High-quality junior golf coaching is one of the things we take pride in at Reigate Hill Golf Club where both younger members and visitors can try their hand at the game or pick up techniques that will help them to improve. Suited to players aged from five to eleven years, Reigate Hill's junior golf coaching focusses on all aspects of the game in a way that children can readily relate to. After all, any younger player who is looking at how to get better at golf needs to feel they are making progress and having fun as well as working on technique enhancements. Read on to find out the sort of junior golf tips you can pick up on during junior golf coaching sessions at the club.
When it comes to junior golf coaching, short bursts of training sessions are more likely to lead to favourable outcomes than longer and more intensive ones. Adults respond to coaching differently from children who can be put off the game as soon as training and practice becomes a chore. In short, keeping coaching varied and fun is a key part of learning how to improve your golf game as a junior. Many adult golfing coaches could learn a thing or two by employing the sort of methods that junior golf coaches use!
No younger player likes to have their weaknesses pointed out to them. However, only by addressing them fully will a junior player make real strides. Therefore, devoting a proportion of practice time to the sorts of things that junior players tend to suffer from is always a good approach to take. Not only will it lead to greater focus in the future, but it will also mean learning how to improve concentration in golf. Junior players who are faced with a problem, such as escaping a sand trap, for example, should have rehearsed skills they can fall back on due to the sort of drills they have done in training.
So much junior golf coaching is centred on striking the ball well for distance or putting that the short game is frequently overlooked. Often regarded as one of the simpler elements of golf, it consequently tends to receive less attention from a coaching perspective. Intermediate level juniors often find they run into problems with what should be straightforward approach play. By dedicating coaching to the short game, so juniors will be more likely to reach their full potential. Indeed, by focussing on the skills required for this part of the game, it means that your other hard work will not go to waste.
One of the best junior golf tips that parents can take on board is that younger players will often have a very different take on the sport than adults. Playing is all about having fun, usually with other players of their own age. When coaching is too based on the ways grown-ups think about the game, children tend to feel pressurised and respond by losing interest. Nevertheless, so long as juniors feel they are not being pushed into training sessions that they cannot immediately transfer into playing skills, they will usually respond to coaching favourably. This means expressing ideas about golf skills in simple ways that are not condescending. It also means ensuring that the focus always remains on the sheer enjoyment of the game.
One of the most important things to remember about coaching juniors professionally is that it will sometimes mean unlearning poor techniques and then relearning the best way to do something. It is important to encourage your child to try new ways of holding a club or of approaching a shot, for example. If your child wants to know how to get better at golf, then it will mean adapting and trying things out. In other words, you need to keep an open mind. No natural talent at the sport will disappear because of a lack of coaching but pulling junior players in more than one direction can lead to confusion and disappointment. Be supportive and lower your expectations so that your child does not feel like he or she has failed if a mistake or two is made. Finally, remember that a little pressure applied during coaching can go a long way when dealing with it in competition.