All research has shown that early success does not guaranty later success. Most Olympians don’t specialize until later on in their teens. We have to be careful that we do not burn our children out, drive them too hard so that they eventually dislike the very sport that they so love early. If we do then we have wasted all this money and time in vain. I do not have all the answers but we need to reflect on the motive behind what we do, the benefits of success at this particular time and the long term goals and effects.

As I said earlier. I do believe this is wonderful opportunity that will create great memories but I hope there are more long term benefits and a real return on the investment in time and money. Early champions aren’t guaranteed later success. As much as Tiger has done for the game, his story of a child prodigy has provoke many parents into training and pushing their children too hare too young in search of the stardom and riches. Tiger was a phenom with exceptional circumstances. Give you children opportunities but let them be kids too.

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The sand shot is one of just a few shots where you are not trying to make contact with the ball. You are trying to make contact with the sand just in back of the ball and let the sand propel the ball out of the trap. The easiest way to do this is to take your normal stance( maybe anchoring a bit in the sand so you do not slip) and then move your feet away from the target so the ball goes more towards your foot that is closest to the target. The ball might be even with your front foot. From that position you should open your club face which means that it will by lying more with the face pointing towards the sky. This will help the club glide through the sand. Once you have this set up make your normal swing. The club should contact the sand just before the ball and send the ball on to the green. The distance will still be controlled by how hard you swing.

This is the easiest and simplest way to get out of a trap. A good practice would be to get into a bunker and make some swings with no ball and see if you are making contact with the sand. The club should glide through and the spot you hit should be consistent. Not having a consistent bottom of the swing is a problem with all you shots so practicing this would also help you in all your game.

Make the sand trap your friend!

John White CPGA

Part 2 of 2
John White C.P.G.A. discusses children and youth involvement in the game of golf, tips and techniques to be considered and how your child should approach learning how to play golf so they enjoy it for a lifetime.

Important Consideration for the Junior Golfer (MP3)

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John White C.P.G.A. discusses children and youth involvement in the game of golf, tips and techniques to be considered and how your child should approach learning how to play golf so they enjoy it for a lifetime.

In the early years we need to build speed so let them swing as hard as they can. Let them pick the ball up and throw it, chase after it, roll it on the greens. Traditional golf lessons or practice can be boring for a young child.

There are stories out there of young prodigies and many parents are trying to push their children into becoming pro athletes and they think that by starting them young with lessons that this will do that. Being a champion early in life does not mean they are going to be champions later on. Actually research has proven almost the opposite. Let them try multiple sports and wait until later on in their teens to specialize in one. I am not saying that they can’t have guidance and each child is unique in their ability to handle instruction but we need to do what is best for the young player.

I think his win is tremendous for the game and sets up the first major of the year, the Masters to be a great tournament as always. Even though he did not have his best game as far as striking the ball, hitting it all over the place, he keeps grinding it out making putts for bogies, hanging in there until he seizes the opportunity for victory.

My hat goes off to Sean O’Hair for a fine tournament, but shooting 73 on Sunday does not cut it against Tiger. His swing did not hold up under pressure and playing safe or hitting poor shots cost him the tournament.

Tiger is back and it is good for golf.

The announcers, including Arnold Palmer, sort of just chuckled over it and made light of it, however I wonder if it was a young kid the kind of response they would have made over it. I know very well how frustrating the game can be but there must be penalties in place to deter players from doing this. I think it disrespects the game and can become potentially dangerous. If Tiger was suspended or penalized for this outburst, he might think twice about doing it. By the way, he went on to birdie the hole.

I guess if it is acceptable then maybe we should introduce fighting into golf. I wonder what the Commissioner would do if two players starting fighting. I respect Tiger Woods very much and he is the greatest ever, so even more reason for him to lead by example.

This is very important to free motion, synchronized motion. People that are trying to keep their arms straight are too tense and inhibit motion. Their arms will also get out of rhythm with their body and cause poor shots. Keeping the arms straight will also cause the wrists to break the wrong way, another cause of poor golf shots (the Wrist Rite will help).

Do not ever give the advice to keep the arms straight. We certainly don’t want to lift the arms or carry them, we must throw or swing the arms back and up which if done will keep the one of the arms extended throughout the swing until the finished position.

I aspire to be the best golf coach in the world (I think I am already there) so that means that I must continue my quest for knowledge. Right now I am reading the Annual Review of Golf Coaching 2008 which is cutting edge material from all over the world. I just got in and I am starting to read a book by Eric Hawkens which pertains to dance and I believe that any graceful movement can teach us about the golf swing. I have about 6 more books on the go. I just reviewed our Canadian Long Term Player Development guide which is awesome stuff on how to grow the game and make our country’s players better.

I tell you all this because I believe there are teachers out there that remain status quo and never change or learn new ways to do things. We must continue as a service to our students to prepare them the best we can for the things to come in their future. This holds true for every subject and those that dare to teach must not be afraid to learn.

Kids have two speed windows, boys are 7-9 and 11-13 and girls are 6-8 and 10-12. This is where we should be letting them swing as fast as they can, throw the ball as hard as they can or sprint as fast as they can go. I have to some degree always taught that because I believe the easiest thing to teach in golf is how to hit it straight and the toughest is to get someone to swing faster.

So parents and teachers out there, let these children have a go at er! Let them grip it and rip it. Once they are out of these windows and have learned to swing fast, we can teach them the technique to keep it in the fairway.