ball as hard as he can, but also to keep his hands lower than his shoulders and his feet still. Now he hits it pretty well off the mat. One day this Summer I'll take him with me golfing. Right now I walk instead of riding, so he'd have some trouble staying up. For now it's a matter of building the hand and wrist strength to control the club.
 
I was fortunate enough to have a son to teach at decent age, he was 11 when he started. I started with fundamentals at the range, grip, stance, posture, and take away, from there I watched closely to see how he progressed and to see if he lost interest. He wanted to keep going so I signed him up for a kids camp, it was a week long, cost $100 bucks for the week and he got a set of clubs, it mostly a 3/4 day class for them and they would do the range, chip and putt, and walk 9 holes, eat lunch then do it again, he loved it and I believe that it got him serious about improvement. I'd take him to the range with me then we started at some par 3 courses until he could get off the tee well enough to hit the regular 18 hole courses. At some point he became unteachable and needed outside instruction and I got it for him. He practiced hard on his own and learned from his own mistakes until he became teachable again lol, and we got back to basics, grip, posture, stance and take away. He now shoots around par, sometimes under and sometimes a little over, but I wouldn't have traded that teaching time for him and learning time for me for anything in the world. Just teach good fundamentals, especially the grip and stance and let nature take it's course, enjoy the ride it's a blast :)
 
My 8 year old absolutely loves going to the range with me, and asked if he can get a set of clubs this year so he can come to the course with me.

I haven't given him any tips at all, other than some very basic things like keeping his hands together on the club. I buy him a basket and tell him not to just rapid fire blast all the balls, but to put them down and think about where he wants to hit them. Some get up in the air, most don't, but every time we leave he asks when he can do it again. I'm hoping to pick up some clubs for him in a few months and let him come out to the local 9 hole course with me.
 
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