How to Teach Golf to Your Children
If you are passionate about golf, you probably hope to spark that interest in your kids. Golfing is a sport parents and kids can continue to share well into your children’s adulthood. Teach your children using appropriate methods so that they will learn to love golf as much as you do and want to keep playing throughout their lives.
The first thing you should teach your children is how to hold his putting club correctly. Show your child how you hold the club. Ask him to look at your left hand and imitate your grip.
Correct his hand position as necessary by molding his fingers. Show him over and over again until he has his left hand position correct. Then teach him how to position his right hand so that he is gripping the club correctly.
Once your child has mastered the grip, you can make golfing a little bit more fun by taking him to a miniature golf course. Miniature golf courses allow children to practice golfing skills by requiring them to shoot brightly colored golf balls through obstacles and into each hole.
Play these games with your children so that you can demonstrate how to take your first shot and how to putt. Play these games as often as you can with your children so that they can master these basic skills.
When your child has mastered putting, offer to take him to a driving range so that he can learn the art of long drives. Most children will be excited to go to a “real” golf course because it’ll make them feel grown-up.
At the driving range, give your child an appropriately-sized club to practice his drives with. Demonstrate the proper stance and swing for driving. Ask your child to pick up the club you gave him for drives and make sure that he is gripping it correctly. You may need to correct his grip as you did when you were first teaching him how to hold a golf club.
Once your child gets used to gripping the golf club correctly, let him try a drive. Use the 150 yard mark, as it is the shortest driving distance available. Watch your child as he swings. Note errors in his stance or swing. Congratulate him if his shot goes anywhere near the mark and then gently correct his stance and show him again how to swing. Have your child practice drives until he consistently hits the 150 yard mark.
Once you’ve introduced your child to the driving range, alternate practicing putts at mini-golf courses and drives at the range. Your child must practice both so that he can learn the proper grip, stance and swing for each and so that he doesn’t lose any of the skills he’s already learned.
Once your child has achieved some mastery of these skills, take him to a standard golf course and play a game with him so that he can see the way his skills all come together. This is also a good time to begin teaching him golfing etiquette.
Teaching children to play golf takes a lot of patience. They may take several years to completely master basic skills. It’s well worth taking the time to teach golf to your children, however; doing so gives you a unique chance to bond as well as allowing you to instill a love of the game in your children.