Establishing the Proper Set up – Putting Fundamentals

It is my belief that the best time to start introducing a child in the game of golf is the age of 3-4 years old.  At this age, they have the basic motor skills and a minimum amount of attention span required to perform some basic “golf moves.”

The most important learning you should focus on (and consistent reinforcement) is teaching your child the proper set up.  The putting set up can be taught very easily in the following steps:

Step #1 – Feet Together

When putting the feet together, the thing to focus on is have the ball between the left and right foot and having the putter facing the hole.  (alignment and ball position)

Step #2 – Baby step Baby step

The next action is getting the feet in proper position.  The feet position (for putting and hitting) should never be outside the width of the child’s shoulders.  To help the child get into the proper position, have them take “a baby step with the left foot… then a baby step with the right foot.” 

Step #3 – Back and Through

The next action is taking the putter back and through in a smooth motion.  For the back and through make sure the child is holding the putter grip very light, this will enable the child to build some rhythm with their stroke. 

When teaching, say the steps out loud to the child as they go through the motion.  This will reinforce the proper behavior and start to establish the proper foundation for putting the golf ball (as well as swinging the golf club).

As Harvey Penick would say “spend 80% of your time practicing your short game”… this is the most important to becoming a good player.

Take Dead Aim!

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