Developing Your Junior Golfer – Part 1

By Darcy Dhillon

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Let’s talk first about the youngest we work with in our programs, 4 – 7 year old girls and 6 – 9 year old boys. It is very important that Junior Golfers understand and practise the “ABC’s” before and during the process of learning to swing a club. And like most things in life, the more you do it the right way, the better you get.
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“ABC’s” = Agility, Balance, Coordination & Speed

As Golf Professionals, we study the latest techniques and drills for teaching juniors. For the ABC’s, we include: skipping, running, hopping, jumping, throwing, and catching.  Proper coordination while learning golf is essential. The more fun we have with the kids, the faster they learn. Our goal is to not only develop a golfer, but also an athlete. The ABC’s are vital to success in any sport.

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“FUNdamentals”

Putting the fun in golf creates a priceless teaching environment. You know what kids are like when they’re having a good time. They often say and do things that make you laugh.  Our FUNdamental drills help them visualize what we mean. They see what we want and respond. Our job is to guide them. Here are some examples:
Grip - double thumbs up. Try it yourself. They easily learn the basic 10 finger grip. We also use different colored stickers to identify proper hand placement

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Stance - put a straight ruler between their feet. This allows the junior to understand distance between their feet and alignment.

Alignment left.

Ball Position - for the driver, the ball should line up near the front of the ruler. For irons, the ball should be in the middle. The junior will relate because of the ruler drill above.

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Posture - back straight & bum’s out. Showing juniors where to bend hips and knees is the key to this FUNdamental skill.
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Alignment – learning through discovery is how we teach alignment.  We have the junior aim and hit a ball to the left of a target, then the right of the target and we use the pool noodle.

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Left of target, closed face

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Right of target, open face

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​Swing – Technical swing skills are not our goal in this early phase.  Of the ABC’s, speed is the most important.  If a Junior can learn to swing fast early in their golfing journey, they will always have speed and power.  It is much harder skill to learn later in life!

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Clubs

We have everything they’ll need to get started with lessons. You’ll want them practiced in the FUNdamentals before you take them on the course for the first time. When you think they’re ready to have their own clubs, talk to us. ​