QUESTION: My son has been playing golf for five years now, and I want to know what is the best way for my child to practice his golf game at the golf course?
From: Charles DeBardeleben; Birmingham, AL

ANSWER: Charles, since your child has been playing golf for several years now, I suggest that you follow along on his next round of golf and make an assessment of his game. Write down how many fairways he hits from the tee, how many greens he hits from the fairway and how many putts he has on the greens. See how many times he gets up and down from around the greens too. From my experience, kids have too many strokes on the greens because they do not practice their putting. When kids go to the golf course to practice, they usually just hit their driver to see how far they can hit the ball; in the long run this will hurt their swings and raise their scores. By making an assessment of your child's game, you can now target your child's weaknesses.

If he is not hitting any fairways from the tee, then I suggest taking a driver lesson. Again, I would not recommend that your child spend his entire practice time hitting with the driver. If your child is not hitting too many greens from the fairway, then he needs to practice his irons. Make sure that your child's iron practice is from the mats or grass and not hitting from a tee. Kids who like to hit from the tee during practice usually hit up on the ball when they are on the golf course, causing topped shots. To properly hit the irons, one needs to hit the ball on the downswing and make a divot.

If your child is adding strokes around the green, then I suggest he take a short game lesson on pitching and chipping. Not everyone hits all the greens, and I can tell you that if your child improves his short game, he will become a better player. Most of your child's strokes will be around and on the greens. This is the nature of the game. By spending more time on your child's short game, his practice sessions will be more efficient, he is less likely to hurt his game, and more likely to improve much faster.

If your child has too many three-putts or more, or is not one-putting any greens, then I suggest your child take a putting lesson and spend more time at the golf course practicing his putting.

Again, by making an initial assessment of your child's golf game you will find his strengths and weaknesses a lot sooner. I suggest that you give the assessment results to a golf professional, so he or she can offer advice on the most efficient way for your child to practice at the golf course.

ANSWER: Daniel, if your son has been taking golf lessons and/or playing golf, and he wants to participate in junior golf tournaments, then I encourage you to sign him up. There are tournaments open for children, as young as five years of age. My junior tour tournaments start with beginners playing three holes. The experience playing in tournaments is very valuable. The more tournaments your child participates in, the more likely he will be comfortable playing in future competitions.

Golf tournaments can make anyone nervous, and nerves can create tension and stress, which can affect the golf swing. The experience of playing in tournaments may help your son get over being nervous and make him a better golfer. Also, tournament golf is a great way to test your child and take him to the next level.

Additionally, your son can make friends and you can meet a lot of other parents and network at tournaments. I met a parent at one of my tournaments, and we ended up producing The Better Golf Academy Presents Better Golf for Kids, Volume I DVD together!

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