New Article on Youth Golf

I'm very excited to be leading a presentation with two other teammates (Brendon Elliott of Little Linksters and Kate Tempesta of Kate Tempesta Urban Golf Academy) at The Proponent Golf Summit in Chicago tomorrow, October 2. 

It will be one of the first presentations of its kind with the topic: Expand Your Business, Grow the Game... the Power of 6 & Under Golf. Our topic targets how golf professionals should, and can, work with the 2-6 year old population to grow the game and catch juniors' interests early. It'll show all the benefits to the game and to your business if you working with this age group. Brendon, Kate and I are known in golf organizations and on key business Facebook groups for our interest with the very young golf population. It will be a fun but fast presentation! 

I've just released a new article that is designed to help professionals and adult mentors work more effectively with youngsters ages 2-6. This is a perfect article to help parents and grandparents understand what to expect with development stages and how to apply it to golf. I hope it assists Landings Club members who have young children! Enjoy!  

Click here to read the full article.

10 Benefits of Playing Sports

As a member of roughly 12 Facebook Professional Golf Groups, I share and learn about new ideas and communications with other golf professionals around the world.  I just found a very interesting article I thought I'd share with you about junior fitness and the benefits of playing golf.  It was written by Teresa McEntire as a blog for Families.com in the Parenting Advice Section.  Enjoy - it makes a lot of sense and is a great article for our youth and families living in The Landings community.

10 Benefits of Playing Sports

by Teresa McEntire | More from this Blogger

Playing sports offers children more than just physical benefits. Sports typically help kids academically and socially as well. The benefits are the same whether or not your child actually excels at the sport. Although if they are really good they will probably want to continue playing when they are older. If your child isn't good enough to play competitively on a school team try signing them up for a city league or encourage them to just go shoot some hoops with their friends or church group. Read on for ten ways playing sports and can benefit your child.

1. Playing sports is fun. It gives your child something to do and a group to belong to. They have a group of friends that has the same goals and interests.

2. Research has found that kids that play sports, especially girls, are more likely to have a positive body image and higher self-esteem. They also are less likely to be overweight.

3. Kids involved in sports are less likely to take drugs or smoke because they realize the impact that these destructive activities can have upon their performance. Girls who play sports are also less likely to become pregnant.

4. Physical activities are a good way to relieve stress and reduce depression.

5. Sports help kids develop discipline. They learn to set goals and then work to achieve those goals. They learn that by working hard they can accomplish the things that they want to in their lives.

6. Kids who play sports quickly learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They learn to be a good sport in both situations. It also helps them learn to deal with disappointment and go on.

7. Statistics show that kids who are involved in sports while in high school are more likely to experience academic success and graduate from high school.

8. Sports help develop teamwork and leadership skills. Kids quickly learn that they have to work together as a team to win the game.

9. Motor skills, strategic thinking, and even math skills are learned by playing sports. Students develop strategic thinking as they figure out plays and the best way to get around a player or score a goal. Math skills are used as they calculate scores and stats.

10. Regular exercise increases quality of life. Children who exercise are more likely to continue the practice into adulthood.

Whatever way you look at it sports benefits your child.

Families.com
Parenting Advice
8-23-12

Q&A with Golf Digest Readers

It was certainly an honor to be able to work with Golf Digest writer, Pete McDaniel, on the distance article we shot in April of 2011 (the first story on putting was released in the July 2011 issue). Since then, I've had some very fun emails and notes come in from across the country. I thought I'd share a few with you since they have some good follow-up questions.

Q: I read with great interest your article in Golf Digest, August 2012. Using the 10-finger grip, I'm hitting higher and farther with my driver. This is my question, would you recommend the 10-finger grip for hybrids and fairway woods? My club slips occasionally, and instead of working on gripping tighter (which scares me), I'm wondering if I should start to experiment with the 10-finger grip. I just moved from Atlanta after living there for 15 years. I would have loved to visit you. Look forward to your response. -Woman from Troy, Michigan

A: I think working on golf swings is like a supervised scientific experiment and would recommend seeing how it works. I think that would be the easiest thing to do. I use the word grip in golf as a noun, not a verb, so I agree that "gripping tighter" might not be an advisable move. You must hold the club securely but allow the arms and wrists the mobility to create and deliver speed without being tight. Make sure the grip is secure and I hope the 10 finger works just as well for your hybrids and fairway woods!

Q: Thank you for the tips you gave me. I got some of them to work but need more practice on the others. Your tip on hovering the club when teeing off works great & the ten finger grip also, now all I need to do is work on my alignment & where to position the ball in my stance when I use a 3 wood 5 wood 3&4 hybrid 6 iron etc., etc. Any tips for those? I do know this -- if I lived down there I would surely come to you for a lesson. Thank you for your advice & when I need more help & answers I will email. Have a great day & thank you again. - A Gentleman in the Navy

A: Remember that in golf, since we stand sideways to the target and several feet to the side of the target line, we must aim the club head at the target and then align the body parallel left (for righties) or right (for lefties) of the target. We can't aim both our body and clubhead at the target, only if we stand on the same target line like croquet, basketball free-throw, etc.  I do what many top professionals and amateurs do in that I select my aim from behind the ball by picking out a small, intermediate target several inches in front of the ball... something on an imaginary line I drew from the target to my ball.  When I line up from the side of the ball, I just line up my club head to that little intermediate target and then align myself parallel to that.

For ball position, I teach a basic 3-ball position.  Shorter irons nearer the middle of the stance, mid-irons/hybrids/fairway woods near the middle front (about 1 ball closer to the target than the middle) and the driving club inside the lead foot instep. As with any golfer, these are just starting points from which to launch. Each golfer needs to find what works best for him or her based on how the swings works and bottoms out. Like most elite players, I would suggest putting down an alignment stick or club shaft between your feet perpendicular to the ball so you can just move the ball position around but have feedback so you can make that decision. Golf is not a static game -- it's dynamic! -- but you need to know where to start so you can adjust from there!

GR: Golf Range Magazine

How exciting! My husband, Ty, and I are in Golf Range Magazine. It features an article by me about the importance of practice plus two videos. Click here to check it out.

Book Signing at the PGA Show

That's right, I'm going to the 2012 PGA Merchandise Show from January 25-28 in sunny Orlando, Florida!

If you happen to be in the area, stop by The Littlest Golfer booth on Friday, January 27 between 2 and 3pm. I'll be there doing a book signing for Stick to Sports: Let's Play Golf. If you can't make it then, I'm having a bonus signing January 26, 27 or 28 during the Best Pee Wee Swing Contest Award Presentation.

I hope to see you all there--it should be a great show!

Great Golf Reads

It's always fun to learn new ideas that make golf so much more fun. If you'd like to read about some new golf ideas for YOUR game, visit the Landings Golf Shops for some great reads.

Deer Creek has several wonderful books: Every Shot Must Have a Purpose (Pia Nilsson & Lynn Marriott), The Game Before the Game (Nilsson & Marriott) and Drive to the Top (Dr. Rick Jensen) and Easier Said than Done (Dr. Rick Jensen... great book on transferring talents from the range to the course!).

Plantation is carrying Drive to the Top (Jensen) and The Art of the Short Game (Stan Utley). You'll also find some really fun items for juniors, including books at Deer Creek by Susan Greene (Consider It Golf, Count on Golf and The ABC's of Golf) and at all shops, an innovative new June 23rd release called Stick to Sports: Let's Play Golf (golf sticker book for ages 4-8+).

Don't forget to help juniors stock their golf equipment with clubs (Oakridge), gloves/hats/shirts/shoes and some especially fun character head covers at Deer Creek. All neat golf items that make golf a great experience!

Your Kid Ate a Divot

I'm reading a great new book by a professional I met at an AMF meeting during the PGA Show. He was kind enough to give me a copy of his latest work and it's a great mixture of anecdotes, followed at each chapter's end by a golf philosophy / psychology tip. I high recommend it if you are looking to improve your game with great reminders about a golfer's outlook on playing and learning the game.

The book is called Your Kid Ate a Divot by Jeff Ritter and I've seen it on Amazon or http://www.jeffrittergolf.com/. Enjoy! We may use it in one of our new Book Practice Sessions (for more details, please contact me about this fun, new one-hour sessions!).