Help my daughter!

[joekelli]

with swing video

My daughter is 11 years old and would like some tips on how to improve. This was her first year golfing and really seems to like it. I am looking for some good drills for her to work on that are fun. I want to make sure she is enjoying herself and not feel like its a chore to practice. I bought some birdieballs for her to use in the yard which she enjoys hitting, so any drills using those would be great. Of course the season is almost over here so I will be working on her putting on the carpet. Like I said this was her first year and we have really improved her swing from the beginning of summer. She still has a lot of room for improvement though! I have included a video of her swing so you can see what I am working with....

thanks
Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kqY9cw_Pkw

[golfgirl94]

Hi Joe,

I have been there myself not so long ago. Its great that she is enjoying it as that was the key for me. I used to love to go to the range with my dad and just hit balls, I also liked walking round with him when he played then going in the clubhouse afterwards for a drink and a sandwich.

If there are any local ranges that do group kids lessons then get her involved with them as being round other kids doing the same thing will make it fun. One big thing for me was that my dad never tried to teach me. he always said that he would leave that to people who were paid to teach golf he always knew what I had worked with the teacher so he could remind me.

[Rohlio]

Good for you Joe,

My recommendation is to get her hooked up with the closest FIRST TEE chapter to where you living when the season begins next year.

I looked up your area and I believe this is the closest chapter.

http://www.thefirstteeakron.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp


I coach juniors of all ages and at 11 years old and one year into playing I would say the most important thing at this point is that you make sure she is playing and not "working on her game". Kids have an amazing ability to find their swing and techniques with minimal instruction if they are given a goal or a task which is difficult but fun.

Birdie balls are awesome, buy some hula hoops and put them in different spots around your back yard have here practice pitching and chipping to those spots by making a game out of it. Maybe have each hoop based on the difficulty of the shot be worth a different point value and play with her ( you each get five shots to get the high score for each round or something). Depending on your relative levels make sure she has a legitimate but not easy chance to win by making it worth maybe 2 points for her and 1 point for you or something along those lines.

Do not have her stand in one place and put to a target on the carpet. This will make putting seem like a chore and she needs to learn to enjoy the challenge of putting, So play "Around the House" putting call your shots ( off the chair leg and hit that brick on the front of the fireplace). Just get the club in her hand and her imagination working, you will see huge gains that way.

Resist the urge to show her how and instead just play with her while giving her clearly defined goals. She will see what you do well anyway, more importantly she will not feel stifled while she develops her own sense of scoring, which is the hardest thing to teach anyway.

Good luck m8 and enjoy it. 11-14 is primetime for girls with a golf club I have seen many girls in that age group go from 20+handicaps to single digits in a single season as long as they remember to play the game it's all good, you can't mess it up.

[BigTexGolfer]

[quote name='joekelli' timestamp='1286974442' post='2741079']
My daughter is 11 years old and would like some tips on how to improve. This was her first year golfing and really seems to like it. I am looking for some good drills for her to work on that are fun. I want to make sure she is enjoying herself and not feel like its a chore to practice. I bought some birdieballs for her to use in the yard which she enjoys hitting, so any drills using those would be great. Of course the season is almost over here so I will be working on her putting on the carpet. Like I said this was her first year and we have really improved her swing from the beginning of summer. She still has a lot of room for improvement though! I have included a video of her swing so you can see what I am working with....

thanks
Joe

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kqY9cw_Pkw[/media]
[/quote]

Joe,

I have an 11 year old daughter as well that has been hitting balls for about 3 years and playing on the course right at a year. She has a pretty natural swing, with the biggest limiter on it being strength. I think this is pretty common for kids, especially young girls. At the suggestion of Pat O'Brien who has been working with her we set her up with a TPI trainer to properly build some strength and create some proper motor skills. She was having some issues with her swing before we did this mostly related to stability, and the change since she started working with the trainer has been pretty remarkable. In just a couple of months she has developed stability in her base that has translated to better swing not only in the full swing but even putting. Not having adequate stability and improper muscle recruitment lead to poor mechanics and fine motor skill development with the golf swing. The other thing about this that Pat pointed out is that done properly she is working on her golf game somewhere other than the course, even at home. Do this in conjuction with some lessons in a clinic or some short private lessons and she should be well on her way. I would think this would be important since you are in a area with a golf season at is about to end.

Another thing along this same vein is be sure to let her use light enough clubs with soft enough shafts to fit her strength and swing. Taking adult clubs and cutting them down does not work for juniors, especially girls given their strength level. Some of the junior clubs are not much better, with shafts that are too stiff, and or too long. US Kids has the best set up in this regard with clubs set up by age, gender and skill level. Ping also has a couple of good sets of clubs for juniors, but a little broader in the size category.

Good luck!

[joekelli]

Thanks for all the tips.

She has a junior set of clubs now but they are too short for her. I was thinking of getting her into a ladies set for Christmas, she is already over 5 feet tall and as you can see she is on the chunkier side. So she actually swings pretty hard for her age. She actually hits it better when she uses her friends old steel shafted ladies clubs. I am not sure if I want to get a full set like the Wilson hopes or try to put something together on my own.

[CLS]

[quote name='golfgirl94' timestamp='1286979859' post='2741192']
Hi Joe,

I have been there myself not so long ago. Its great that she is enjoying it as that was the key for me. I used to love to go to the range with my dad and just hit balls, I also liked walking round with him when he played then going in the clubhouse afterwards for a drink and a sandwich.

If there are any local ranges that do group kids lessons then get her involved with them as being round other kids doing the same thing will make it fun. One big thing for me was that my dad never tried to teach me. he always said that he would leave that to people who were paid to teach golf he always knew what I had worked with the teacher so he could remind me.
[/quote]

Hi Joe,

I am a father of a 16 year old high school golf team player and I have NEVER tried work on her swing. Golfgirl94 has it right keep it fun, take her to play with you, lead by example and find her the best teacher you can afford. And get her out playing with other kids First Tee is a great program to do this.

Best wish

[golfsavvy]

She looks pretty strong, so that's good.

1) Make sure she's having fun. Playing golf beats working on your game...

2) You can be a cheerleader, but don't be her teacher. Teaching involves positions and motions, and a good pro knows how to integrate them.

3) When working on her model swing, she still has a lot of energy at the finish. Get her to hold her finish when practicing her model swing, which will expend most of the energy at impact.

4) Definitely work on the fit of the club. Don't give her clubs she can't hit, and talk to a certified teacher/clubfitter about the fit.

5) Talk to a pro about a flatter vs. more upright swing plane. Looks like from her address posture she gets a little too upright...

6) Don't buy in to too many drills. She needs more on-course play to learn.

Good luck!

[quote name='joekelli' timestamp='1286974442' post='2741079']
My daughter is 11 years old and would like some tips on how to improve. This was her first year golfing and really seems to like it. I am looking for some good drills for her to work on that are fun. I want to make sure she is enjoying herself and not feel like its a chore to practice. I bought some birdieballs for her to use in the yard which she enjoys hitting, so any drills using those would be great. Of course the season is almost over here so I will be working on her putting on the carpet. Like I said this was her first year and we have really improved her swing from the beginning of summer. She still has a lot of room for improvement though! I have included a video of her swing so you can see what I am working with....

thanks
Joe

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kqY9cw_Pkw[/media]
[/quote]

[Flopit]

Posture is the key to maintaining her intial height during the swing. Beacuse her initial posture is not ideal, she is lifting on the back swing and through impact making it difficult to maintain balance and finish. Do her a favor and get some initial lessons from a pro who uses video so she can visualize what she should look like during her set up and swing. Kids are great at copying things from others and they can adapt easily at this age. The pro should also give her some indoor mirror work that helps her see what she is doing.

[TeeAce]

Hello Joe and I hope You still reading this.

Here is video of my 8 old daughter few years ago. Only things that has been told is about good grip and finish position. Those were really about everything at age 6-9. After about 20 years work with those kids I think if those are right, everything else they find themselves. Good luck and have fun with her.

[url="http://www.protapsa.com/images/stories/Sini291207.wmv"]Sini at 8 years old[/url]

[MGajda254]

+1 on making sure she is having fun. I am teaching my girlfriend how to play, granted she is 27 and not 11, but the main thing i try to tell her is that she just needs to be comfortable over the ball and try not to fill her head with too much technical jargon

[kurtenger]

Joe,

Everyone wants to enjoy the game of golf but it is difficult to enjoy when you can't hit consistent golf shots. Here is something to think about. The goal of hitting a ball is to compress the ball, not just hit it. When your daughter can compress it well, she will control it better.

So, in watching your daughter, she should try a couple of things. She is young and still developing. She should remain centered over the ball and start the swing both ways leading with her hips. Using these larger muscles this will help her control the weight of the clubhead easier. Also, she should keep her wrists in a cocked position as she goes forward to the ball. This will help her understand how the clubhead must come from a deeper position so compression can occur…Remember, "The handle must always be positioned ahead of the clubhead at impact". This thought helps keep the wrists back. But once the swing starts, the clubhead travels fast. If you don't keep the wrists back and cocked or semi-cocked, the clubhead will travel ahead of the wrists and get out of position quickly. Then mis-hits occur.

Have her practice with ½ shots keeping her wrists cocked back as she practices pitches. (maybe in the backyard or at a nearby park). She needs to get used to the feeling of the clubhead lagging behind as it comes to impact and develop this feel before hitting full shots. Also, when her hips are leading the swing, her larger muscles and body weight will help her compress the ball. If she practices this, she will begin to hit nice, consistent golf shots. Good Luck.