Golf lessons for 4 yr old

hi guys.. after a long hiatus from GR...

trying to start my 4 year old on some proper golf instructions. been scouring the web for programs/coaches.. like to seek opinions of the people here

some programs start only from 6 years while i am reluctant to go with kindergolf although they take in toddlers as young as 2.

wondering if any parents here have experience with lessons for their pre-school kids?

wow...i also have plan to let my son learn golf ..he will be turning 5 next year Jan.

his birthday present will be a putter and putting mat...haha

but anyway...hope to see some information on this thread...will be very helpful to me too...keke

i sent my 5yrs old to CDAN for weekly golf lesson.

Check out pro Ronald Heng at CDAN range. He has vast experience working with juniors and a very committed coach.

My boy now 14 had 6 good years of training with him.

PM me if you require more information.

Cheers,
ethee

Was talking to my little nephew last night (he's 4).
Asked him if he wanna play golf like his yi-yi.
He said "YES!" and started swinging his 'toy club'.

But the ah-ma was saying ... "look at how u injure urself, don't want my grandson to be the same too"

Sorry for the sidetrack, but yah, any info/reply to the thread will serve as input for me too!

Cheers~

thanks dkk and ethee for the reply so far. seems that you are both talking about the same location and perhaps there are different coaches in cdans.. dropped ethee a pm for more details.

hope to hear more options from others too i am sure there are coaches in singapore who have extensive coaching experiences with toddlers.

For me, i suppose the critical thing would be to balance the technical aspects of golf with the interest level of the kids. most parents would agree that not all kids have the similar devotion and concentration as adults to stay focused for the entire session. essentially, the magic would be to have the kids learn proper techniques while having fun. no point sending kids for a very technically proficient coach and after one term, kill the kid's interest in golf.

just my 2 centssss

art, if time permit you can drop by CDAN tml 12pm and my son will be having his weekly lesson with Ronald ..

Cheers

dkk wrote:

art, if time permit you can drop by CDAN tml 12pm and my son will be having his weekly lesson with Ronald ..

Cheers

by the way, how old is your son?

pretty occupied tomorrow though, but thanks for the invite anyway!

5yrs old- K1 this year!!

My kids go to kindergolf and than proceeded to Tee-one after that. Sent them when they were abt 6 and 9. Found it great as lessons are indoors and they Horne their swing with plastic and rubber ball. After a year took them out and get a coach as their swing are there already. Tot better as at least they don't waste the money spend for the range ball.

My two cents worth.

Can start him off with putting first as this will let him have a feel of the stroke and ball contact. Putting can be fun and can be done indoors with a putting mat. When he can hole out a 4 ft mat most of the time, he is ready for the swing.

Hogan wrote:

Can start him off with putting first as this will let him have a feel of the stroke and ball contact. Putting can be fun and can be done indoors with a putting mat. When he can hole out a 4 ft mat most of the time, he is ready for the swing.

i am 100% with u on this one.......

Let me share my experience as an eager beaver father.

My son just turned 4, 2 weeks ago. He started putting around his 2nd birthday, and he went to the range when he was almost 3 and had a shot at a 9 iron and a driver.

He is putting very well now with a mat at home (like 7/10 shots) and occasionally at NSRCC practice green. I realise it is easy for him to understand what is a good putt (in or how close it is to the hole), so he is learning with every putt he makes.

But for irons, though there are occasional good shots, i don't see that he is able to visualise and learn from what is a good shot. His current status of development does not allow him to There are too many parameters that builds up to a good swing resulting in a good shot, but he does not have the attention required to understand them. And I have absolutely no luck with teaching him 1 piece take away and tempo. And his attention level, and excitement is a constant source of stress (embarassment) at the range.

I have thought through it and decided that I will stop range sessions for at least a year. I will focus on the putting which he understands, and then maybe chipping sessions around the green early next year before going to the range again.

So, the proverbial 'learning to play golf from Green to Tee'. Isn't it a great way to start.

I am very motivated to get my son to play, as I dream of the day we walk down the fairways together. Despite that, I think it is better to take it slow.

Hope it helps.

Shanks!

slinger wrote:

Hogan wrote:

Can start him off with putting first as this will let him have a feel of the stroke and ball contact. Putting can be fun and can be done indoors with a putting mat. When he can hole out a 4 ft mat most of the time, he is ready for the swing.

i am 100% with u on this one.......

Think i need to start as a 4 yr old kid and holing 4ft putt...hiaz..need to buy those putting mat with holes, me and my kids can start playing at home..kill two birds with one stone..

Hogan wrote:

Can start him off with putting first as this will let him have a feel of the stroke and ball contact. Putting can be fun and can be done indoors with a putting mat. When he can hole out a 4 ft mat most of the time, he is ready for the swing.

agree with you totally too

started my boy with putting a year ago.. end result was that he learnt to vary the putter swing to match the distance and also also learnt that club head orientation = direction, which i feel are the basics of golf and most sports. it is definitely a critical concept that has to be instilled before building chipping/swinging etc.

increased variety by having him to chip and have some bunker play (loves the sand part!).

although his really prefers to go the range to hit balls (who doesnt?, haha). i try to limit the number of balls.

just that i feel that up to a certain point, i am limited in terms of my skill and instructions. would love to explore formal coaching while milking on his high motivation for the game.

Shanks! wrote:

Let me share my experience as an eager beaver father.

My son just turned 4, 2 weeks ago. He started putting around his 2nd birthday, and he went to the range when he was almost 3 and had a shot at a 9 iron and a driver.

He is putting very well now with a mat at home (like 7/10 shots) and occasionally at NSRCC practice green. I realise it is easy for him to understand what is a good putt (in or how close it is to the hole), so he is learning with every putt he makes.

But for irons, though there are occasional good shots, i don't see that he is able to visualise and learn from what is a good shot. His current status of development does not allow him to There are too many parameters that builds up to a good swing resulting in a good shot, but he does not have the attention required to understand them. And I have absolutely no luck with teaching him 1 piece take away and tempo. And his attention level, and excitement is a constant source of stress (embarassment) at the range.

I have thought through it and decided that I will stop range sessions for at least a year. I will focus on the putting which he understands, and then maybe chipping sessions around the green early next year before going to the range again.

So, the proverbial 'learning to play golf from Green to Tee'. Isn't it a great way to start.

I am very motivated to get my son to play, as I dream of the day we walk down the fairways together. Despite that, I think it is better to take it slow.

Hope it helps.

Shanks!

how i know who u are.....

i need to start my girl on her swimming before i put her on the putting mat....

she is 4 now.... think i wait till she can swim before she learn to putt

her attention span is worrying.... but she has my heart, what to do

Shanks! wrote:

Let me share my experience as an eager beaver father.

My son just turned 4, 2 weeks ago. He started putting around his 2nd birthday, and he went to the range when he was almost 3 and had a shot at a 9 iron and a driver.

He is putting very well now with a mat at home (like 7/10 shots) and occasionally at NSRCC practice green. I realise it is easy for him to understand what is a good putt (in or how close it is to the hole), so he is learning with every putt he makes.

But for irons, though there are occasional good shots, i don't see that he is able to visualise and learn from what is a good shot. His current status of development does not allow him to There are too many parameters that builds up to a good swing resulting in a good shot, but he does not have the attention required to understand them. And I have absolutely no luck with teaching him 1 piece take away and tempo. And his attention level, and excitement is a constant source of stress (embarassment) at the range.

I have thought through it and decided that I will stop range sessions for at least a year. I will focus on the putting which he understands, and then maybe chipping sessions around the green early next year before going to the range again.

So, the proverbial 'learning to play golf from Green to Tee'. Isn't it a great way to start.

I am very motivated to get my son to play, as I dream of the day we walk down the fairways together. Despite that, I think it is better to take it slow.

Hope it helps.

Shanks!

hey shanks.. thanks for sharing your journey with your child!

i know how range sessions can be pretty tricky when bringing a toddler! i always try to have him in the bay in front of me and, if space allows, have >1 empty bays in front of him.

honestly, each time at the range, i have that terrible visual of swinging my driver and catching his head on the backswing... haha fear...

slinger wrote:

how i know who u are.....

i need to start my girl on her swimming before i put her on the putting mat....

she is 4 now.... think i wait till she can swim before she learn to putt

her attention span is worrying.... but she has my heart, what to do

finally...so you better come clean. You really HCP 10? If yes, I must be PC holder.

haha. Doesn't all fathers feel the same. I just started my kid on swimming as well, exactly on the weekend that the school is willing to 'audition' him (at 3yrs 9 mths) . You stay near me, so I will recommend APS swim school at ACJC @south Buona Vista.

Why swimming before putting? You afraid she will fall into the fountain next to the putting green?

Shanks!

Saw many kids at JCC practicing...

I notice
- They are at least 6 years old
- They are always in group. Maybe kids prefer group.
- They always practice with game... competition: divide in groups, e.g. putt to a circle, chip to a circle, nearest ball to edge of green, etc..

I also notice on one-on-one coaching
- The coach also makes it fun. E.g. He pasted the tape at driver face. Everytime hit center, give high-five to each other.

Not easy to teach kids..

art wrote:

Hogan wrote:

Can start him off with putting first as this will let him have a feel of the stroke and ball contact. Putting can be fun and can be done indoors with a putting mat. When he can hole out a 4 ft mat most of the time, he is ready for the swing.

agree with you totally too

started my boy with putting a year ago.. end result was that he learnt to vary the putter swing to match the distance and also also learnt that club head orientation = direction, which i feel are the basics of golf and most sports. it is definitely a critical concept that has to be instilled before building chipping/swinging etc.

increased variety by having him to chip and have some bunker play (loves the sand part!).

although his really prefers to go the range to hit balls (who doesnt?, haha). i try to limit the number of balls.

just that i feel that up to a certain point, i am limited in terms of my skill and instructions. would love to explore formal coaching while milking on his high motivation for the game.

Sounds like what I would do with my son in the next year. Are you NSRCC member? May be we can do a 2x father-son par 3. Offer good till my wife feels left out and wants to join.

By the way, I heard from a friend with an eager 5 year old about his conversation with the pros in Keppel. They highlighted to him that in a typical lesson, they would do a 15min technical golf lesson, and the other 30mins will be golf related strengthening exercises. It is the right thing to do for kids at this age, but their experience is that some parents do feel cheated.

Shanks!

If child is too young, good to play other games (throwing, bouncing ball on rackets etc) to improve his hand-eye coordination. Eventually it'll will help their golf when he/she is ready.

Both my kids are at JCC's Heartland golf.

My 8 yr boy is at the group lesson. He enjoyed it very much. He does not like 1 to 1. The grouping is by skill level.

My 11 yr girl is on 1-to-1 lesson. She and us do not want her to be in the beginner group which most kids are 3 years younger than her.

oh..when they were younger, I did brought them to range to hit balls for fun. During those sessions, I myself did not bring my club to prevent me from playing. I watched out for them all the time. Safety must come first when bring young kids to the range.

I totally agree that Safty is the utmost important priority for all the eager parents. I have seen parents who are more engrossed in hitting the balls than watching or teaching their children. It is very dangerous. I try not to bring my clubs if the intention is for my kids to practice at the range.

Btw I have 2 girls, 4 and 7 year old. The eldest started about 5 at Kindergolf, before we take her off to a coach at the NSRCC driving range at about 6+. The youngest picked up interest after her sister. She started swinging her plastic clubs and expressed interest, so we enrolled her in Kindergolf too when she turned 4. At Kindergolf, they usually do putting on mat, and chipping plastic balls before progressing to putting cup, and half swing and occasional outdoor putt and chip. They also learn some basic golf rules and etiquette.

As parents, we need to be patient and set a reasonable expectation. I have seen parents scolding their kids during the golf lessons for not swinging well etc. I think that is wrong.

One thing my girl's coach wanted from me is that I cannot give my girl any comments. So I stay out of the way all the time.

Scolding the kids not only pressurize the kids but it also disturb other golfers as well. Some scolding were indeed very loud as well...

woa all learning so young