Kids on Course:
Getting Them Started

by Mitch Kaplan

Two things come to mind that make golf important for kids. One, golf is a life sport. Learn to enjoy it, and you can still be playing into your eighties. Two, golf is one of the few sports that children can share with their parents, beginning at a very young age.

Think basketball, soccer, etc. Kids can't reach a parent's level until they're approaching their teens. Golf, however, is similar to skiing. Both allow inter-generational sharing. Just as Dad can ski the green runs with his six year-old, so too can they play par-three courses together; or, with the help of programs like Personal Tee (see Resources and Keeping Them Interested articles), they can even play regulation courses.

Getting Them Started:

At what age should a kid start? Good question. A good answer: as old as s/he is when s/he first shows interest.

"I used to say a kid had to be seven or eight to start," says Scott Sackett, director of instruction at the PGA Tour Golf Academy at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida. "Not any more. The question is: do the kids have interest? If there's interest at five, and they want to be there, you can teach them. If they're ten and they don't want to be there, it doesn't matter. I've taught fours and fives, and they had tremendous fun because they wanted to be there. So, it's not age, it's interest."

One of my favorite images is my elder child as a little guy, playing on the grass with a gigantic, plastic toy driver and a plastic golf ball. A three year-old can whack that thing around and have a blast.

Michelle Wie, who won the Hawaiian tournaments at age eleven, says she started by hitting golf balls on a baseball field.

And that speaks to a significant point: we're not talking tournament play here, just having fun hitting a golf ball. Trips to the local miniature golf course are good; that's a great locale for little ones' birthday parties, as well.

Homemade courses set up in the backyard (if there's room) or in a park can generate interest. Back in the day, we'd set up two or three golf holes in the local park by putting bandanas on sticks, planting the sticks in the ground at various locations and hitting "whiffle" golf balls. No putting involved there - just hit the stick.

A trip to the local driving range makes a fine outing, too. How much does it cost to hit a basket or two of balls?

The best way to get them involved may be just "to take them with you," according to Jack Peter, vice president and chief operating officer of the World Golf Hall of Fame, an initiative of the World Golf Foundation. That doesn't mean taking your four- or six-year-old to your Saturday morning match, he cautions. Rather, "Take them and play nine holes in the afternoon, when it's less crowded, and let them take a shot if they want. Let them putt. Let them watch you enjoy it. Go where you can walk, so they can get a feel for it.

"Once they hit a good shot," he continues, "well it's like hitting a home run in baseball - it feels good. Once they feel it, they'll like it."

Lessons?

Interesting question. According to JuniorLinks.com, statistics show that kids who participate in organized programs are far more likely to stay with the game in adulthood.

Seemingly conversely, many pros caution against preemptively dumping kids into lessons. "I've got thirteen year-old, who has a seven handicap," says Dan Spooner, director of golf at The Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown, NY, " and I never told him anything about his swing until he was eleven years old. It's more important that you expose them to the game; let them play with a friend; let them go out and have fun, and develop their own characteristics until they get older."

Spooner recommends encouraging them to do "anything that will develop the eye-hand-to-ball coordination" but to remember that the focus should be on fun.

Still, at some point, instruction becomes relevant. Ron Philo, Sr., director of instruction at The Otesaga, states categorically that "formal instruction is most effective when kids are past ten years old." Which is not to say that they can't be exposed to lessons. "There are a lot of great golf camps out there that are mostly fun camps," Philo says. "Yes, there are others you can send them to that are very golf-concentrated, but I think it's better (for them) to be more well-rounded."

Scott Sackett agrees. "A word to the wise for parents: support what your kids want to do," comments the director of instruction at the PGA Tour Golf Academy in St. Augustine. "If you can, find a way that they want to play - in local junior clinics for example, which is a nice way to see if they're interested and inexpensive. It's a slow intro and a nice way to go about it."

When looking into lessons, Sackett recommends programs that use video taping as a teaching tool, which helps kids see what they're doing. He also suggests asking the pros. "The PGA of America has done a wonderful job of teaching people how to teach. Go to PGA pro or someone who instructs full time. Ask around - you'll start hearing same names over and over."

NEXT: Keeping Them Interested - Equipment, Clinics, Leagues and Camps.

More on Kidzngolf.. here.

...... Mitch Kaplan is the author of "The Unofficial Guide to the Mid-Atlantic with Kids," a contributor to "The Unofficial Guide to New England & New York with Kids," and the author of "The Cheapskate's Guide to Myrtle Beach" and "The Golf Book of Lists".