Play and Practice time

[DaddyCaddieIU]

Curious now that most of the country getting back into the swing of things for golf, how many hours a week does your child or someone you know play/practice?

What is low end number of hours put in? Average? High end?

I’m sure boys and girls will numbers will be different so specify.

I would say we do 4-6hours a week, play 2-3 times practice once....almost 8 year old girl. We met some people at worlds and other regionals who claim 2-3 hours a day, 4-5 days a week!

If you don’t want to share your kids practice throw out what you think averages are!

[Kcct82]

My 7.5 year old boy clocks in 4 hours every single day at home (including fitness). We’re not going to the course anytime soon.

[leezer99]

We’re in a city that is still shut down and school is still pretty regimented with daily video calls at 9, 10 and 1 along with assignments and “homework”, so practice has been limited. He did hit balls for half an hour today in the backyard with video though. Has only played two rounds since the beginning of March and he’s hooking the crap out of the ball. Has a two day event at the end of the month which should be interesting.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I would say for a serious tournament player, golf related stuff would be on average 2-3 hours a day, if you assume a kid plays 4x a week (twice on weekends, twice during the week, 3.5 hours per round) and practices maybe 30-45 mins on days not playing on the course

it really depends on access to a course and facilities, and does not include anything fitness related

estimates might be on the high end, but there are definitely kids playing everyday, if not also practicing

[wildcatden]

9YO boy - Since March 15th, he is practicing 4-5 days week for about 1-2 hours/day off a mat into a net in the backyard. Courses around here opened on Monday and we have been to the course to practice the same 1-2 hours the last couple days also. Note: Much of the practice over the weeks was learning to bounce a ball on a wedge. LOL

[darter79]

What about during non lockdown times? How much are all of y'all practicing then??

Our typical schedule is after school practice 3X a week for about 1.5 and then playing once during the week and once on most weekends. I know my kid doesn't play enough but hard to find time with her school schedule and HW that she gets.

Right now since everything is lighter she is practicing 2 hours (hour chipping, 1/2 putting, 1/2 full swing) 4-5 times a week and playing when the course lets her. Ours is public and is stupid busy right now. Throw in speed training 3x-4x a week.. I'd go 10-15 hours a week. My kid is still doing 9 holes so once you hit 18 I'm sure its easy to double that.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I would say, on average, the play/practice is similar to non-lockdown this time of year. While courses are opening quickly, most practice facilities are not. So more playing on the course, less practice on the range, short-game and putting green, etc.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

17 yo Boy works out in the garage for 2-3 hours everyday. Starting to look like a linebacker. Plays and practices on the simulator about 3-4 times a week. No more than 45 minutes.

14 yo girl. Still binge watching everything on Netflix. Hasnt touched a club since March.

[Medson]

I actually find we have more time on hands since shelter in place. My daughter's school schedule becomes more flexible, and we can practice anytime since we are at home anyway.

We average 1-1.5 hours a day (putting, chipping/pitching, full shot) and 6 days a week. We meet with the coach over conference call once a week. Courses reopened this week, but we are not going near courses for a while.

[Evan_Par]

My son is almost 9. I've been trying to get him out to play 9 at least once a week and he's been doing that consistently for a while now. We are in Connecticut and our course was only closed for a couple of weeks. Depending on the mood sometimes I can get him to chip or hit into a net for 45 minutes or so. Indoor putting sessions can be from 20-30 minutes, maybe once or twice a week. Life has been stressful enough as is lately, let's keep golf anything but that right now.

[heavy_hitter]

My 14 year old son practices for maybe an hour everyday then plays 18 holes. The lock down did not close the course we live on. So he is up at the course every day for at least 3 hours. He thinks he puts in the time and works hard enough, but he doesn't. During the school year he will practice about 45 minutes and then play 9 holes just about every day.

[tiger1873]

With all this lockdown we simply can not practice as much as we could before.

we are just opening but there are serious constraints on practicing.

You can play golf now but there is no Range open or practice facilities. Not only that the courses are now busy everywhere because no one has anything else to do. So no free practice at all.

I would think 8-12 hours a week is the most you Can expect to actually do. This is up a lot too up from prior weeks where all we could do is chip in the back yard. I know more hours can be done but it hard to think that they can be productive in the environment we are in. At this point we are just happy to play.

prior this 30-40 hours was no problem. But logistics and just all the restrictions out there that isn’t really realistic at least if you are in a populated area. Ironically my youngest one has told me we are not practicing enough. Never expected that but I think all this inside time is taking its toll.

[Kcct82]

School work is light for my kid (1st grade) so we’re actually getting more practice time at home now then before March. He used to get out at 2:40 so by the time we get anywhere and start practicing it’ll be 3:00 or later. With all the breaks he takes we used get in a good 2+ hours everyday.

[leezer99]

Just got word that our county is opening back up this weekend. Should be interesting to see if there’s a big influx of golfers that might limit our free time on course.

[ncalgolf]

We are slackers over here - my daughter is 8 we haven't played on a course in about two months, but they just opened the courses on Monday - Super hard to get a tee time but I got one and we had our first 9 holes yesterday - had a blast being outside and goofing around. We will try to play 9 holes twice a week now and for practice we hit balls, chip and putt in the garage 1 hour a week. So we play 4 hours a week on the course and 1 hour at home practicing.

I have meet parents with daughters between the age of 7 - 10 that basically have the kids practice every day for a couple of hours a day - they always ask me "how much does your daughter practice? and I say "like 4 hours" and they say "4 hours a day" and I say "no, 4 hours a week." They will usually follow up with "she is pretty good for never practicing." usually cracks me up--will ramp up the practicing when she is like 12 if she still likes golf

[tiger1873]

This happened last week for us. The people who never golf out numbered the ones who have. Honestly it was great to get out but also frightening to be on course with so many new players. Our course opened up this week so thankfully so we can avoid the crazyness.

you might want to check out Braemar or porter ranch for memberships I have a feeling you can get a good deal there for the next year. A private club Is worth every penny too right now. Reasonably priced Public courses are just simply been over run right now.

[leezer99]

We’re about five minutes from Lakeside. Think they’ll have deals? LOL

[Kcct82]

I wish our neighborhood club was cheaper. With discount it’s still $17,500 to initiate. We play and practice at public courses.

[BFD3]

I live on a course in AZ. My kids (11 yo girl and 8 yo boy) meet a friend every day after dinner and play 3-5 holes until the sprinklers turn on then they run around for 15-20 minutes. They usually hit a few balls, or chip and putt before we hit the course. Also, our club’s junior league team has had informal scrimmages the last two weekends during which they play 9 holes.

[mbh922]

3rd grade plays 9 holes 3x week. Walking now but when carts are back (if they are will adjust one 9 to 18). Will practice 1x week. Live in the Midwest so a forced shut down. I pretend I like the shutdown (time off for other sports) but when I read the posts above about people living on golf courses in warm weather it makes me want to move immediately. Instead we will be driving through snowstorms to cold ice rinks.

[kekoa]

My son is practicing maybe 10-15 minutes a day hitting into a net. We will play 9 holes once or twice a week. He is going to get trampled in his first tournament back :(

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Scores are going to be horrible this year.

[leezer99]

Little over dramatic if you ask me. They've been off for two months which is less than most kids in the NE take off during winter. They'll figure it out pretty quickly.

[Kcct82]

Scores are going to be non existent this year. My kid has played 1 local and 1 team challenge so far. And I don’t think we’ll even think about playing until fall.

[tiger1873]

The vast majority of kids scores are not going to matter. The last few months has been very tough on a lot kids that couldn’t go out and practice. Even during winter months kids get out and exercise. You also have to consider the stress that all of this has put on kids. Both of my kids had way more stress then they should ever had to deal with.

Some kids got out and practiced every day and didn’t have to look over their shoulder. We tried to sneak out once and were confronted by a police officer. I never thought in America you can be arrested for playing golf but for some of us it was a reality. It will still be another month or two before we can even take a lesson with the coach. At this point I am thinking September is probably the earliest you can get really serious about golf tournaments.

[leezer99]

Just in time for the next wave.

[DaddyCaddieIU]

Scores will be the same to what they always are. We won’t let long layoffs be a built in excuse. Some of the most recent tournaments I’ve seen from friends we have met, have been very good.

[tiger1873]

The few tournaments I have seen actually play the average scores are defiantly higher. A few kids were able to practice and those scores are normal and in some cases since they got more practice may even be lower then before.

JGS is not ranking any tournaments right now so really doesn't matter what a kid scores anyways and I highly doubt anyone would hold a bad round against anyone either. I also expect to see JGS extending their hold even longer then the current may 31 target date since the holes all either have a cup in there or a noodle and that is a USGA issue.

Long term it really is not going to matter much if the kids are really into golf.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

I think from the ones that can score and have the ability to go out and shoot low. I agree. The ones from need reps and reps. I dont think their scores will be there this year. I feel scores overall this year will be worse.

[heavy_hitter]

I emailed JGS the other day. Tournaments will definitely begin being ranked in June.

SFPGA tournaments are definitely happening in June as well. The Challenge in Stuart in Hammock Creek is happening. Than Championship tour at Indian Springs will be the first weekend in June.

I personally don't see scores going down at all. My kid has missed a total of 9 months of golf over the past two years. First tournament a kid might miss a beat, but after that they will be fine. I looked at the HJGT in Atlanta. While the scores looked high to me they could have been attributed to just being a weak field.