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Dealing with growth spurts


wildcatden

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My 8YO has had a growth spurt of about an 1.75" since late July. He was 52.5" in late July and now 54.25". Both measurements taken with golf shoes on. I'm pretty sure some of this spurt has happened very recently because I have some driver swing videos from about 3 weeks ago that look fine for an 8YO.

 

 

This recent growth has wreaked some havoc on his swing...particularly driver swing as he is far below the swing plane, swing speed all over the place (like waaaay all over the place) and he just does not look in proper form. What have you guys done as you go through these growth spurts to get a swing back in order? Head for some lessons? Start back at the green and work from green-to-tee while taking the swing through the putting, chipping, 7:30 backswing, 9:00 backswing, 10:30 backswing, and then full turn? Just keep swinging? Do non-golf related coordination activities?

 

 

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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> @wildcatden said:

> My 8YO has had a growth spurt of about an 1.75" since late July. He was 52.5" in late July and now 54.25". Both measurements taken with golf shoes on. I'm pretty sure some of this spurt has happened very recently because I have some driver swing videos from about 3 weeks ago that look fine for an 8YO.

>

>

> This recent growth has wreaked some havoc on his swing...particularly driver swing as he is far below the swing plane, swing speed all over the place (like waaaay all over the place) and he just does not look in proper form. What have you guys done as you go through these growth spurts to get a swing back in order? Head for some lessons? Start back at the green and work from green-to-tee while taking the swing through the putting, chipping, 7:30 backswing, 9:00 backswing, 10:30 backswing, and then full turn? Just keep swinging? Do non-golf related coordination activities?

>

>

 

Mobility and stability is a must to ease the awkwardness of growth spurts. Need to do them throughout the year. Just keep swinging. He needs to learn where the bottom of the club again is all. It will be worse when he goes through adolescence.

 

Had a semi-discussion with our coach this morning. The kid has only been playing for 2 weeks after a broken hand and one month layoff. Grew about an inch, has started new workout program, combined with not playing was a recipe for not playing well this weekend. Not the end of the world as it is just high school golf. High School golf season is the time to get better. After the HS season shutting it down until February with the focus of getting bigger, faster, stronger, and longer. The body and brain have a lot to adapt to when going through these things. It is a shock to the nervous system and the brain has to catch up to the speed and strength. It doesn't happen overnight.

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It gets worse. In a few years you will be sick of buying new equipment and will keep trying to figure out there distances on any given day which is next to impossible when it seems like they go go up a club or two every month. Don’t worry though it is a good problem to have but not ideal when playing tournaments.

 

In the last year we also had to deal with awkward chipping and now we have putting issues with that would make your head spin. Have not found a perfect solution but working on things seems to help and just plain expect change.

 

Sometimes you just have to understand things will be off and you will have a very bad weekend. I was focus on just improving all round and eventually they stop growing and everything catches up. Playing with other kids going though it you see the same things happening too. The parents who don’t see it start to get worried their kids are going to get left behind.

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Thanks @heavy_hitter for the thoughts. We went out on the course today and just kept swinging. One thing I noticed is that my kid was putting the club in the Dustin Johnson "laid off" position at the top of the backswing. Not sure where this came from, but got him to adjust (stop doing it for now) and immediately his backswing looked good again (hands higher). Driver is still a mystery as the power has disappeared. Irons looked good though and if he could have made a putt today (3 birdie putts from 6-8 feet and missed them all), it would have been a great round.

 

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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Just make sure is mechanics stay solid. There is really nothing you can do when his body is different day to day. Also don't over react to any issues you see. When his body stabilizes he will become much more consistent. This is coming from someone who went from 5'5" at 10 to 6'1" at 13. His game will be off until his growth slows down.

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Joining the fray, my soon to be 9 year old played yesterday in a casual local muni tmnt deal .... he literally almost missed the ball with driver one-hole....knicked the inside of the hosel and dribbled about 4’ off the tee box. All around he looked like a different kid/golfer than I’ve ever seen ...taking a few DEEP breathes and keep on ....

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, nearly a month later (at least 3+ weeks), and my junior's driver swing is finally coming back around into shape. By no means does he have a perfect swing, but overall it looks pretty good and most importantly distance is back as he was able to hit 150-160 yard drives on the range last night. That was a rough and frustrating journey for him but he pressed on. So, if my kid can do it, yours can too!!

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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> @wildcatden said:

> My 8YO has had a growth spurt of about an 1.75" since late July. He was 52.5" in late July and now 54.25". Both measurements taken with golf shoes on. I'm pretty sure some of this spurt has happened very recently because I have some driver swing videos from about 3 weeks ago that look fine for an 8YO.

>

>

> This recent growth has wreaked some havoc on his swing...particularly driver swing as he is far below the swing plane, swing speed all over the place (like waaaay all over the place) and he just does not look in proper form. What have you guys done as you go through these growth spurts to get a swing back in order? Head for some lessons? Start back at the green and work from green-to-tee while taking the swing through the putting, chipping, 7:30 backswing, 9:00 backswing, 10:30 backswing, and then full turn? Just keep swinging? Do non-golf related coordination activities?

>

>

Train as much speed as u can! Now is not the time to train mechanics or technically stuff to much as they will struggle. Let them work speed drills. All the biomechanics experts I’ve talked to have said growth spurts are a window to develop speed.

 

 

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> @mattwalterpga said:

> > @wildcatden said:

> > My 8YO has had a growth spurt of about an 1.75" since late July. He was 52.5" in late July and now 54.25". Both measurements taken with golf shoes on. I'm pretty sure some of this spurt has happened very recently because I have some driver swing videos from about 3 weeks ago that look fine for an 8YO.

> >

> >

> > This recent growth has wreaked some havoc on his swing...particularly driver swing as he is far below the swing plane, swing speed all over the place (like waaaay all over the place) and he just does not look in proper form. What have you guys done as you go through these growth spurts to get a swing back in order? Head for some lessons? Start back at the green and work from green-to-tee while taking the swing through the putting, chipping, 7:30 backswing, 9:00 backswing, 10:30 backswing, and then full turn? Just keep swinging? Do non-golf related coordination activities?

> >

> >

> Train as much speed as u can! Now is not the time to train mechanics or technically stuff to much as they will struggle. Let them work speed drills. All the biomechanics experts I’ve talked to have said growth spurts are a window to develop speed.

>

>

 

 

We have the SuperSpeed sticks ( thanks @Leezer99 ). Need to get him to use them on a more regular schedule.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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> @wildcatden said:

> > @mattwalterpga said:

> > > @wildcatden said:

> > > My 8YO has had a growth spurt of about an 1.75" since late July. He was 52.5" in late July and now 54.25". Both measurements taken with golf shoes on. I'm pretty sure some of this spurt has happened very recently because I have some driver swing videos from about 3 weeks ago that look fine for an 8YO.

> > >

> > >

> > > This recent growth has wreaked some havoc on his swing...particularly driver swing as he is far below the swing plane, swing speed all over the place (like waaaay all over the place) and he just does not look in proper form. What have you guys done as you go through these growth spurts to get a swing back in order? Head for some lessons? Start back at the green and work from green-to-tee while taking the swing through the putting, chipping, 7:30 backswing, 9:00 backswing, 10:30 backswing, and then full turn? Just keep swinging? Do non-golf related coordination activities?

> > >

> > >

> > Train as much speed as u can! Now is not the time to train mechanics or technically stuff to much as they will struggle. Let them work speed drills. All the biomechanics experts I’ve talked to have said growth spurts are a window to develop speed.

> >

> >

>

>

> We have the SuperSpeed sticks ( thanks @Leezer99 ). Need to get him to use them on a more regular schedule.

 

Mach 3 speed is good as well but here’s a podcast I did with the guys from SuperSpeed Golf.

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/junior-golf-blueprint/id1344624354?i=1000408995342

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> @BloctonGolf11 said:

> Jumping in. My son is in the middle of another growth spurt. His irons and wedges are okay. Driver, fairway, and hybrid are best guess for that day. Some days he can hit em well, others it is a total mess.

 

Mine is having a tough time finding the center of the face right now. Hopefully he fixes it before this weekend's two day event.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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> @leezer99 said:

> > @BloctonGolf11 said:

> > Jumping in. My son is in the middle of another growth spurt. His irons and wedges are okay. Driver, fairway, and hybrid are best guess for that day. Some days he can hit em well, others it is a total mess.

>

> Mine is having a tough time finding the center of the face right now. Hopefully he fixes it before this weekend's two day event.

 

Try looking at the lie angles???? You probably have already but it can make a huge difference.

 

The other thing might be stiffness of the shaft. These two things are easiest overlook.

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> @tiger1873 said:

> > @leezer99 said:

> > > @BloctonGolf11 said:

> > > Jumping in. My son is in the middle of another growth spurt. His irons and wedges are okay. Driver, fairway, and hybrid are best guess for that day. Some days he can hit em well, others it is a total mess.

> >

> > Mine is having a tough time finding the center of the face right now. Hopefully he fixes it before this weekend's two day event.

>

> Try looking at the lie angles???? You probably have already but it can make a huge difference.

>

> The other thing might be stiffness of the shaft. These two things are easiest overlook.

 

Miss was on the heel so I had him lower his hands (bringing the toe up) and scoot back a bit and he's back to hitting the middle.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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> >

> >

> Train as much speed as u can! Now is not the time to train mechanics or technically stuff to much as they will struggle. Let them work speed drills. All the biomechanics experts I’ve talked to have said growth spurts are a window to develop speed.

>

>

 

This a thousand times.

 

My boy grew unmentionable amounts between 12-15. He’s now 6’3 and can dunk a basketball. There was no point worrying about a lot of the minutiae of the golf swing or his scores. We just smashed driver, hit wedges and putted. Whatever scores he posted was fine with me. Any day could be a 67 or 87.

 

P.s Also a good time to work on a child’s mental resilience/grit.

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Add my son to the list. He has grown 4" and 25 lbs this year. 3" in the last few months and he just turned 13. He wants to hit a fade but he cannot find it right now. He is so dumped under. His driver has always been his best club. Even in the worst of times he could get his driver in the fairway.

 

Now, he is duck hooking into the trees 2-3 times a round. This coming from a kid who is trying to hit a fade!! He has just got to keep working hard and keep swinging. He will get out of it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

An update for any others that go through growth spurt challenges. After recommendations from his coach, he has spent a ton of time on the range (roughly 1 large bucket/day for 8-10 days) working on half swings, punch shots and dialing down the length of his backswing while being sure to get all the way to a finish position on the downswing/follow-thru. It's working!! He hit his longest ever drive on course of 180 yards last weekend. His median drive is in the 150-160 yard range. Mishit drives down in the 120-130 range. The baby draw swing is back. It's great to see him so much more confident and happy as he can be very tough on himself at times.

 

As recommended above, keep swinging!! Back to basics and keep swinging!!

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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> @wildcatden said:

> An update for any others that go through growth spurt challenges. After recommendations from his coach, he has spent a ton of time on the range (roughly 1 large bucket/day for 8-10 days) working on half swings, punch shots and dialing down the length of his backswing while being sure to get all the way to a finish position on the downswing/follow-thru. It's working!! He hit his longest ever drive on course of 180 yards last weekend. His median drive is in the 150-160 yard range. Mishit drives down in the 120-130 range. The baby draw swing is back. It's great to see him so much more confident and happy as he can be very tough on himself at times.

>

> As recommended above, keep swinging!! Back to basics and keep swinging!!

 

Awesome to hear! It’s almost like fundamentals are important. ?

 

We might have to do the same soon but Coach is at Pinehurst this week for some summit.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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> @kekoa said:

> > @MikekiM said:

> > *bookmarked for later* 10yo still only 51".. Hasn't grown an appreciable amount all year, sigh..

> >

> >

>

> Seriously man. Ben has definitely grown, but he needs to put on about 20 lbs as well.

 

Creatine

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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I wouldn't worry about growth rates, or how tall someone is at a given age, genetics are weird.

 

My older brother was 6' tall when he started 9th grade, He is 6'3" now.

I was 5'6" when I started 9th grade, I am 6'5" now.

 

We have the same biological parents (Dad 6' and mom 5'8") and grew up in the same house eating the same food.

 

My father-in-law is 6'3" his younger brother is 5'7" (maybe). Once again same house, same parents, same food (I assume about the food)

 

Whenever I see someone spouting some formula about height at a certain age predicting future height or saying "Well you take the Dad's height and add an inch and take the mom's height and average the two and ... blah blah", I say, "Oh, yeah explain this to me..." and tell them my story.

 

Genetics are weird.

 

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> @Kcct82 said:

> My kid is small, his driver distance is only average for his age group. We had to reach 2 Par 4’s last week with his hybrid, so frustrating...

 

He will catch up quickly... don't fret. When my son was 9 he was playing against 11 year old kids and they were outdriving him by 50+ yards. Now as an 11 year old he's outdriving those same kids that are 13 now.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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> @CTgolf said:

> Size is overrated in golf

 

No size does in fact matter and contradictory to common belief hitting the first shot off the tee is the most important shot in golf.

 

This means being able to hit a driver long and strait is needed to get to the highest levels of golf. A lot smaller then average kids get into golf because it is not a physical sport like football. When there little kids distance is not really a big deal. Just learn to pitch and lag putt and you will win a good number of tournaments. The smaller kids all suffer as the bigger kids start playing golf later on.

 

Once you start playing in junior tournaments where the only age requirement is their under 18 you see a lot different things go on. With girls you see the ones who can't drive struggle on the harder setups but girls are not as long so they can sometimes do ok if they can chip

 

With boys you can really see the smaller ones struggle with the boys who are bigger and longer to keep up in most cases it is a losing battle.

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