Golf Skills for Kids

Golf Skills for Kids

Keep the game simple when they are first starting out. There is nothing more frustrating than playing a par 10 golf hole. When we set up our junior golf holes we try and put the kids 85- 100 yards of the green. As there skills increases we start to work the tee back to our regular tee boxes. Through our Play Golf America programs like “Family days at Bristol”, and “4 Hole training Program” kids can play Bristol Harbour from distances that allow them to succeed and build a love for the game of golf.

The foundation for our junior golfers swings are their grip, stance and ball position.

The grip: for a right handed golfer we want to shake hands with the club, allowing the club to sit in your left hand while getting your thumb to pinch against your hand
“forming a V”. The V should point to your right shoulder at address. Make sure to check the clubface at this point to keep the face square to your target. The easiest way to do this is to make sure the ends of the lines on the club are the same distance from your target. Next you will place the right hand, again with a pinch between the thumb and hand, on the club allowing the hands to stay connected. Check your clubface to make sure the clubface has remained square.

The athletic stance: Stand with your feet about shoulder with apart. Get into the ready position which is an athletic position similar to other sports where you have some knee bend and you bend from the hips ready to move in either direction. From this position you need to stick your butt in the air which will prevent your back from being rounded. From this position allow the club to fall into position which will tell you how far to stand from the ball.

Ball Position: After taking your athletic stance and letting the club fall to the ground you are ready to check your ball position. With the proper posture you will have a slight angle change between your arms and the club when you are in the address position. If your club and arms are straight you are either to tense in the arms, standing to far from the ball, or both. I would start with the ball in the center of your swing for wedges, and move it forward toward your left foot for your woods and long irons. The longer the club the harder it will be to hit a great shot with the ball back in your stance. It takes more club head speed to play shots from a position back in your stance and still get the ball to fly. For juniors it is always best to keep the ball position a little bit more forward until the club head speed starts to increase.

Full swing: The “L to L” swing for juniors allows them a simple approach that is easy to understand. When swinging the club back we would like our juniors to take the club back half way and check the “L” position. This position is formed for a right handed player when the club is taken back half way, the left arm is relaxed but extended, and the club has folded into a position that looks like an L. This position is balanced which eliminates the weight of the club being an issue for younger players. We would like to see an angle half way back similar to the angle of the club at address. After the junior understands how the club folds to the L position we start to allow them to take the club past this position to a position at the top. As long as the club, and body stay in balance let them bring the club back as far as they would like to. If they start to fall off their feet encourage them to swing to L1 and then through the ball while keeping their balance. Kids will find a way to keep the club balanced and smooth the swing out if you encourage this expectation. Keeping the feet down going back should also be encouraged at an early age to help with better balance. The second L comes in on the follow through and is a mirror image of the first L only on the other side of the ball. I will show students the second L position, but will then explain that we do not stop at the second L but continue to our let the club travel to our left shoulder on the follow through. Encouraging the juniors to stay balanced I will allow them to swing as hard as they would like, as long as they can stay balanced throughout the swing. I will ask them to pose for the camera at the end of the swing and hold their position after hitting their shot. To hold their position they will need to let the right foot rotate to the toe, and allow the shoe lace of that foot to point to the target. The left foot stays steady as they pivot around it. Let juniors find a way to keep the club balanced and keep their body balanced through good foot work and club positioning. Due to the fact that the club is heavy for them, they will automatically learn to swing it on balance because it will feel awkward any other way so get them set up properly and let them repeat the swing until they can allow the club to swing balanced. Hitting little”L” shots around the green can be very beneficial in learning the positioning and it helps them to score better when they can hit this shot on the golf course.

Try some of our camps for additional help. We have many different offerings to satisfy the needs of many players based on age and ability. The junior golf camp gives them a great introduction while passing on proper mechanics of the swing. The Junior Tour school allows players that have experience the ability to receive more one on one attention tailored around their individual needs while also introducing some competition as well. The last piece will be a travel team which will search out tournaments, and travel matches for our juniors to play in against local clubs.

For additional information or to ask a question of our PGA golf professional Greg Mulhern send an email to gmulhern@bristolharboour.com or call 1-800-288-8248 ext 1.