Whether you’re a dad just looking to bond with his daughter, or someone hoping their little girl gets into a competitive sport that teaches all sorts of life lessons, I’ve seen plenty of parents encourage their children to play golf.
Oftentimes, when introduced properly, the kiddo enjoys themselves — which is great for the game, especially for the next generation of young golfers.
So how can you get your daughter into golf the right way, and why will she love it? I give some reasons below.
True Spec Fitting
Why (and how) your daughter will learn to love golf
To be honest, most girls don’t love golf right away. But with the right approach, some patience, and good communication, there are ways to get them hooked — it might just take some time.
After years of observing parents try to do so, here are the 10 ways to help little girls get into the game.
1. Make it fun
Before anything else, the lesson has to be fun. Riding in the cart is a great way to make it fun. Going to the halfway house for a snack always helps, too. Going to see the birds or animals on the course is a great activity to get them used to being on the golf course. So between any lessons, make it enjoyable for them.
2. Fundamentals are key
If a young lady can learn to properly grip the club and have a good setup, there’s certainly going to be some success — so learning these fundamentals early on will pay off in the long run.
Once they get down the fundamentals, it can also be fun to set specific goals that they can accomplish — like putting the ball in the air or hitting it to certain targets.
3. Stop the lesson if she isn’t showing interest
If I noticed that my student wasn’t having fun, was getting frustrated, or just wasn’t into it, I’d switch the topic and try to end on a high note to leave them with some type of success. Forcing the lesson or trying to get any young golfer to play or practice more than they can handle will only make them extra frustrated.
4. Hit it far
Every golfer is obsessed with hitting the ball far, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a mid-handicapper in your 30s or a young girl just getting into the sport. There’s just something so satisfying about hitting it far.
Over time, you can get them into worrying about hitting it straight or practicing their putting, but having lots of distance is always a great skill to have — and a lot of fun, too!
5. Bend the rules and play barefoot golf
It’s no secret that golf can be a bit intimidating for beginners. There are lots of different rules to know, and there’s often performance anxiety once you step out there and have people watching you swing the club.
To make things less stuffy and loosen it up for your little girl, it might be worth trying barefoot golf. I’ve done this with a few of my junior girls and they loved it, helping them realize that the game doesn’t have to be serious all the time.
6. Bribe them
If you’re really hoping to get your little girl into golf, bribing them might be a good approach. I know, it sounds bad on the surface, but offering some sort of reward for taking lessons may lead them to actually liking the sport. Once they develop some fundamentals and start to see success, they could get hooked — and forget about some of the other activities that they’d rather be doing.
7. Life lessons
One of the greatest parts about the game of golf is all of the life lessons it teaches. Focus, patience, hard work, and continued learning are just a few things that come to mind. The shared time on the course with your family will also be a great benefit to having your daughters play. Some of my favorite memories growing up came from playing golf with my dad.
8. They’ll thank you later
While some daughters may not be enthusiastic about learning to play golf at first, in almost every case I’ve seen, the girl was thankful later on in life. Even if the girl didn’t stick with the sport long-term, simply having time with family and friends, while learning other important lessons, were things they appreciated as they got older.
9. Playing with their guy friends
Golf is such a great social community — especially for young girls. Young ladies who play the sport will have more opportunities to be included with their guy friends as they get into middle and high school, which helps them build healthy relationships.
10. Business golf and outings
This may be the biggest advantage to having your daughters learn golf when they’re younger, as they’ll have the opportunity to participate in business golf outings as they join the workforce. The golf course is a great way to network with colleagues and casually discuss work without the stuffiness of an office.
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