Thursday, March 12, 2015

Teaching Kids How to Golf and Have Fun

Making Golf Fun for Kids


Hi this Kris Moe, I'm the director of Fun and Player Development at Chuck Corica Golf Complex in Alameda, I've just returned from a US Kids certification program in Los Angeles and I'm fired up to share the fun new
Us pros watching a sample lesson
ways us pros will be teaching kids 13 and younger.

I wish I would had this system available for my own two boys, they are now high schoolers, because I think they would have been more interested in golf.

In a nutshell they have made golf learning more engaging for kids. There is more learning from games and intuitive ways to understand fairly complex concepts like the grip (hot dog in a bun) how to chip (eg swing the letter "Y"). Here's a video of how we teach some of the fundamentals, https://vimeo.com/36619747

They also have badges for each accomplishment that is pinned to their cool US kids golf hat.

I still have a few spots available for the under 13 class beginning this Saturday from 2:00-3:00 PM (mostly 8 and 9 year olds are signed up). You can register here.

Here's more information on the program which I believe your kids will really have fun doing.



Learning Program

The U.S. Kids Golf Learning Program is a proven method to introduce golf to young players. The program becomes more difficult as players advance through each of the three levels, and the Level 1, 2 and 3 booklets provide the framework for both coaches and parents.
The booklets provide instruction and examples of forms and skills, and each level has checkpoints in five core areas: Putting, Around the Green, Full Swing, Knowledge and Scoring. As an incentive to advance through all the levels, players earn an achievement pin each time they complete one of the checkpoints. In order to pass each level, players must play nine holes from at least 1,500 yards (the distance of Level 1 Tees on a Family Course) and meet the scoring requirement.
U.S. Kids Golf Certified Coaches use these booklets in daily instruction and at USKG Camps across the country.
What's Next:  Find a Coach 
The Early Start Booklet is for kids five and younger who are being introduced to the game of golf. You may download the entire Early Start Booklet below for no charge.
The Level 1 Instructional Booklet mixes kid-friendly instruction with on-course play that is suitable for all beginner golfers. The curriculum includes forms and skills tests in five core areas for the player to pass before progressing to the Level 2 Booklet.Samples:  Forms  |  Skills
Ask your coach about the Level 1 Booklet or Buy it Now
The Level 2 Instructional Booklet mixes kid-friendly instruction with on-course play that is suitable for all beginner to intermediate golfers. The forms and skills tests increase in difficulty from Level 1 as the player develops fundamentals in five core areas of golf. Once the player has passed the Level 2 curriculum, he or she is ready for Level 3. Samples:  Forms  |  Skills
Ask your coach about the Level 2 Booklet or Buy it Now
The Level 3 Instructional Booklet mixes kid-friendly instruction with on-course play that is suitable for intermediate golfers. The forms and skills tests increase in difficulty from Level 2 as the player develops the fundamentals to ensure a lifetime of enjoyment in the game. Samples:  Forms  |  Skills
Ask your coach about the Level 3 Booklet or Buy it Now

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

New Grass Practice Area in East Bay

Hit Golf Balls on Grass in Alameda


We're thrilled to have our new grass tee open at Chuck Corica Golf Complex adding another layer of completion in the five year plan to make this one of the top golf facilities in the Bay Area and Northern California.

Have a peek at the new grass tee on the back of the range,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1tG3nv7dt4&feature=youtu.be




Find us on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/AlamedaGolf

Check out our videos on You Tube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClaTXQXEjFJQS4rEXjXwaiw

Sign up to improve your golf- https://campscui.active.com/orgs/ChuckCoricaGolfComplex

Three Ways to Make Golf Practice More Doable

Three Ways to Make Golf Practice More Doable

If you really want to reach your goals you'll have to practice. There are no little pills that I know of that will help you get around this reality in anything you want to improve at.

It's easy for practice at golf may take a back seat to studies, work, family or what-have-you. Here's a few ways that I hope will make it easier to get out and practice at golf: 

 

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Come up with something measurable like how many four foot putts can you make in a row and practice until you can do it. The ultimate is to do a combine on a Trackman or Flightscope to establish your benchmarks for various distances.

In Alameda we use the Flightscope and I would have you ten balls with say your pitching wedge and we would get an average of your distance and your average distance from a target we picked. ideally we would do the combine for all of your clubs and that would take about an hour and a half (130 balls).




Remember why you are practicing- Whether to beat your buddy in the big golf getaway or win the club championship keeping your eye on the prize is usually a pretty darn good incentive to find a way out to the range or course to play a few. Write it down somewhere and post your goal somewhere easy to see a few times a day.


Think smaller amounts of time- Low dosages more often is better than long sessions infrequently. At the very least keep a club handy to make swings hit into a net or just grab to work on your grip and take your stance. 

If you got 20 minutes that's about a small bucket or 30 balls. Even this amount of time can keep you on track to reach your goals for this season.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Coach Up your Golf in 2015

Set your Goals and Go After Them

It really doesn't matter what level you are playing at now, you can get better. And helping you design that
plan to get better is a good golf coach. 

I just attended a Golf Coaching seminar recently for our PGA section. A Mr. Henry Brunton was one of the presenters and he blew us away with some great information from his experiences and anecdotes. For instance the next Olympics in Brazil will include golf and how this is bringing more international attention to the sport and with it better training, science and coaching for athletes in golf.

Mr. Brunton is thought leader in the golf coaching space and has shared his vast coaching experience and details it in this book, High Performance Golf which I highly recommend for anyone with a serious passion to improve.

Mr. Brunton is a Top 100 PGA golf coach and has worked with most of top talent from Canada for the last ten years including Mike Weir, former Masters Champion.

His presentation was essentially bringing all the best practices from other sports into golf and I'm thrilled to share some of these with you.

Here's some important aspects to what a good coach will bring you:
  • Help you identify your goals
  • Give you a comprehensive physical screen
  • Teach strategy and tactics course and game management skills
  • Work with you to monitor, measure and reset goals as necessary
  • Provide advice and strategies for improving
  • Ensure that your equipment and ball is optimally fitted

 And then the next steps:
  •         Teach you how to practice effectively
  •         Teach mental skills and strategies
  •         Teach the rules of golf
  •         Teach competitive skills- event preparation/ game plans
  •         Help formulate a detailed goal-setting program and training regimen
  •         Help establish a balanced and challenging competitive schedule
  •         Collect accurate data from rounds
  •         Teach proper nutrition and hydration
  •         Help create a strength training and flexibility regimen
  •         Communicate openly with the athlete, parents and collegiate coaches
  •         Encourage and support you on and off the course
Example of a follow-up letter I sent one of my elite junior golfers after nine-hole playing assessment

I enjoyed meeting you and having the opportunity to evaluate your daughter.

Here is my assessment and recommendations:

Strengths- Above average swing speed, confidence on full shots and she enjoys the game

Gaps- Mostly in the scoring zone. I'd like to see her track her putts and average 16 putts or better for nine holes. This will require lag putting practice and getting better at short putts. I told her I'd like to see her be able to make 15 four footers in a row as one of her practice exercises.

I'd like to see you guys sign up for this service that will help her quantify her rounds. From Shot by Shot, you can print out and she can start tracking her nines, http://www.shotbyshot.com/images/scorecard.pdf for us to review. Stats are huge in modern coaching!

Another area in her game for her to improve is for her to take advantage of her length off the tee is to finish with better wedge shots. She needs to learn how to deloft her wedge through impact. To essentially "cover the ball" with her body pivot to create more lag angle through impact. This will give her better compression and distance control.

Looking ahead- I think she can get onto a good college team if she stays motivated, gets good coaching and practices hard.

Suggested coaching program- Two private lessons and two supervised practice sessions a month with other golfers her age. This would be $300 a month.

Our course fully embraces the Youth on Course program ($1 rounds) and we have a great short game practice area and amazing par three course which I'd like to see her playing a lot to fine tune her scoring skills.

Next session- I'd like to bench mark her skills on my radar system at Alameda. This is a combine test of 60 shots and six different clubs. Here's a video describing this bench marking, http://mytrackman.com/public/trackman-combine-intro

Find out more about my golf schools in Napa, www.krismoegolfschools.com

Golf coaching programs in Alameda, www.alamedagolf.com/kris-moe

Call me for more information, 707-529-6458.