I spent a couple hours at an after school program that I am teaching this winter at an elementary school and it warmed my heart to see so many kids having fun playing golf. It is always my goal as a PGA golf professional to introduce the sport to new golfers and I have chosen to go into the school systems this fall and winter. The youngest kid was 4 and the oldest was a 6th grader. We divided the kids into two groups; pre-k through 2nd grade and 3rd grade through 6th grade and they were each taught in a 45 minute session.
I can promise you these two 45 minute sessions made me smile and laugh and have a great time with some wonderful kids that just wanted to have fun playing golf. We warmed up by doing some stretching, running, sit-ups, throwing a ball and basically working on coordination and running off some energy. Then we worked on chipping and putting and the focus on each shot was the grip and posture. We never put an emphasis on anything else. We threw a couple targets out there and told the kids to try to hit the targets. It is so fun to see their natural strokes and how they can get the ball to the targets. Most of all they were not overloaded with too many thoughts, so they were still having fun just hitting the ball.
The important thing to remember is that we were in a gym and we were using SNAG golf equipment. This means we were using plastic oversize clubs, tennis balls and large targets and it was easy for the kids to swing the clubs and make contact with the tennis ball so they were getting instant results which equals fun and a sense of accomplishment. I feel it is so 
important when teaching young kids the game of golf that we do not overload them with the mechanics because they will get bored and that is the end of golf for them.
It is important to keep the kids moving and to also work on developing the motion through other activities so as they get older they will have the foundation to swing the real clubs and not get frustrated. So we might swing a baseball bat and hit some balls off a tee to just start feeling the motion and again the kids think this is FUN. Then we end the session for the younger kids by playing duck, duck goose and one kid comes up to me at the end and tells me about a new game and wants to know if we can play his game next week. So the answer is yes and now the kids cannot wait until next week.
The name of the game is to get them to love the game and to keep coming back. Next week I will learn the game of Octopus and let the fun keep happening.
For more information and ideas please do not hesitate to contact me at Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, Virginia. You can email me at kandi@kandicomergolf.com or reach me by phone at 434-817-0500.