Carly Peister, a Canadian golf teaching professional at Merry-Hill Golf Club. Who’s mission is to “bring back the fun to golf”. As a US Kids Golf certified coach she’s a huge supporter of junior golf. She puts a particular focus on making sure they have fun first and learning proper golf techniques second.

Michelle Holmes, the Director of Instruction Michelle Holmes School of Golf in Virgina. A U.S Kids Golf Master Professional and a top 50 U.S. Kids instructor. Her programs are structured so that everyone from the beginner to the advanced player can get involved.

Their first swings

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do is take my son to the course with me. Even if the only thing he really wants is to help drive the cart, having him on the course with me is fulfilling in a new way.

Get them on the golf course, walking around and seeing how beautiful it is.

Carly Peister

I heard a great bit of advice once about how to introduce a child to the game; let them choose what golf means to them. If they pick the ball up and throw it, that’s golf. If they roll it or kick it into the hole, that’s golf. If they run down the middle of the fairway while you chase them with the golf cart, that’s golf. Maybe one day they will even pick up a club (plastic or real) and swing at the ball! But first let them create those positive associations with the course and the game.

Should I get them a set of kids golf clubs?

We’ve heard the stories of Earl cutting down some old clubs for his son Tiger Woods – but this isn’t the late 70s. Holmes says “Too many children use clubs that are too long, too stiff and too heavy”. It’s important to start them out on the right foot. “When a child plays with clubs that fit, he or she is able to develop consistent swings that will stay with them forever”. And isn’t that what we all want, A forever love of the game?

But don’t limit your child to what some might call “regular” golf clubs. Carly loves the idea of oversized club heads like SNAG (Starting New At Golf). Their launcher helps kids get the ball airborne easily which means more fun! 

Too many children use clubs that are too long, too stiff and too heavy… remember they should grow out of their clubs, not into them.

Michelle Holmes

You are their first golf coach

Golf is a very tough sport, you likely know this first hand experience. It’s easy to get discouraged. So as a parent it’s so important to control your emotions. Remember that kids will always imitate their parent’s behaviors. Any outburst of frustration will quickly be replayed for you from their perspective.

“You want your child to look back on their junior golf experience with a smile”.

Carly Peister

Sometimes it’s also important to take a step back and “allow [your] child to develop their own passion and work ethic for the game” says Peister. And when your child comes of age “let the right person teach your child. Sometimes it is you, sometimes it’s a professional, and sometimes it’s a mix of the two.” says Holmes.

But most of all Peister says “You want your child to look back on their junior golf experience with a smile”.

Make kids golf easier

Kids like to succeed. So why not make kids golf easier for them to do so? But there isn’t much that you can do with making the golf swing easier but you can make it easier to hit a ball and get it into a hole.

I already mentioned SNAG. The oversized launcher and roller make it so much easier to make contact with the balls. Plus the targets are large and covered in velcro.

At Merry-Hill Golf Club, Carly is doing just that. She has started using larger golf balls. They are meant as a putting aid but she found they are easier to hit and get into the air.

Another great thing that I have witnessed first had at Merry-Hill is one of their 9-hole courses has larger golf holes cut into each great. It’s amazing the difference a 6-inch hole can make!

Game-ify the game of kids golf

It’s no secret that kids like to play games. Look at play-based-learning. When kids play games they experience enjoyment, pleasure of achieving goals, and challenges and frustration.

Next time you are on the practice green with your child, try these favorites from Carly Golf. They help them learn distance control and aiming without them even realizing.

Closest to the line

On the practice green, set up two tees to create an imaginary line. Bonus points if you tie a string to those tees to create an actual line.

With either a chipping club or a putter, have your child hit shots towards the line. Trying to get as close as possible to it.

Tic-Tac-Toe

A more advanced version of closest to the line would be to set up a Tic-Tac-Toe board with tees and string.

With the board set up, play a game with your child and see who can putt their balls into the board and wins

The post Kids golf – How to get your kids started appeared first on Golfixation.

Of course, Mark didn’t have to worry about making it onto the USGA conforming list. But who cares. It’s a rocket golf club! But maybe this can be a future change to the rules of golf.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

What’s even better, he published how he made it.

What do you think? How far do you think the balls actually went? Let me know below.

The post Rocket Golf Club: The next big thing in golf? appeared first on Golfixation.

Since Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts started the Masters Tournament in 1934, there have been 82 playings of the tournament, and 53 different Masters Champions.

Leave a comment below. Who you think will be the next person to slip on the Green Jacket this year as the 2019 Masters Champion.

The post All 82 Masters Champions appeared first on Golfixation.

From the 17th

When a dream comes true. Ryan Moore hits the stick and drops it right in the hole.

He did what?

Josh Kelly at @holein1trickshots was at it again. I don’t get how he does it.

Golf is beautiful

I dare you to name another sport that is as beautiful as golf. Go ahead… I’ll wait.

The post Instagolf Roundup – March 15 appeared first on Golfixation.

Golf is Beautiful

This one from Matty G, really peaked my interest as I will be heading out to Banff this summer and will try to get in a round at this masterpiece.

Erik Anders Lang and his crew have been in New Zealand all week making the rest of the golf world jelous.

Finally, Dustin Johnson opened up his new golf school and took some time to bond with a special golfer that lost his dad in a car accident. Very moving story.

The post Instagolf Roundup – Mar 8 appeared first on Golfixation.

This week we had a dominant performance from Dustin Johnson at WGC Mexico, Tiger’s shot heard around the world, some jaw dropping trick shots and some course and club beauty.

On tour

DJ sees the course differently.

Tiger’s at it again.

What did they just do?

Colin McCarthy does things better with one hand and the wrong direction than most do just hitting a ball.

Golf is beautiful

These!

The post Instagolf Roundup – Mar 1 appeared first on Golfixation.

In the world of golf practice there are two main types of practice. Block and random and each has their place and are both effective.

Block Golf Practice (AKA bashing balls)

When I was going through swing changes last year my coach talked to me about two kinds of practice. When you are trying to get a feeling you have to keep doing the same thing over and over. That is block practice. He gave me a good example, to illustrate the point.

He asked me math question, to which I needed to think about the answer. After I answered, he immediately asked the same math problem again. Thinking it was a trick question I hesitated but gave him the same answer. But it was easier than the first attempt. He asked me one more time, and that response was faster than the previous two.

Admittedly this math problem is way more simplistic than the golf swing, but it illustrates how something can become easier over time after repeated use.

Once you have the right feels, you have to transition them to the golf course.

Random Golf Practice

When you are playing golf, how many times do you typically hit the same club and the same shot back to back? Save for a penalty or a bad shot, the likely answer is once.

Have you ever heard “Practice the way you play”? I grew up hearing my Dad say those words over and over.

So if you want to get your game ready for the course, why wouldn’t you practice with random distances, shots and clubs.

Practice the way you play.

How I Practice

When I have an hour of practice, this is how I like to break it up.

• 5 minutes – Warm up with half swings usually with a 7 or 8 iron
• 15 minutes – Block practice with odd or even irons
• 10 minutes – Block practice with Driver or Fairway wood
• 10 minutes – Block practice with wedges
• 20 minutes – Random practice game (See details below)

Random Practice Games

During random practice, you can certainly just pick yardages and try to hit it. But you want to be able to track your progress. That is why I created a skills challenge game. It not only helps me track progress and find strengths and weaknesses, but it also puts a little pressure on me to perform well. Because this way each shot matters.

Skills Challenge

Many of you might have already seen the FSX Skills challenge on YouTube channels like Peter Finch or Rick Shiels. It’s a great example of random golf practice that I modeled my practice after.

While I do have access to a GC2 launch monitor it’s not tied to the new FSX software. So I have to track my progress on my own. But it’s pretty simple.

The main point is to pick a number of increasing or decreasing shot lengths. For me I go with the following:

20, 40, 60, 100, 120, 150, 165, 180, 200, 215, 230, 240+ (Driver)

Like the FSX Skills challenge, I give myself 5 points for being with 5 yards of the target, 3 points for 10 yards, 1 point for 15 yards, 0 for anything outside of 15 yards.

I have found this process extremely useful in taking my game from the range to the course. Hopefully you find the same.

To help track I have created a downloadable speadsheet to help you track your progress. Check it out below for FREE.

The post Golf Practice: How do you Practice, Block or Random? appeared first on Golfixation.

Tiger being Tiger

This week at the Genesis Open Tiger was in fine form from amazing eagles and a phenomenal 4 holes. Tiger is back baby!

Golf is Beautiful

Tip of the week

This tip is an engenius and inexpensive way to find the center of your putter.

The post Instagolf Roundup – Feb 22 appeared first on Golfixation.

On a recent episode of the Erik Anders Lang Podcast. Matt Ginella from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive was a guest. And early on in the podcast he made a great point on the recent changes to the rules of golf. “The Pros play a different brand of golf”.

This year’s changes to the rules of golf were focused around making the game faster. Which is certainly a great idea. Rounds are longer than ever and guys like Brooks Koepka are definitely in favor.

“We can play something that is similar to [tour players], we can have variations of the rules. But at the end of the day, we don’t play the same game that they play.”

Matt Ginella

Pin in or out

When talking about keeping the pin in. Matt goes onto say that the intention of the rule was to help amateurs when the pin is far away that they can putt without fear of a 2 stroke penalty. Which should speed up the game.

But instead what you see if the pros looking at how they can use it to their advantage to hole more putts. And just like Matty G, I think it will actually slow down play.

“Leaving the pin in, tapping everything down on the green, dropping from your knee so you don’t have to repeatedly re-drop. It makes sense for the amateur game.”

Matt Ginella

So perhaps the amature game would benefit from this change to the rules of golf. But in the tour game it will take away from the challenge of putting the ball in the hole. And perhaps even slow down play.

Anchors away

In 2018 the USGA and R&A jointly made a change to the rules of golf that banned the use of an anchored putting stroke. Citing that “The [putting] stoke is a fundamental element of the game”

A stroke is a fundamental element that defines the game of golf and is meant to involve the player freely swinging the entire club at the ball.  Anchoring the club relieves the player from making a free swing by restricting the movement of the club as if it were physically attached to the player’s body and thereby providing extra support and stability for the stroke.

R&A

So then how is making a putt without using the flagstick as a backstop not also fundamental to the game?

Amature vs. Pro

There is a lot made about the difference between amature and pro golfers. Ask anyone who has turned pro and wanted to get their amature status back.

If the governing bodies that make the rules of golf are so sticky on the difference between these two statuses then why not have two different sets of rules?

Too much distance

Another topic that has been picking up more steam is the debate on rolling the golf back back to slow it down. With the golfers getting more and more athletic, the balls are certainly travelling further. But I think the jury is still out on if it’s actually the ball.

If a golf ball roll back were to happen, it’s my opinon that it should only happen at the pro level.

“The idea that [amateurs] play the same game is ludicrous.”

Matt Ginella

Imagine taking 10 to 15 yards away from a weekend hacker because they have to use the same balls as the pros. If you want to “grow the game”, this change would have the opposite effect.

Having a different set of rules would allow for changes to the ball at the tour and pro levels, but leave the recreational golfer to choose the ball they want.

Examples from other sports

You don’t have to look far to find examples of rules being different between pro and amature sports.

Being Canadian, it’s easy to look at Hockey. The rules that the NHL and international hockey use are different. The rinks are even different sizes. Penalties are also differnt. In the NHL fighting is allowed and only penalized with a 5 minute penalty. Where as in other levels it’s prohibited and will get your ejected from the game.

In american football a ball is only considered to be caught if two feet touch in bounds. But in college (amature) football only one foot is required. Why? Because its so much harder to do.

In baseball, the pros are only able to play with wooden bats. But in lower levels metal bats are allowed. If professional baseball players could hit with a metal bat, every hit would be home run.

Even in the new rules of golf one of the changes only affects the recreational golfer. Only for recreation golf, the stroke and distance penalty is changed for any shot that goes out of bounds. So why not just have an entirely different book?

It’s a net positive

Overall I believe the changes made this year are a net positive for the entire game of golf. But a few other rules and future rule changes could and likely should change to just be for the amateur game.

The post Making a Case for Separate Tour and Amateur Rules of Golf. appeared first on Golfixation.

When we were there in mid-September the mercury cruised right past 100F (40C). So I can’t imagine what it would be like in the middle of summer. That’s likely why during the hot summer months you can usually find really good rates here at Angel Park.

Temperature aside Angel Park Mountain course was a real pleasure to play. Designed by Arnold Palmer in 1990, the stark contrast between lush green grass and the barren desert is truly amazing.

Only a stone’s throw from two of Vegas’ most famous courses the TPC courses of Las Vegas and Summerlin. At Angel Park the settings and the views are much the same but for a fraction of the price.

Although it’s located a little further off the strip, any trip to Vegas would benefit from a visit to Angel Park. Even if you can’t come during the day, they have a 9 hole lighted course and putting course to keep you busy at any hour.

The post Angel Park Las Vegas: Hotter than Hell appeared first on Golfixation.