Growth and swing

[Tannerbug33]

My son hit a growth spurt over the winter and is doing great with golf. Distance is great but with his driver sometimes he simply can't get his hands trought the ball and he's pushing everything right.

 We played yesterday and I made him take smaller swings with his driver and take off about 15 yards and he scored 3 under with several putts left short. But if I dont constantly remind him he comes back to his normal spot and the hands never catch up with the lower body. Any suggestions. 

 I know he probably coming back a little to far because with his growth spurt I loves the distance. Just need to get the upper and lower sinked up. 

[MB19]

2 hours ago, Tannerbug33 said:

My son hit a growth spurt over the winter and is doing great with golf. Distance is great but with his driver sometimes he simply can't get his hands trought the ball and he's pushing everything right.

 We played yesterday and I made him take smaller swings with his driver and take off about 15 yards and he scored 3 under with several putts left short. But if I dont constantly remind him he comes back to his normal spot and the hands never catch up with the lower body. Any suggestions. 

 I know he probably coming back a little to far because with his growth spurt I loves the distance. Just need to get the upper and lower sinked up. 

What is his driver shaft situation?  Can it handle his new power?

[Tannerbug33]

Yes his driver was fitted for him within the last 2 months.

[BloctonGolf11]

My son went through a similar issue over the winter but worse. He grew, increased strength, and developed a nasty cast that we couldn't get rid of. Essentially we just went back to the basics of 1/4 swings and 1/2 swings to train his wrists and arms to keep things in check. It was a miserable grindy process for him but almost have it licked now. 

[heavy_hitter]

Just a timing issue.  Will take a few days to sync everything up.  Not a big deal and something every kid goes through.

 

My opinion is holding him back with his swing speed will delay him longer with the timing issue.

[Palmetto Golfer]

My son (14y/o) grew 6" in about 15 months.  two things happen.

 

1. He pulled a muscle in him back that put him down for 8 weeks. If I can give some advice, if your kid pulls a back muscle STOP IMMEDIATELY!!! My son tried to grit his teeth and keep going. He also was playing basketball. Big mistake.

2. His ball striking took a nose dive. Body is all whacked out and had to get refitted for clubs.  It has taken a lot of work and patience but he has finally got it back. Shot -2 in a high school match the other day. 

 

I like the advice above about getting back to the basics which is what he did. He basically has a new body. We relooked at everything. Grip, posture and more importantly backswing. His take away started to cross the line to the inside and was causing some nasty hooks. Once that was cleaned up he got back to good ball striking.

 

Good luck!!

[RmoorePE]

Great thread. My youngest daughter is in the middle of a growth spurt now and I try to preach patience to her with her golf game.

 

The other day at a golf event a way more experienced golf parent I sort of know came up to me and commented on my daughter's swing and how fast it was. His advice was to keep chasing speed throughout the growth spurt, and not to get bogged down in scoring during this time in her life. His feeling was that the athleticism, movement and muscle development for a fast swing is far harder to develop than other parts of the game. I have always thought that so it was nice to hear.

 

It is definitely true in other sports so why not golf? I.e. when I coached Middle School basketball, we worked hard on movement and movement patterns. What I noticed in girls ages 12-`15 is that there are time periods where they have a hard time with balance, their hips stiffen up, and they lose speed. Nearly in all cases by the time they are Freshman or the summer before they get back into form. I think boys are timed a little different, hitting critical mass after they are 16. Some kids who are really athletic as younger kids as they mature never get back to level with where they expected to be (especially regarding flexibility), and of course some are the opposite and blossom into better athletes.

 

My unprofessional opinion is that fluidity of the hips (ability to turn them in space, moving forwards and backwards) is a huge indicator for sports success. Golf especially.

[heavy_hitter]

1 hour ago, Palmetto Golfer said:

My son (14y/o) grew 6" in about 15 months.  two things happen.

 

1. He pulled a muscle in him back that put him down for 8 weeks. If I can give some advice, if your kid pulls a back muscle STOP IMMEDIATELY!!! My son tried to grit his teeth and keep going. He also was playing basketball. Big mistake.

2. His ball striking took a nose dive. Body is all whacked out and had to get refitted for clubs.  It has taken a lot of work and patience but he has finally got it back. Shot -2 in a high school match the other day. 

 

I like the advice above about getting back to the basics which is what he did. He basically has a new body. We relooked at everything. Grip, posture and more importantly backswing. His take away started to cross the line to the inside and was causing some nasty hooks. Once that was cleaned up he got back to good ball striking.

 

Good luck!!

 

Was fitted for driver and woods in February where the top end was 109 and on average was 105.  2 months later and his top end is 117 and on average is 110.  Crazy the strength factor in boy's when growing.  Having to get new Graphite Design shafts already.

[kcap]

Echo some remarks made earlier.  As long as he not way past parallel in his back swing,  I would not reduce the swing or the speed.  There are several reason why he could be hitting a block right.  As HH said, it is probably a timing or a match up issue.  A quick look by pro or just time on the range and I am sure he can figure it out.

We go through something like this every 2-3 weeks. He takes a couple of swing videos and fortunately can figure it out himself. He has some tendencies --and it usually one of those. 

[heavy_hitter]

15 minutes ago, kcap said:

Echo some remarks made earlier.  As long as he not way past parallel in his back swing,  I would not reduce the swing or the speed.  There are several reason why he could be hitting a block right.  As HH said, it is probably a timing or a match up issue.  A quick look by pro or just time on the range and I am sure he can figure it out.

We go through something like this every 2-3 weeks. He takes a couple of swing videos and fortunately can figure it out himself. He has some tendencies --and it usually one of those. 

 

We went to the fitter today.  Just moved into a 70 gram X shaft.  Nice part was fitter gave him the Graphite Design HD-7.