Is golf really a good sport to get your kids into?

[Swingalot]

So this is the question I'm asking myself. I have 2 boys and the oldest is 7 years old. He is very active and loves football, rugby, cricket, etc etc. He is already in a rugby club and also in sports clubs after school and loves them all and I feel every sport he does has huge benefits to him as a person as he grows up. My biggest life lessons have come from watching and playing both rugby and football, team sports were you make friends who remain with you for life. You simply can't beat the changing room atmosphere and team spirit from rugby in my opinion.

This leads to my problem. I now love golf and would play it most days if work allowed. I have made many friends playing golf and enjoy the social side of golf BUT is it really the right sport to get your kids into it? Unlike some sports, golf can be a very lonely sport when it comes to learning the sport. It also takes up a large chunk of time and I see some of the young kids at our club who seem to live on the putting green and chipping area and think to myself that they are missing out on so many other things that would give them a better variety of challenges and experiences.

The other angle is when I play I'm always a little jealous of the people who picked up the clubs a lot earlier than me, so find the sport natural. I only started playing in my 30's and this must have a negative affect on my swing.

Looking for peoples views on this? What would/have you done with your kids?

 

[IanG]

They are still very young to be thinking about 'choosing' anything. Just give them the opportunity to try anything they fancy and let them do what they want to do.

 

[lukeysafc100]

I think it's an amazing sport to get into! Especially if you can get the father/son bonding time in around the practice field or chipping green!
Also I think that if your club has a good junior section - there's many friends to made - I remember playing junior golf and we had good team and some great laughs.

 

[Capella]

I don't have kids myself, but from what I see with our juniors and from my experience as a nanny: you can't force a sport onto a kid, let alone one as time intensive and potentially frustrating as golf. Your boys will either get interested in what their dad is doing on his weekends and will want to look into it and tag along if you let them, or not. The best thing you can do is maybe get them curious by talking about golf and why you love it so much and take them to the range or a junior introductory course if they want to try it out. My guess it they will want to. From then on, there are so many factors that play into it: if they make friends on the range and want to come back, if their first efforts are successfull or not etc. They might also just be interested for a short while and learn some basics and then lose interest in it for a few years. That's all okay. Just offer them the opportunity to play if they want to ... even if it does not become a competitive sport for them and they only play an occasional game with their dad in the years to come, you will all profit from it and it will help them tremendously, should they ever decide to come back to the game as adults.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My son, now 17, played every sport available. He played club rugby, football, cricket, basketball and golf as well as others at school. We gave him the options and then let him choose. He now plays basketball and golf as his two main sports now. I agree with you that he got far more out of playing team sports as a person. He plays for his club junior team and comes up against people who played golf exclusively from a young age. They do tend to be solitary kids. They have lower h/caps but they haven't had the fun experiences that he had as part of a team.

He started playing golf more seriously at around 13 and his swing is as smooth and flexible as the earlier starters so I wouldn't worry about that.

Let him play all the sports he can and if he leans towards golf then so be it. I would try to keep his hand in with one team sport though. It helps them develop as kids.

 

[Orikoru]

When I was kid (and I'm 30 now) there weren't too many kids into golf really. I had my first lessons at 14 and played with my mum and dad every other week. But then I let it slide for several years - I only got back into it (and have become practically addicted) a couple of years back when I was 28/29. I think very young kids might prefer other faster paced sports, i.e. football, rugby, where there's lots of running around and lots of people involved. That said though, all you need to do is take him down the driving range and/or out on a short course and see if he likes it or not enough to continue. As I said, all my dad did (although I was 14 so a bit older) to begin with was buy one junior 7 iron and booked me a lesson at the local range to start with. Then padded that out with a couple of other clubs so I had a half-set (just odd numbered irons, a 3 wood and a putter I think) until I'd stopped growing.

To be fair, I got a birdie on my first ever round of 9 holes so I was hooked! It was a very flukey chip in from the edge of the green on a par 3, and it probably took me at least 5 years before I got another one, but that did it for me anyway. Thought golf would be easy probably. :lol:

 

[Swingalot]

Thanks for the comments so far. This comes from my Son showing more of an interest in golf (due to seeing me go off to play it and watching on TV) so it was in the back of my mind going to take him down the club and let him have a whack on the range and maybe join in the junior roll up lessons (our club runs an hour for £5 where around 10 kids between 5-8 years old have a group lesson, which to me sounds like a good idea as your taking away the individual element that I'm concerned about).
I'm all for letting him experience as many sports as possible and at the end of the day of course I will let him follow a certain one if he wants to really follow that path. I would prefer him to do as many sports as he enjoys and would encourage that 100% but I guess if I'm honest I would be slightly concerned if he chose golf as his sole interest, which is kind of strange considering it is the sport I play and enjoy!

 

[chrisd]

I agree with the majority, let them try everything you can and see what they prefer as they get older.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Yes - absolutely - it teaches youngsters the meaning and value of acceptance, patience, manners, trust, honesty, respect, consideration and humility. That life is not all about self.

 

[Alex1975]

One thing that generally strikes me about junior golfers is they always seem polite and balanced. I am not sure if its that they socialise with adults a lot of if they learn good manners and etiquette. Hmm, just noticed that Swingsitlikehogan just said all this above.

The thing is, just because they are golfers does not mean that cant play rugby too. I really hope my little one and I play together.

 

[Orikoru]

Yes - absolutely - it teaches youngsters the meaning and value of acceptance, patience, manners, trust, honesty, respect, consideration and humility. That life is not all about self.

I wish golf would teach me those things. It's more anger, frustration, bewilderment.. the list goes on. :lol:

 

[bobmac]

Even if they do choose golf, they'll probably give it up when they discover girls, beer, get married, have kids and will come back to it in their 40s

 

[Wilf]

My lad plays cricket, football, rugby and golf. He enjoys all of them. We never pushed him into any, he wanted to try golf as my dad, brother and me all play so we took him up with a little pitching wedge and putter to start with. There were free starter lessons at our club which he went to and has grown from there.

Football, rugby and cricket all came about through primary school and playing with his mates at local clubs. Each sport has cross over skills and all his coaches encourage him to play other sports. Really the only issue I have is fitting it all in as there is never a nice distinction between winter and summer sports anymore. Football starts in August and finishes in June. Cricket and golf run all year.

The only principle I stick to is if he turns round and says I don't want to go I agree rather than forcing him. Got to enjoy what he does first and foremost.

From a selfish point as he plays and enjoys golf it means we can play together along with my dad and brother which is really cool.

 

[Reemul]

I have 2 boys aged 10 and 7. the youngest is a natural at sport, plays football and some golf. His older brother loves sport but is not very naturally sporty and while he loves the sport he wanted to try something that he thought he could be good at. Golf is as much a mental game and a technical as a natural one and he is very clever and logical and loves learning and process so 8 months ago he started having golf lessons at our local course, Sturminster Marshall.

Sturminster is a 2000 yard 9 hole course with a mix of par 3 and 4 holes and is a pretty smart venue. It has White and Yellow for the Men, Red for the Ladies and Blues for the juniors. It has a really active youth section with around 70 Junior golfers.

He has lessons every Saturday for about 90 mins. he is in a group of 8 and has made friends with this. He plays in monthly juniors as well as Adult Juniors (with me). he is also taking part in an EZGO golf competition which involves playing in 6 tournaments in the local area, we have done 3 so far and he sits 4th in his age group out of 18 players.

When he started he was ok, we played a lot of crazy golf and pitch and Putt stuff (Before the kids were born I played off 10 but stopped when they came along). For the first 2 months all was good as he learned the basics but then the changes happen and for the next 3 months it was tough but this was through the winter and I just said once it all clicks it will be better. the last 6 week she has really moved on. He needs to work on maintain his stance and keeping his head still but his set up and swing plane is great. He gets videoed every 4 weeks so he can track changes etc. He has a work book to do and targets re putting, chipping, pitching, bunkers and irons to test him (which he loves doing).


He now plays off 20 (junior HC) his best round is 41 against a par 32 so 9 over. He can hit his driver up to 180 yards and his 7 iron a nice 100 yards. His putting is awesome as is his short around the green play. The rest will come as he gets older. We normally play on a Sunday morning around 7.30am and it takes around 90 mins to 2 hours to get round meaning we are home by 10.30 and ready to do family stuff.


Stuff we have learnt, golf is social, all the players are fans, golf is addictive all he wants to do is play. There is a lot to learn but it is fun doing it. Spending time playing golf with your kids is amazing. We all played Saturday afternoon as the wife was out. What a way to spend a warm Saturday afternoon.


I wish I could bring my younger son to golf but he a wiz at football and is totally addicted to it but am looking forward to the summer break when he can play with us as well. For my eldest it was the best thing we could do, he just loves it.

 

[hovis]

anything that gets them off the xbox and participating in physical activity is good.

 

[IanM]

A great sport to get them in to. It teaches integrity, communication skills and competition.

I played cricket as a kid which did similar plus more team ethos.

Most sports are great for kids, although I worry about how junior football operates these days, the behaviour on the touchline at some games is astonishing.

But, any sport is great for kids provided they want to play it... forcing it isn't good.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Even if they do choose golf, they'll probably give it up when they discover girls, beer, get married, have kids and will come back to it in their 40s

That was pretty much my route!

 

[pokerjoke]

That was pretty much my route!

Did you not try boys first

 

[pokerjoke]

Yes - absolutely - it teaches youngsters the meaning and value of acceptance, patience, manners, trust, honesty, respect, consideration and humility. That life is not all about self.

I agree with this.

When I was younger I played every sport and in the end I chose the one I was best at.
One thing I have always said is if you play team sports you will have friends for life.
No sport is a bad sport imo the most important thing being enjoyment.
I run with my son,i play football with him and I play golf with him and for me its all about building a strong bond.

The good news mate is he is out there trying sport as apposed to wasting his life on X-boxes and tablets.

 

[Piece]

Great thread and one in which I'm living through right now. Lots of excellent points and opinions, almost all I agreed with. My guys are 9 and 7 and both love and play football. I want them to do other sports but I will not push them if they don't want to do it. With golf, I've taken them down the range and had a few pro lessons. If they want to come back, then they let me know. Now that football has finished, I want to revive golf this summer, with tentative steps to start cricket.

Looking back, I wish my Dad had taken me to a range and had pro lessons to ground out a good swing from the start. Like some in this thread, golf just wasn't accessible back then, and TBH, I wasn't really aware of it until I was 16 or so. Dad was never into it, so it never happened.