The Do's and Don'ts of Junior Golf.

By Louis Honore Sr.

Foreword

In 1997 a storm hit this country and a young man named “Tiger Woods” started it. He had just won the coveted Masters Tournament, and every kid in America wanted to be just like Tiger, not like Mike. Parents, Uncles and Grandpas, dug into their garages and car trunks and pulled out old golf clubs, and took their kids, some as young as two, to the neighborhood golf course, on what they believed to be the first step to fame and riches, just like Tiger. You could see them every weekend working with these kids, without a clue of what they were doing, or teaching to their child. They believed if their kid could just manage to swing that club and hit that ball, the rest would come as natural as breathing.

That’s the first don’t. I don’t believe kids are natural golfers. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a natural golfer. It’s hard to learn this game. The club is hard to swing and the grip is unnatural. Miss the ball on either side of the odd shaped blade and you can seriously injure the person on either side of you, and sometimes behind you. Yet there they were, trying to teach their kids something they had not mastered themselves. “Take it slow, keep your eye on the ball, keep your left arm straight, don’t swing so hard, swing harder, relax your left arm, look at the flag, keep your head down, don’t cry. You could hear this advise at any golf course in town, on any given day. And, it lasted for years until the child said, “ I don’t want to do this anymore”..

The sad part is that some of these kids had a talent for the game, and could have gone on to play well. Unless you are a trained professional, you can’t teach this game to anyone. Yet everyone tries. The person with the 36 index, will step up to tell you what’s wrong with your 3 index swing without hesitation. It’s just uncanny how they just know how to fix your game and not their own.. Kids need professional lessons if they are going to find out if they have an aptitude for this game. Only a trained eye can see if the hand and eye coordination is there and if they truly want to learn this game or were torn away from the video game by a well meaning relative to endure this torture.

Parents with little or no disposable income should consider another sport. Organized sports at schools and city parks, such as football, soccer, basketball and baseball, supply the equipment, coaches and training needed to play those sports. Golf does not. It is not free. Even to have your old clubs cut down, which we don’t recommend, cost a pretty penny. And then you have clubs that probably are too stiff, too heavy or just too old for any child to learn the proper swing. There are Jr. Club sets that are made for children, but they cost anywhere from $100.00 to $300.00 a set. Add the $30.00 to $50.00 per week for lessons, shoes that cost over $50.00 and other amenities such as practice balls, you can run up a nice monthly bill for jr. golf and you have only just begun. Many parents found that out and slowly backed away from the golf course and turned to the previously mentioned schools and parks. But there were the few diehards such as I, and the other now bankrupt parents that stuck it out. So if you are one of us, this BUD’S for you.

Louis Honore Sr.

For information or additional news, contact the editor at marilyn@ygaa.org