Introducing toddler to golf

1,801 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by jja79
Rusty GCS
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Any tips from more experienced dad's? My son is 2. Turns 3 in a month. Got him a Jr set of clubs today and a practice green.

Do you try and correct his swing at all? Or just let him swing the club holding it upside down facing the wrong direction? This is at the house just practicing that I'm talking about.




What I do know is I won't be the guy having a 6 hour round with my kid playing out the hole and a line of golfers at the box behind me
jj9000
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Tips:

The most important tip (by a landslide) I can give you is to always...and I mean always...take the key out of the cart if you're not in it.

Other than that...at 3...just let the kid have fun being a kid at the course. Always reward him with something for going with you.

Mine are a couple of years older than yours...so...I make up games on the putting green or chipping area just to spend time.

One of my son's favorites is "tackle-tickle"...I get a bucket of balls and go to the chipping green. Then I empty the bucket where we're hitting from and place the bucket upside down somewhere on the practice green. If I hit the bucket 1st...I get to place the bucket anywhere I want on the green (usually farther away). If he hits the bucket 1st...I drop everything...run and tackle him....tickle him...hold him upside down...throw him over my shoulder...etc. Then we repeat until we burn through a bucket.

I don't really give a sh*t if the other folks on the green look at me crazy. I'm having fun with my son...and that's all that matters.
Oso96
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Good advice right there by jj.

My son is a 4 and just wants to be with dad. Just let him have fun and as he watches you he will pick up swinging the club the right way.
CapCityAg89
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
At that age there is literally nothing "wrong". It is ALL about fun. Your single goal is to connect golf = Fun in his little brain. Any sense of work, anger, stress, disappointment, etc is a killer.
CapCityAg89
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Those other things are for later.
Yesterday
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've started my 3 year old off by doing 100 3' putts in a row. When she misses one she runs a mile. If she misses two she gets beat with a hose. She's going to love golf. And me.
jja79
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Rusty my youngest son is now 14 and he really turned me on to golf. When he was 3 or so he would watched Golf Channel constantly so I go some little clubs and he just couldn't get enough.

Since he was about 7 we probably play 75-80 rounds a year together. If your boy loves it you'll get to spend a lot of time with him you otherwise might not.
agsalaska
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
A buddy of mine had his 5 year old out the other day. We ran into them and played a few holes with 4 grownups, 3 of whom are gambling, and a 5 year old. He is sitting about 8 feet and jacks it 5 feet past. He then left his next putt three feet short. My buddy, as serious as a heart attack, told his boy that if he four putted he was going to get a spanking. Boy stepped away from the ball, read the putt, took a few practice strokes, and drained it.

We think he was kidding but not 100% sure about that.
GIF Reactor
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Oso96 said:

Good advice right there by jj.

My son is a 4 and just wants to be with dad. Just let him have fun and as he watches you he will pick up swinging the club the right way.


Not if he watches me!
Mr.Bond
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
03ki11erAG said:

I've started my 3 year old off by doing 100 3' putts in a row. When she misses one she runs a mile. If she misses two she gets beat with a hose. She's going to love golf. And me.
JYDog90
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
03ki11erAG said:

I've started my 3 year old off by doing 100 3' putts in a row. When she misses one she runs a mile. If she misses two she gets beat with a hose. She's going to love golf. And me.


I think I saw a documentary about you.

Seriously, have you seen "Trophy Kids"? What a freaking disaster.
03_Aggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Electrical_Ag said:

Oso96 said:

Good advice right there by jj.

My son is a 4 and just wants to be with dad. Just let him have fun and as he watches you he will pick up swinging the club the right way.


Not if he watches me!


This. My poor son appears to have inherited my bad natural tendencies.

I've started taking him with me, as long as the group is ok with it. Get there early and let him hit on the range and will bring his putter on the course. He's fine observing and getting to putt occasionally as time allows. Sometimes he prefers to roll down the back side of the green while we putt.

One thing he's already picked up on is the trash talk. It's inadvertent but some times it has us all rolling.
Aggie_Eric98
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Quote:

Seriously, have you seen "Trophy Kids"? What a freaking disaster.
The Short Game is a pretty good documentary, it shows all aspects of parenting in junior golf. You have the hard a$$ dad (from Bridlewood, I think) to the dad who only wants his kid to have fun.
CapCity12thMan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
my kid (now 10) started going to the course with me a couple of years ago and before that - just plastic balls and stuff in the yard.

Now, it's a prerequisite we stop on the way to the course to get a slushy/Sprite. Then when at the course he gets a trip to the snack bar to take a snack with him. After that is he good to go. I don't know why that gives him so much joy, but its how I make it fun for him. He likes to use the laser yardage gun too, and tell me theyardage (50% of the time its wrong).

the only technical thing I tell him to do is to lineup properly, maintain his foot position and use his shoulders and arms to swing - not his hands. Here's current progress: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B96PqlluKCyTaENUYXJTbXlkQ0E/view?usp=sharing

The only other thing to be concerned with is equipment - make sure the clubs are the right size. If you cut down adult clubs, the weighting is so off it causes early problems and frustration. Too long/too short = more problems (as you would also have if you tried clubs too short/ too long). Don't make it unnecessarily difficult based on equipment selection - the game is already too hard and if they get too frustrated early it will be a shame. Set them up for success with somehow making it fun and getting them in the right position to be successful.

One other thing we like to do when practicing is that there is this mounded area with a 12x12 metal grate at the bottom, in between some mounds that surround it, creating a decent size bowl effect at the practice area. We get 20 or so yards from it and see who can chip it "in" first (ball ends up on the grate). The size of the grate and the bowl effect allows him to make a bunch of shots, rather than him trying to do it on a regular size golf hole, so he feels like he is accomplishing something. Each ball will usually rest itself in one of the square holes in the grate and if one of us gets 3 balls in a row up, down or diagonal, the other person gets $5.


Tony Franklins Other Shoe
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Rusty GCS said:

Any tips from more experienced dad's? My son is 2. Turns 3 in a month.
He might have some trouble carrying your bag for 18 holes, especially if it's a Czervik style, I'd start him with a pull cart until he can heft that thing a full round, no need to slow your game down. Plus I don't think he will be able to line up your putts either.
CashinOut
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My son just turned 7 months old. We have "Sunday golf naps" down to a science. His mom enjoys that..
Diet Cokehead
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My son is 6 months old and I can't wait to be able to take him out on the course.
KC_Ag14
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My son is 5 months old. Can't wait to take him to the course with me! Also, couldn't pass up this 7 month, 6 month, 5 month old post/thread pattern. Maybe us three and all our same aged sons will play together one day!
Quinn
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My 8mo old daughter is gonna kick y'alls kids butts on the course!
Brick Tamland
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Quinn said:

My 8mo old daughter is gonna kick y'alls kids butts on the course!


She could probably beat me right now
Rusty GCS
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
The boy loves his clubs. Plays with them half the day for now until he gets a new toy at least. It's impressive how quickly they improve by themselves with almost no instruction.
DannyDuberstein
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Rusty GCS said:

The boy loves his clubs. Plays with them half the day for now until he gets a new toy at least. It's impressive how quickly they improve by themselves with almost no instruction.
Yeah, I think a golf swing with a young kid is almost like a young kid learning a foreign language. Their brain and body are used to absorbing so much and figuring things out constantly, that they naturally pick it up faster than many adults would. Both of my daughters (10 and 14 now) were this way. Now it doesn't apply to all kids because it does take some measure of athletic ability/hand-eye. But if they are athletically inclined kids, they can figure a lot out on their own pretty fast.
jja79
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My 8th grade son started hacking it around with me at 4 or so and I just let him do his own thing. Around 10 he started trying to improve and learn some strategy. Last year I got him fit for irons and regular coaching and now he's hitting his driver 275 and sometimes longer, just striping his irons and the better players at our club invite him to play with them. It had to all be his own decision though.
1208HawkTree
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
When my son was 2 or so, he started whacking balls around the house, yard, etc. then it became an obsession. All day long, even while nobody was around. Started taking him to the putting green and range and he loved it. As he got older, would hit balls for hours out of the sand, over the sand, into the sand. Just loved going with me and that's all I wanted. Fast forward, and he's now about to turn 12. We have since joined a CC and he couldn't care less about the game. He likes it when he goes, but never "wants" or asks to go.we signed him up for a series of weekly junior clinics thinking that someone else besides mom or dad doing the talking may help his interest level, and he has made some progress, but just hasn't gotten bit by the bug like we thought he would when he was little.
Gyles Marrett
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Been taking my 3 year old to the course. Just let them have fun. Sometimes just running around the putting green and picking up the ball out of the hole is fun to them. As long as you aren't disturbing others trying to practice. The main point at that age is just make it a fun experience so they want to go back to the course.
jja79
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Different people have different levels of the fever don't they? My 14 year old started much as yours did. Now he's working the range, bag drop and cart barn at our club. I drop him off at 6AM saturday and sunday and he works until 3, then changes in the locker room and we tee off at 4. He has a terminal case of golf fever.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.