'Let kids swing naturally'

In the light of Eduardo romero's comments about allowing children to swing the club naturally, rather than give them too much coaching too soon, were you coached as a beginner or have you picked it up naturally and adapted? The argument for youngsters is to get into good habits quickly but if starting the game as an adult, is initial coaching really the way forward?
Posted: 26/06/2009 12:02

I only had one lesson as a kid and that was more of a proficiency test before being allowed out onto the course.

Learnt how to swing the club by watching how it was done on the TV and mimicking how they did it with a lot of trial and error.

Posted: 26/06/2009 12:16

kids will naturally swing better than adults if both are just starting the game.  Adults will try and 'muscle' the ball.

I have a 3 year old who is just getting interested in the game.  My intention is to let her do her own thing for now, just enjoy it and hit the ball.  As time goes by I will teach her to play the game backwards - ie first learn to putt, then short game and eventually long game.

The main thing is to maintain her interest, I can already see her hand/eye coordination is good.  I striongly feel that trying to teach her 'how' to hold the club at this stage will stifle her interest.

Recently I brought her to the range for the first time.  Her only club is a putter I got cut down for her.  While I hit balls she putted towards the bucket I set up safely behind me.  She did that for 10 minutes and then got tired of it so I had her tell me if I hit a good shot or bad shot, after another 5 minutes of that I got her a chocolate bar.

She loved the driving range and wants to go back.

There'll be time enough for proper coaching as she gets older.

Posted: 26/06/2009 12:20

I have two boys, aged 12 & 13 who play. Youngest has been playing about a year and the eldest about 2 years. When they first started they had a number of group lessons and a few one to one lessons but they haven't had any since last September.

When they first started I was telling them this, telling them that and found that they didn't really listen to me () and none of us enjoyed playing together . I then realised that I should just let them get on with it and any advice should come from the Pro during lessons and funnily enough, we all enjoy our golf together much more !

I really like my eldest boys swing, it is totally natural as it hasn't been touched by me or the Pro's. He has a natural draw () but sometimes he has a tendency to hook. The only advise I gave him recently was his grip, it was way too much in the palms, he has now moved it to the fingers. He moaned for about 2 rounds that this doesn't feel right, I just said it will feel natural very soon and is definitely helping with his shots. He said the other week that he doesn't even notice the grip is different now.

Although they have had lessons, I don't think they necessarily need it until they reach around 15 years old.

Posted: 26/06/2009 14:51

People like Romero don't live on the same golfing planet as the rest of us, he is extremely lucky and in the tiny minority to be able to play like he does with no coaching.

Barely anyone swings it so good naturally, so to let kids develop a poor swing technique isn't doing them any favours at all in my opinion.

Biggest thing I would change about my golf with hindsight is the lack of any coaching between the ages of 14 and 20 plus, the damage was done already - I don't think adults appreciate how well kids are able to learn, so for the vast majority of people I disagree totally with Romero's view.

Of course, for the vast majority the priorities are fun, safety and being able to just get around, but if you're talking about developing a really good player, then why leave them alone to ingrain a bad swing instead of teaching them how to do it better?

Posted: 26/06/2009 16:22

Agree with Pasty. I played throughout my childhood (now 41) without any lessons. Refered occasionally to a Peter Thompson book. No videos back then. My swing was full of faults no -one identified until I reached @ mid teens. Finally took lessons @ 8 yrs ago without much change, and it's only really this year and last through more dedicated lessons and practice I have started to shoot a few scores in the mid 70's.

My son is only approaching 4, but I am determined to get him involved in child lessons if he's interested.

Whats a good age to start Pasty?

I was thinking of taking him to the Scottish Open next year as hopefully he'll be past the stage of shouting out at will and wanting to jump into the bunkers!

Posted: 26/06/2009 16:36

Topslicehookpullsh**k wrote (see)

...

My son is only approaching 4, but I am determined to get him involved in child lessons if he's interested.

Whats a good age to start Pasty?

I was thinking of taking him to the Scottish Open next year as hopefully he'll be past the stage of shouting out at will and wanting to jump into the bunkers!

I remember we had a thread asking the same question a couple of months ago, and the unanimous decision was that there is no "right" age as it all depends on the individual child and their own personal interest level.

I've dug up a PGA training manual on coaching children though and this is a paraphrased quotation:

"Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD):

LTAD is about encouraging young people's development within sport so that they achieve 3 key outcomes: 

• Physical literacy - an all round aptitude for balance, co-ordination, speed of movement and agility;
• Improved performance - build on each year with improved technique, heightened awareness and better results;
• Lifelong participation - guarding against burn-out at a young age by structuring training to suit the child's development.

4 stages that form the basic model of LTAD:

1.   Fundamentals, age 4-10 - children should try a wide range of sports and creative, fun activities.   Emphasis placed on developing basic motor skills.   Very little competitive experience.   Groups set by child's biological age, rather than chronological age.

2.   Training to train, age 10-13 for girls and 10-14 for boys - Learn key skills and fitness levels for required sport.   Number of sports cut down.   Emphasis on training and practice, increase competition ratio to up to 25% of programme.   Emphasis on learning how to train, not the end result.

3.   Training to compete, age 13-17 for girls, 14-18 boys - Sport specific skills, tactics, course management and strategies.   Individual fitness programmes and specific performance goals.   Avoid over-training and over-competing.

4.   Training to win, 17+ girls, 18+ boys - performing and training on a full-time basis.   Physically, technically, tactically and emotionally reaching peak.   Emphasis on peaking at major competitions and training developed along those lines. "

The manual contains about 60 other pages of information, but I think the bottom line is let him whack the ball if he likes it!!

Posted: 26/06/2009 17:15

It's always going to be open to opinion but for me it's lessons...

When I started I had lessons... don't now as usually a couple of buckets on the range sorts out any issues but I could do with some putting lessons, however it's more to do with reading greens that lets me down...

For my 10yr old he's been getting lessons every 4 weeks since April and I do feel it helps him and he does strike the ball noticeably better after his lesson.

Just thought I'd add my tuppence worth!

Posted: 26/06/2009 18:01

I'm assisting with helping a good pal with his 2 year old (my pal is a good golfer, my assistance is purely to share the load!). The young lad just loves it. My pal just wants him to enjoy it which he does. We do "sort of" coach, in the sense of being safe, using his putter on the green, and if out playing taking turns to play shots, and we encourage him to go "back and through" during the swing which he grasps, and does. We try to slow him down from machine gun pace at the range. But thats really it, he hits golf balls at his home in the garden all day if allowed, and when we take him to the practise area the same, and the couple of times he's been on the course (with permission from the owner and the course empty) he has just had a whale of a time. He's happy, he's not pushed, its us that end up knackered. One can really see the improvement he's making just from hitting balls all the time, e.g. he can now get out of low lipped bunkers most of the time. Friend will take him to a pro when he's a little older for some tuition if he still wants to golf. His first ever golf hole, a 330yd par 4 he did in 17 shots, so I suspect if he is still interested and playing by the time he's reading to go to a pro in a couple of years he will be hitting it pretty good.

I know nothing about children, or proper coaching, but it does strike me my friend is doing it the right way, letting his son have fun (but not in an out of control way). Looking how quick the lad is progressing and how much fun he's having I cant really see how he could do it better. 

Posted: 26/06/2009 19:02

I agree with Pasty - most people, whether kids or adults, that are learning the game for the first time, do it all wrong, and perfect that technique of doing it wrong. The problem is that when you watch a good golfer hit the ball you don't really see what he's doing right because it all happens in a split second - only a trained eye can tell the difference between good and nearly-good swings. Also, the fact that the golf swing is on an inclined plane means that it is not very intuitive for most, unlike other sports like baseball.
Posted: 26/06/2009 21:30

I will agree, lessons needed.

My 171/2 month old boy, throws the club at the ball, now that aint right

Posted: 26/06/2009 21:32