A Guide to Helping Juniors Excel in Golf

Parents, Are You Hurting or Helping?

Despite the overall numbers in golf that show the game has declined over the last decade, junior golf is growing massively.  The PGA Junior League has grown almost 500% in two years and the Drive Chip and Putt Challenge is not far behind.

For kids, golf has become cool over the years, largely because of Tiger Woods.  It has become more of a sport.  Professionals are more fashionable.  Professionals are bigger and stronger and can crush the ball.  This is appealing for the younger player.

The PGA Junior League has grown almost 500% in two years and the Drive Chip and Putt Challenge is not far behind. Photo credit: Flickr

Parents may see possible financial positives in the form of college scholarships and a potential professional career.  Golf is a sport which allows for competition and it is a great lifetime skill.  Overall its good for kids to play golf….if they want to.

If a kid wants to play golf and enjoys it, there are ways to enhance their learning and guide them to be as successful as they can be.  However, hyper involved parents may be hurting the growth process even though they are trying hard to help.   Here are some major keys for junior success.

1. Let Kids Learn

Watching kids practice, I notice a common thread.  Many parents stay very close to their children criticizing and analyzing every swing.  I know that they have very good intentions but there is a big problem with this.  The kid is not learning if they are always told what to do.

Here are a few scenarios to show my point.  Imagine driving to an unknown location and it’s fairly complicated to get there.  You use GPS and make it there and back.  What if a week later you had to drive there again and didn’t have GPS?  Could you get there?  The answer is usually NO.  When you are told and follow directions, you are not learning.

Imagine being at a dinner party and the host tells you everybody’s name that is in attendance, could you remember all of them one hour later?  What if you went and actively met everyone and tried to get their names yourself?  Could you remember now?  If we seek answers, there is a dramatically higher percentage of retaining what we learned, especially in kids.

While playing golf competitively, kids cannot be coached or told what to do.  It is against the rules of play.  Kids have to learn how to problem solve on their own and that starts when they practice.  If a kid is constantly being critiqued or coached, they will never learn to problem solve or learn why the ball is going where it’s going.  Kids are capable of amazing things if we get out of their way and put them into a situation where they can critically think.

When I coach kids at this age, I very rarely tell them what to do.  I ask questions and make them think.  I try my best to guide their thinking as opposed to directing.  It’s so easy to want to help and do everything for our kids but we have to let them learn.

I was fortunate enough to have a father that was like this.  He forced me to learn and did not try to tell me what to do.  He allowed me to choose what I wanted to learn and guided me to learn as much as possible about the sport or subject.  He would always put me in situations to learn by asking questions or making me seek out the answers.  How do you hit that shot?  Why does it go right?  My knowledge base expanded dramatically and does to this day because I always seek answers instead of asking someone to answer for me.

2. Make Golf Fun

As a former child athlete that played a lot of sports, I loved golf because it was fun and challenging.  Some parents are making the fun part difficult on kids.  Again, I know the intentions are great but the fastest way for a kid to decline in a sport is if they are not having fun.  So how can we make it fun?

The best way is to get their friends involved.  Kids are more willing to participate with or against their peers.  If they have friends involved, it becomes more socially acceptable for them.

The next best way is to let the kids practice and attempt difficult shots.  I pull my hair out when I see instructors, or parents, telling kids to stop hitting flop shots, hitting around or over trees, and maybe attempting a Happy Gilmore swing once in a while.  These shots are not only a blast to try but they teach us so much.  They teach club face control, feel, and creativity.  There may eventually be a need for that shot and it is good to be prepared.

Get their friends involved…kids are more willing to participate with or against their peers. Photo credit: Flickr.

To make golf exciting and fun, have the kids’ friends involved and let them try a variety of different shots.

3. Don’t Specialize to Early

Research shows that a kid should not specialize in a sport until the age of 14 minimum (see here, and here for more detail on the subject).

It is good for kids to learn other sports and to be competitive.  It is very easy for a young player to get burned out along the way if golf becomes a job for them.  There are so many stories of “The Next Phenom” that fizzled out.  Have you ever heard of Ty Tron?  Ty Tron is probably the biggest name that never was in golf.  Early specialization also directly relates to sport specific injuries.  If we continue to overuse the same muscles, injury becomes more likely.  Take a look at the NBA, 11 of the top 14 draft picks are out for the year with injury.  There are more young athletes getting injured than ever before.

There are many articles that parents can read to validate what I am saying about early specialization.  Remember, if they enjoy it, they will most likely strive to excel.  If golf becomes a job, they will tend to resist and performance will suffer.

In summary, help kids learn by creating a learning environment.

• Ask, don’t tell. “How do you hit that shot?” Why did the ball go there?” etc.
• Let them attempt difficult and fun shots.
• Lastly, let them play other sports.

If you follow these guidelines your kid has a great shot to be the best they can be.

Cover Photo Credit