Kids and Golf

[JusTzin]

I have a young daughter(8) who loves golf. We talk about golf often. We watch it. We hit balls a lot at the range. Yet she doesn’t have as much fun playing. She wants to be good at it, she tells me. I wonder how hard I should be trying to get her to actually play rather than just practice? Any suggestions?

[scbelowpar]

Not sure how much this will help as it has been a really long time since my kids first learned how to play golf but I would take them out onto a course, usually late in the afternoon and allow them to just mess around on the course.  Obviously nothing destructive or dangerous but things like letting them build little hills in the sand trap and then try to hit out.   Or take some really old golf balls and make a contest of hitting balls over a water area.   I wanted them to have fun playing on the golf course as opposed to playing golf.  If that makes sense.  We slowly migrated into actually playing.

[Bossfan]

Why don’t you set here up with a few lessons and have the instructor be the one to tell her he thinks she is ready for the course. I know with both my kids especially my son with baseball. I would try to teach him something with his hitting or pitching. He’d get tired of me telling him what he needed to do. I had an instructor Work with him tell him the exact same thing and wouldn’t you know it hearing from someone he considered more of an expert that me he was willing to do what I was trying to teach him.  Sometimes a different voice is all they need

[GolfSpy MPR]

At 8, my advice is: allow her to enjoy the game more or less the way that she wants to enjoy the game. It is, fundamentally, a game. It is entertainment. If she seems to enjoy hitting balls on the range, if that's fun for her, that's great. As a parent of a few children who enjoy the game at various levels, there may come a point, closer to high school, in which I would press a child of mine who might be able to open some doors with golf to make responsible use of his talents, but until then: enjoy the time with your child, and make things fun.

[Cory_YXU]

I like this approach.  I find most of the time they want to drive a golf cart more than a ball.  And eating at the club house is fun for them too. 

[ZackS]

9 hours ago, JusTzin said:

I have a young daughter(8) who loves golf. We talk about golf often. We watch it. We hit balls a lot at the range. Yet she doesn’t have as much fun playing. She wants to be good at it, she tells me. I wonder how hard I should be trying to get her to actually play rather than just practice? Any suggestions?

I would agree with @GolfSpy MPR on just letting her enjoy the game for now however that might be for the moment. Excluding causing damage or holding up the whole course. My son is 9 and since I used to work as a instructor for years that side of me wanted to tech him with putting, chipping and moving up to full swings but after a few times he really just didn't have much interest. After that I gave in and just let him go hit balls and he had a good time. I also have to watch not trying to help him too much on his swing, some days he is in more of a mood to hear it and will let me help but for the most part I have a few things that I will just mention to try and keep in his brain and just let him hit and have fun. Funny thing is since then he will even want to go to putting and chipping some times and he will even ask to go hit balls on his own. He has even gone out a few times now on the course and really enjoyed it other than getting frustrated sometimes because how much he gets to play has to do with how the pace of play is moving. I am just happy he is starting to enjoy the game and if he keeps doing so and wants to play more then I will let him know to do so he will need to start taking it more seriously or we can just keep having our occasional fun on the range. 

[TJ Hall]

Mine showed some interest with putt-putt, so I got them both putters to play inside with me…that lasted all of 5 minutes!

Hoping one day they come back around.

My dad took me to the range a lot just to hit balls, he also let me ride in the cart some rounds he played.  Just let me drop a ball and hit around the course (as long as we weren’t slowing anyone down).  

[dpaulus]

I see small kids at the 9 hole course I play and always just want them to have FUN!! If they want to hit a ball, fine. And if not, still fine. at that age they should be kids and have fun. Later they may want to get more serious about the game, but it is a game and should  be fun for them.while being enjoyable for the parents. As a father of 4, they fun times are over all too soon, so enjoy them while you can.

[MVJameson]

I have 2 (12 yo son and 9 yo daughter) who love to go out to the course with me.  The 12 yo is now to the point where he can play a round with me but I will give him a few mulligans and pointers during a round but do so in a playful way to keep it fun for him.  He will be in 7th grade next year and intends to join the golf team for his school which is very exciting for me.  My 9 yo will take her clubs and I might let her hit from the tee box once or twice a round and will throw down a ball for her to putt once I am on the green.  All of this of course is dependent on pace of play.  Even if they decide to not play competitively I still enjoy being out there with them and having conversations we may have not had if they just stayed home playing video games.  But, it all started with me taking them to goof around with me while I was playing.  Then it was an innocent, "can I try?" to now they want to go with me every time I go to the course.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

My oldest, who is soon to be 7, loves to come out on the course and go to the range. I don't know the first thing about teaching a golf swing, so when we are out it is purely about having fun. I would say my best advice is that as soon as a range session or round stops being fun/they lose interest/are getting frustrated, allow them to stop playing and just ride along or pack it in and call it a day. I know that isn't so much an option if you're not a member at a course and pay for each individual tee time, but as a member at our course I will do that every time we are out. If we make it through 4 holes and he's not hitting the ball well and getting frustrated or just isn't into it, he can tell me when he's ready to be done and we call it right there. I don't ever want it to be that he feels forced to be out there or is miserable doing so. Other times last year, he made it a full 18 holes a couple times just enjoying being out and taking breaks when he wanted.

My youngest who is 4 likes to come along as well, but as you'd expect his attention span for it is very small. He will whack a ball and then wander around looking at stuff on the hole. I'll have to pick him up at times and carry him to the green where he pummels putts and eventually lets me move his ball close to the hole so he can tap it in. 

I think that if they are young and having fun, that is ultimately what will grow their enjoyment of the game and keep them wanting to come back for more. There will be a time and a place to take it seriously, but at the young ages, we high five good shots and high five and laugh about not so good ones.

[JFore99]

As others mentioned, letting your kids to have fun while at the range or on course is the most important thing at a young age imo.  My 8yo son always wants to play a round of golf with me.  He enjoys playing the game but also has fun throwing rocks into the pond, catching little fish with his hands and of course driving the cart.  Eating lunch or getting a treat after the round is also a nice way to spend time together, especially when it's just the two of us. 

I initially struggled with getting too technical or trying to get my son to think more.  It usually ended up with both of us frustrated which is the exact opposite of what  we want.  Nowadays I just ask him simple questions to see if he's ready (i.e. Which way is this putt going to roll?  Are you happy with where you're aiming?).  I've found this gives him a quick pause in the action and allows him to evaluate the result better.  Sometimes I entice him with prizes like Robux for 3 pars or 1 birdie.  It seems to get his desire to score going rather than just hitting a single good shot. 

All kids are different but if you emphasize having fun and spending quality time together, you can't go wrong.           

[waddywatty]

I took my 9 year old daughter out with me the other Saturday. Late afternoon 9. I teed her up between 100 and 80 yards out from each green and let her play in. It was the first time in a while she wanted to golf so I wanted to keep it fun. I also let her drive the cart a little as there was no one out. Help we are country club members. But as I have learned with her and her sister if they are not having fun they will not want to continue. I enjoyed the time with her and I got a nice 9 in when I didn't think I was going to have time.

[Brooky03]

What worked for me as a kid was going to a combination putt-putt and chip-and-putt place.  I know those aren't always easy to find, but if you have one within driving distance, give it a shot.

If that's at all unclear, the two places I'd go to as a kid were pretty budget friendly putt-putt courses with a separate 9 hole course with holes ranging from like 40 yards to I think a little over 100 yards.  Oh, and ice cream; the most important part haha.  Take her there, see if she's feeling putt-putt or 'real' golf that day.  If she gets sick of one, she'll try the other.  If it's a good day, it's a good day that's made better with ice cream at the end.  If it's a bad day, it's a bad day made better with ice cream at the end.

[Txrayado]

I’ve got an 8 and 12 year old girls who show interest. I practice almost daily but never push them to join. I let them play when they want. When I do go out and play with them I don’t push them. They are happy only playing 4-5 holes for my oldest. My youngest she just wants to putt. You just have to let them do what they hand and how they want to do it especially girls