Golf is a fantastic way to keep your kids active and lets them learn a wonderful sport that they will grow to enjoy and cherish well into their adult years. But it’s also great for parents too. As the saying goes, “Adults learn from adults.” If parents can help their kids to grow into good, responsible and honest adults, then they’ve done their job well. What’s even better is the fact that golf lessons for kids can help teach these things in an entertaining and constructive way.
The single most obvious lesson for kids is honesty. Without honesty, any relationship can go bad. And that’s what’s at stake when parents decide to take their young ones to a golf course or other such place. Whether it’s a driving range or a golf course, the kids must have the ability to tell the truth.
Another important lesson for kids is how to hit chipping and putting. Most adults, of course, can tell you what a difficult thing chipping and putting is. This is why adult golf lessons are so valuable. And not just any old adult. They should be adults who know their stuff. Kids can’t learn this way.
Let’s look at a classic example. You see it all the time on the PGA circuit. That golfer who hits a huge drive on the first try but always finishes in the green (or on the edge)? That golfer is using poor form. His problem is he doesn’t have the right grip, he over-trims the shoulder turn, over-chips the ball or does some other blunder.
If you’ve ever watched a golf pro in person, you may have noticed that many professionals take golf lessons. It’s one thing to go take a class, it’s another to see the pros in action and work on your swing or your stance. In fact, many instructors at local golf courses will take golf lessons for kids. Not only will your kids benefit from seeing pro golfers in action, they’ll get a chance to observe them at work and play along with them at the same time.
I remember when I was in junior high and my friend had asked me if I’d like to go out one afternoon and play golf with him. I agreed and went over to his house. On our way out, I told him I’d like to start doing some golf lessons with him too. He laughed and said “No, I’m going to teach my boy how to hit a putt.” This kid was older than my own son, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The first thing I noticed was that he wasn’t hitting very many putts. This really caught me off guard because while I knew that I needed to work on my putting in order to improve my golf game, I didn’t realize how important of an aspect the putt was to my game. I’d always thought that the better I could hit the golf ball the better I was at it. Working on my putt-putt ratio seemed like a logical approach to improving my game. This kid obviously hadn’t considered this.
Another drawback I noticed was that he would only spend a few minutes taking one lesson a week with me. While I appreciated this, it certainly wasn’t maximizing the amount of time I could spend working on my game. As a result, I started to wonder whether he simply didn’t want me to notice how bad he was doing, or whether he felt like I wasn’t good enough as a golfer to be worth spending the time with. After all, golf lessons for kids are supposed to be fun, right? I couldn’t help myself and decided to start asking some of his friends. Turns out he had a friend who played golf, and since I was playing myself, this was an excellent opportunity to show the golfer some new techniques.