Instructing/guiding a toddler

[Lefty_3Jack]

My son is not quite 3 and really likes golf.  He's more interested in carrying the bag, dressing up, riding in the cart, etc vs actually hitting the ball, but he's obsessed.  He even sleeps with his plastic clubs.

 

He swings them left handed and uses the back of the clubface so we bought him left handed toddler clubs.  He uses a cross handed grip, stands side saddle sometimes and sort of just sort of whacks away at it, not caring if it goes forwards or backwards.  I did not grow up playing golf and didn't really get into any sports till I was around 6 so my knowledge of how I learned to hit a baseball is foggy at best. 

 

Should I just let him keep swinging away with a cross handed grip/standing side saddle or should I start trying to correct how he sets up/putting his hands on there conventionally and trying to point him towards where the hole/range is? I'm not trying to raise a future PGA pro, but don't know if a little bit of help now may make the game more fun for him in a few years once he's able to actually swing the club.  

[Sp4zRX]

Disclaimer: I’m not an instructor and I don’t have kids. My advice should be taken lightly or completely disregarded. 
 

At his age I would make a game out of it. Let him swing the way he is, then make a game out of trying different ways. Behind the back, through the legs, one handed, etc. whatever he might find fun and silly while secretly focusing on “correct”. Let him discover “the better way” rather than telling him. The last thing you want to do is create discouragement. 

[shankasaurus rex]

He's three, please just let him have fun for now. 

[me05501]

Likely he's swinging from the left side because that's how you do it. 

 

Maybe just try and get him a little more target-focused if he's interested. Reinforce that the point of hitting a golf ball is to move it in a specific direction toward a specific goal. If that interests him he'll sort out a way to achieve the goal. 

[IndyArcher]

At THREE? Let him be a kid! 99,999/100,000 kids are not going to ever face the possibility of being a professional. Let him have fun and learn to grow into the game with you. Don't worry about correcting form or anything else. At this formative age, it would be really easy to have that become negative in his mind and ruin it for life. If HE is pushing to learn more and get better, then you can start with some real instruction. I'm not an instructor either, but I do have kids that I have raised through sports. IMO, you can't create the drive in most cases, but you can kill it. If it is there, you can definitely foster and direct it. Daughter is a social competitor and I learned early on that she wanted team sports simply to be a part of the team. Never cared about being number 1; just wanted to contribute to something bigger. Boys are cut-throat competitors and found nothing more fun than to beat dad and be the best. 

 

At this age, your best to let him show you what he's ready for. 

[cassel191919]

Hes not tiger woods let him have fun, you're really overthinking this

[Dabetic]

Agree with all of the above. Let 'em play around. My only suggestion might be to encourage some one hand half/chippy swings at home or range (do yourself and maybe he follows) as I think those build good comfort, awareness, club control. That said, I think he's still likely too young haha. The more he can fool around without caring about outcome, the better

[Hawkeye77]

Leave him be! 

 

He's only two, even hitting a club backward is no definite indication he's going to play lefty.  

 

Stay out of the way and let what happens happen, unless it's just to run around the green (I wouldn't take a two year old to the golf course and didn't) and maybe dink a ball from time to time with a plastic club and foam ball.  

 

All things in good time which is a long way off.

Edited Monday at 04:48 PM by Hawkeye77

[Lefty_3Jack]

Thanks for the responses.  For those who mentioned me wanting to turn him into Tiger Woods or saying I want him to be a tour pro, re-read the post.  I don't care if the kid plays the tuba and never touches a club.  I was only asking at what age should you start to help them with some basic fundamental stuff and that was based out of making the game fun for him, not dad.  He has plenty of fun just going out there, riding around, whacking away and running around everywhere.  

[bluedot]

22 hours ago, Lefty_3Jack said:

Thanks for the responses.  For those who mentioned me wanting to turn him into Tiger Woods or saying I want him to be a tour pro, re-read the post.  I don't care if the kid plays the tuba and never touches a club.  I was only asking at what age should you start to help them with some basic fundamental stuff and that was based out of making the game fun for him, not dad.  He has plenty of fun just going out there, riding around, whacking away and running around everywhere.  

It’ll be years yet.  There is no universal age for instruction in any sport to start, and golf instruction, perhaps more than most other sports, can become tedious for little ones.  And it’s very possible that by the time golf instruction would be appropriate, he’ll be into more active stuff with other kids.

 

If you read back over the first few sentences of your OP, I think what your son REALLY likes is being with and acting like his dad.  You should treasure that; it won’t last forever.  

[HitSomeMissSome]

I was shown a kids game to develop golf skill. It was a hockey shaft cut to length. No face. Gator skin dodge balls. Set up a goal, you play goalie, let your son try and pound the balls past you. They figure out a lot. If you wand, put some sand in the hockey shaft to add some weight to one end. Great fun. 
 

That hitting skill transfers to a club and ball pretty quick. Foam balls to start.