6. Visual is better than verbal
Don't explain the point, show it. Like most children, Bing initially held the club with a very weak left-hand grip.
I could have told her to aim the "V" over her right shoulder, but that only would have confused her. So I marked the tips of her fingers with blue dots and told her that when she looked down at address, only the dot on her pinkie should show. Bing grasped this immediately. In fact, when she shows up for her lesson we "wave" to each other with our pinkie fingers.
7. Safety first, last and always
Children tend to act first and think later. In golf, the consequences of a misstep can be dire. Use these ABCs of rules to ensure a safe passage:
A. Keep the child in your line of sight at all times. On the range, the child should occupy the stall in front of you, never the one behind.
B. Draw an imaginary line three feet in front of the spot the child is hitting from, and tell the child, emphatically, never to walk in front of it.
C. Kids don't drive the cart. They don't sit alone on the passenger side. They sit right next to you or on your lap.
8. There is no such thing as criticism
In a child's simplistic world, events are classified as either "fun" or "not fun." Criticism is not fun. It implies the child did something wrong, as opposed to merely doing something incorrrectly. In golf as in life, the path forward is paved with praise. If they hit a good shot, you say, "Good shot." If they hit a bad shot, you say, "Good swing." When you detect a flaw, you challenge them to make the correct move without verbally identifying the bad one.
It's psychological. Remember, the reason kids hate cleaning their room is because they made it messy -- did something wrong -- to begin with. It's impossible to mess up a room on the golf course.
9. Think of creative ways to teach technique
Lightweight children's clubs are a vast improvement over the sawed-off sledgehammers we fashioned in the old days. Still, little kids don't have the strength, balance or mass to swing the club like an adult. A little creativity will help overcome these issues. Bing's small size makes shifting her weight to her left side difficult. To show her the right move, I cut two illustrations of the sun from the back of a cereal box and taped them to the heels of our shoes. I made a swing and showed Bing my sun, and challenged her to do the same for me. She can only pull it off by making a good weight shift, and she's getting better at it.
Don't let a small thing grown-ups take for granted -- like sticking a tee in the ground -- become a frustration. Be ready to lend a helping hand.
10. Make a big deal out of the short game
It's rare to see an adult who uses the practice green as much as the practice range. This chronic neglect of chipping and putting is a mistake you don't want to make with a young child. The rule is this: Never walk past the practice green with a child. Walk on it, then use it. Heighten the child's curiosity about this vital part of the game, and then let the child pursue it.
This is the place to introduce kids to competition. They love chipping and putting contests. You might consider losing on purpose, though with Bing, my best often isn't good enough.
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