There are great resources available to help young children get excited and interested in golf!
Diane and I spent the weekend in Athens, GA with our son, his wife, and our two grandsons Emerson and Madux. The picture above is of 2 year old Madux chilling out while watching 5 year old Emerson play T Ball. Both boys are very energetic, and are of course the best grandsons in the entire world. We also have a wonderful granddaughter Julia, age 4, who lives in Knoxville near to us. Julia knows how to connect with her granddad – she loves to watch golf on TV!
So – the question is how to introduce young children to the game of golf in a positive way. Being a club fitter and avid golfer, I enjoy the possibility that they might all like to play golf. But I am also careful to realize that what is REALLY important is that they find the things they love in their life to pursue.
There are two wonderful and fun ways that I have discovered to help young children get a great start at learning how golf can be fun for them:
SNAG Golf Clubs and Game System. SNAG stands for Starting New At Golf. It is a total system for helping young children learn the basics of golf, have fun doing so, but also if they desire learn some of details related to hitting different golf shots well. There are two clubs – a Launcher used to hit, pitch, and chip shots, and a Roller used much like a Putter. It uses a target called a Flagsticky which is not a hole but an above ground weighted cylinder. Quite frankly I wish I had purchased this for my grandchildren earlier (but I fixed that today!!). Here is a link to the SNAG Golf Website – http://www.snaggolf.com/home.html.
Accu Length Golf Clubs. These are actual golf clubs that can "grow" as your child (or grandchild!) grows. They are designed so that you can add 1 inch extenders to each club. So you can get a set for a small child, and the clubs can be made longer (by up to 4 inches I believe) as the child grows. For small kids the starter set is 3 clubs – a wood club, iron, and a putter, and they also come with a golf bag. A great first step into getting real golf clubs to hit shots with – here is a link to the Accu Length web site – http://www.acculength.com/page/332-17104.htm.
Both of these approaches are well designed to help young children have fun at the game that many of us love – what better way to spoil your grandkids!
The Fit Is IT!!
Tony