Winter training plan (9 & 11 yr olds)

This is my tentative training plan for my 2 sons. (9 &11). They started playing in a tournaments this past year. We were a bit out of our league for most of the year, but the scores really started dropping as the season unfolded. They are looking to get off to a faster start with their progression, so we came up with a tentative plan. They will be doing a joint lesson with our pro once a week outside as long as the weather holds off. This will be an on course lesson. Once the weather turns, they will move to an hour each, but will be separate. So each will have 4- hour long lessons indoor on the trackman. The pro is also going to do a monthly 2 hour skills clinic with them and two other boys. I will probably take them to the indoor facilities, but just to play courses, and make that a fun time(maybe once a week). They also ski, and do karate, so there will be plenty of other non golf activities. Hoping this will keep the progress going. Any thoughts?......

we are focusing on a something similar, lessons every other week (outside or trackman) work on game at home (indoor bay) with mirrors etc. Trying to go to the gym 2-3 times a week for some core work. He is 10 years old getting ready to play 18 in the spring. Also speedstick on a daily basis.

100 Orange Whip Junior swings per day (25x4)

SuperSpeed Golf Junior (M/W/F)

45 minutes of putting per day

Playing 9 holes a couple times per week

A lesson every other week

Our plan: play basketball three days per week (games and practice). Start throwing again for spring baseball season. Get the catchers gear out and work on blocking pass balls, throws to second and reducing pop up time.

> @jj9000 said:

> 100 Orange Whip Junior swings per day (25x4)

> SuperSpeed Golf Junior (M/W/F)

> 45 minutes of putting per day

> Playing 9 holes a couple times per week

> A lesson every other week

>

This is very interesting and sounds like a really good training plan.

Can I ask how old?

We are in florida the only real difference is less gatorade, coaches are in town and we are able to practice more hours during mid-day and don't have to drive as far for tournaments.

Interesting off-season plans. If that is your off season, what do you do in season?

My son is 12. Golf season end soon in the NE and I am in with Lezeer on this.

He is in the middle of hockey season and basketball begins soon for middle school. So 4-5x a week is ice hockey and I think is basketball is 3-4x a week.

Re Golf: I have got him playing some tournaments in December/Jan/Feb --- he will likely get a lesson and hit balls a week before those tournaments.

Apart from that nothing else, no golf related activities. I do hope he agrees to go a athletic center/gym 3-4x a week to work on strength/flexibility in a group class.

We might have it wrong because he has starts really slow in the Spring and is now playing some of the best golf of the year.

That said, golf season is exhausting and I think he is ready to hang up his clubs for some time, he actually cares more about his slap shot right now then his flop shot!

9 YO Boy:

His "Off Season" is Sept - March ....football now, Basketball Winter, Soccer Spring. Usually take a hard 4-5 month cold turkey golf break after Worlds, but **HE** approached me this year after summer asking to NOT take a big golf break this year. Keep in mind he is not really privy to any of the details of this off season plan- just that per his request to play more golf & work out he has agreed to commit to a reasonable fitness & practice schedule. His mind doesn't need to be flooded with these details. The idea is to be ready to go for "Tournament Season" starting in March. Here is the plan...subject to change based on his engagement, progress, etc.

- Sept: full rest- didn’t touch a club for 4 weeks, no workouts, just normal play (football practice, games, etc.).

_**Fitness (3x per wk and 3 wks on/ 1 wk off to stay fresh)

- Oct - Mid Nov: general fitness, focus on core strength , Low load/high frequency (mostly body weight...some medicine ball ) Not a lot of rotational stuff

- Mid Nov- Dec: More strength, higher load (still mostly body weight, but more medicine ball, more rotational, etc.), begin overspeed

- Jan - Feb: Speed work & rotational strength, convert stregth gains to speed, continue overspeed,

_**Golf Practice & Play **_- 2x/week through December, up to 3x/week in January. No tournaments until March.

Instruction: Never had instruction, but we found an instructor we both like and will see him Monthly through start of the season.

8YO boy going on 9YO soon:

**Winter plan:**

* Baseball practice (think lessons/coaching) starts in December and will take us through February.

* Basketball season coming up in December thru February.

* February through early May is baseball practice/season.

* Go skiing 3-4 times December thru March.

* Go camping or hiking a couple weekends.

* Go bike riding.

* We'll practice golf when we can in between. Putting, wedges, speed sticks, full swing, etc...

Not sure what this off season thing is, but not much will change for us.

- hit balls 3/4 times a week

- play on weekends

- lesson once a month

- try to find some secret spots to catch more bass

> @kekoa said:

> Not sure what this off season thing is, but not much will change for us.

>

> - hit balls 3/4 times a week

> - play on weekends

> - lesson once a month

> - try to find some secret spots to catch more bass

Winter is for trout fishing ;)

Drop the golf until next year. Doing Official visit starting in January. Just wrapped up the final unofficial one. Thats our plan. Son drives now.

He probably wont touch a club until March.

In March probably starts chipping and putting. He's been up in the mountains fishing when he has a break from school.

> @TripleBogeysrbetter said:

> Drop the golf until next year. Doing Official visit starting in January. Just wrapped up the final unofficial one. Thats our plan. Son drives now.

>

> He probably wont touch a club until March.

>

> In March probably starts chipping and putting. He's been up in the mountains fishing when he has a break from school.

Living in the northeast we hang it up until the spring as well. We might do a little indoor practice but it really isn’t anywhere close to being outside and seeing the ball flight.

Really envy the people who can play year-round!

Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

I used to make my kid practice for 2 hours a day. Waste of time in my opinion. Hour to Hour and a half is all his attention span was set for. After an hour he needs to hit the course and play. I now just give recommendations then he chooses what to do. He has learned, finally, how to practice on the course hitting multiple balls and trying different shots. While you can do this on the range, it is more meaningful on the course.

9 about to be 10 year old Winter Practice Plan, we are in Alabama so we don't have to change much, just throw a jacket on.

Basketball practice and games three days a week.

He sees his golf instructor once every 2 weeks or once a month just to keep in form.

When he wants to go to the range we go.

When he wants to go play 9 at the local muni we go.

When he wants to go on a 10 mile hike for the weekend we go.

As long as the kid is active that is goal number 1.

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

length of time depends on the kid, the age and

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

If i recall your kid is younger? That being said 2 hours is a LOT for younger kids, as someone who coached team sports you will loose them quick past an hour to 1.5 mark. 1.5 max as HH has said. How to spend that time is what matters, I would of course focus on putting, short game shots that he typically has. If you need break it up day by day what your focus is. When my daughter was younger we did an hour, 20 full swing 40 short game. Not a lot of time of course but at their age it is.

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

2 hours is a lot!

But to answer your question, I would do a little bit of everything each session, as opposed to rotating. I also think it's important to focus on really building a repeatable swing at an early age. It's easier to shave strokes quickly by focusing on short game and putting, especially at the young ages, but building the right foundation for the long game will pay more dividends down the road, and permanently raise the floor (baseline) of your son's ability and potential.

Just my 2c

We started having indoor lessons with our pro last week. There are a couple of grip and alignment things that he is going to work on witht he boys. Try and work on fundamentals. We are also going to try and come up with a preshot routine and embed that into them. The last thing that he recommended is to start swinging the speed sticks 2x a day for 25 swings. The goal is to try and gain 7ish mph in swing speed over the winter. That, along with a more efficient swing will hopefully add 25-30ish yards in distance.

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

If I recall your junior is 6 years old...that is way too much. 30 minutes to an hour at most and everyday seems to be way over doing it.

> @darter79 said:

> > @Kcct82 said:

> > Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

>

> length of time depends on the kid, the age and

> > @Kcct82 said:

> > Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

>

> If i recall your kid is younger? That being said 2 hours is a LOT for younger kids, as someone who coached team sports you will loose them quick past an hour to 1.5 mark. 1.5 max as HH has said. How to spend that time is what matters, I would of course focus on putting, short game shots that he typically has. If you need break it up day by day what your focus is. When my daughter was younger we did an hour, 20 full swing 40 short game. Not a lot of time of course but at their age it is.

Not only that, but practicing the right way. Will give you a great example.

If you have a poor putting stroke, why are you practicing putting. You need to know what is going on with the stroke to learn how to make putts. Similar to shooting a basketball. You can practice free throws all day long, but if your form is bad it doesn't matter how much you practice because you will still be a poor free throw shooter. You can practice 4 ft putts all day and if the form isn't there you really aren't going to be that much better.

Best thing I did was get my kid on the SAM putt lab so he could find out what was going on with his stroke. Found out the loft was wrong on the putter, he wasn't hitting up enough on the ball which caused the ball to skid. Had some other issues as well. Throwing him on Blast motion made him better at tempo, but didn't solve his poor putting stroke. He struggled with speed from course to course because his ball skidded instead of rolled. He could have practice lag putting forever and he would have always been a poor lag putter just because of the roll he put on the ball. You have to practice the right things.

> @Kcct82 said:

> Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

Just my opinion, but seems like far too much practice for a young kid as I believe your kid is 6 and maybe just turned 7 years old. Don't be afraid to put the sticks away for a month or two as I believe many parents fear this. If they have the skill, they can pickup a club and get going again in pretty quick order.

Study the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) stuff. Build an athlete first, not a golfer first. Work on building balance, power, explosiveness and speed. None of these need to be done with a golf club in your hands. Burnout later is real. Overuse injury is real.

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/tpigreg-264945-parentnightvideo-tpi-junior-golf-parent-workshop-sports-ppt-powerpoint/

Wow, thanks for all the great responses, and no one made a sarcastic comment! Perhaps Friday is the best time to post on the forum LOL.

My kid just turned 7 two weeks ago so yes he’s really young. I like all the suggestions and will make changes on time spent practicing golf vs other sports. The SAM putt lab sounds interesting, and I do see my kid’s putt skip on the ground from time to time. Swing wise we just started with a new coach with 11 TPI certifications and all the fancy gadgets (no Gearz though). He has been working on my kid’s fundamentals and said he won’t move on to other stuff until the foundation is solid. First week they worked on pre shot routine, setup and grip. The past two weeks he was addressing my kids’s out to in swing.

> @BloctonGolf11 said:

> > @Kcct82 said:

> > Slightly off topic, but what do you guys recommend for 2 hours of practice each day? Should I rotate between putting, chipping, pitching, full shots, and on course each day or choose 2-3 and rotate each day? Thanks

>

> If I recall your junior is 6 years old...that is way too much. 30 minutes to an hour at most and everyday seems to be way over doing it.

Here is the thing does your kid want to practice or are you the one who wants him to practice.

With young kids a few times a week might be enough. My youngest like golf but doesn’t Love Golf. I could make her practice and I am pretty sure she would be successful. I take her out a few times a week and if she tired we go home. Last few months she shown more interest this is a very similar pattern her sister had. Ironically it started after she heard her older sister’s coach talk about working hard to achieve success.

My oldest loves golf I mean really really loves it. She would practice 80 hours a week if I let her. She has always liked it but in the last couple of years she become almost obsessed with it.

You don’t want to be the parent who forced your kid into something that the minute they get old enough they decide there not going to do it. Let them learn to love the game the practice will come and you will telling them they can’t practice soon enough.

I’ve seen lots of successful kids who parents push their kids too hard. You can tell the kid is just going through motions. Chances are the kid will end up hating golf.

Kids who love the game and work hard are have talent are the ones who eventually end up winning majors.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I replaced some golf practice time with fitness/other sports.

I also booked a session on SAM putt lab, it was well worth it. The issue my kid had was coming from out to in 3-5 degrees and then counteracts the club path with an open club face.

Club head speed with his Cobra Jr F8 + Grand Bassara shaft is 55mph on trackman. Considering he’s 48” tall and only at the 50th percentile in both weight & height, I don’t think there’s much more to squeeze out of him.

SAM Putt Lab is awesome. My kid gets on there about once every two weeks.

So things have taken an interesting turn for the past couple of weeks. I took my kid (7) to a local cross training place to get some fitness in and less time swinging at the range. He now enjoys training so much that he asks to go everyday. We went 4 times last week for an hour each and he still wants more. He’s much more focused during training than golf practices too.

7 years old doing cross training? You need to be really careful what he is doing and remember, he is 7 years old.

2 hrs of practice each day is a perfect formula for burnout for young kids.

Really??? Some young kids have to be told to NOT PRACTICE so much and actually cry if you take them off the range. 2 hours a day is not that much if they love doing it and it's a lot better then sitting around playing video games or watching tv. I think the burnout happens because parents force their kids to practice. Just go to your local course when they have junior lessons. You usually see a few kids who don't even want to pick up a club but are forced to go to class there. If you forcing you kid to practice your doing something wrong.