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.

Home / Play and Learn / Learning the Game

Learning the Game

• Learning Program
• Videos

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.  Download Early Start Booklet
	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  Download Level 1 Certificate
	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  Download Level Two Certificate
	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  Download Level Three Certificate

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.

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

Here's a slide show on the Long Term Development Program, http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/tpigreg-264945-parentnightvideo-tpi-junior-golf-parent-workshop-sports-ppt-powerpoint/

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.

Golf Scrambling Challenge at Alameda's Chipping Practice Area

Alameda's Chuck Corica Golf Course's got one of the best short game practice greens ever and now we're giving you the opportunity to check up on your skill level in our Short game Challenge!

From 10 am to Noon this Saturday, December 6th anyone can come out and play the ten hole course we set up. And the best part is that we have a handout with all the averages of the various skill levels from top PGA Tour player to a 36 handicap. Depending on your score you'll see if you have work to do or if you should be working on other aspects of your game like driving.

Kris Moe our Player Development guru will be out there offering free short game tips to help you improve your score.

What's Happening at Chuck Corica Golf Course (aka Alameda Golf Course)

Remember Our Veterans!

This day each year, we stop to reflect on the American heroes who have fought for our freedom. We are proud to support our veterans and want to invite everybody out to Chuck Corica Golf Complex this Veterans Day, as we recognize how fortunate we are to live in this country. Come visit us on November 11, and enjoy a round of golf with family and friends!

Veteran's Day Special on The Earl Fry (North) Course

$30 per person includes: greens fee, shared power cart & a little fun sized bucket of range balls

Free Golf Clinics from Kris Moe for Veterans November 11

Our Director of Instruction Kris Moe will be offering a free chipping clinic at 10:00 am and a free full swing clinic at 11:30 am for active and retired military!

Also only $7 for the Mif and 50% off range balls all day November 11

*Monthly/Annual Passes are not valid on Tuesday November 11th

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November Twilight Specials on The Earl Fry (North) Course

Weekday

$35 after 10:30am - $25 after 1:00pm - $15 after 3:00pm

Weekend

$45 after 11:00am - $34 after 1:00pm - $20 after 3:00pm

*Rates not valid on November 27th or 28th  

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Thanksgiving Day Shotgun at 9:00am on The Earl Fry (North) Course

$50 per person includes: Greens Fee, Shared Power Cart

& Breakfast Combo at Jim's On The Course

*Breakfast Combo Includes: Breakfast Sandwich or Burrito & Small Coffee

Space is limited so book your reservation today! 

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Check out the new Titleist 915's November 15th

Titleist just released their new driver, fairway metal and hybrid line. They do this every couple years and now they're just hitting the shelves. Here's Kris Moe showing the club.

We'll have our staff out with a launch monitor and you're welcome to try all the 915's with the different shaft types to find your fit.

Cleveland Wedge Clinic - Saturday December 6th - 1:00-2:30pm

$150 per person includes:  1 RTX 2.0 Wedge, 1 Dozen Srixon Golf Balls, Personalized wedge fitting by NCPGA Fitter of the Year Greg Ciavarelli & 90 minutes of expert short game instruction!  Contact Mike Winkenbach at (510) 747-7828 ormwinkenbach@greenwaygolf.com to sign up today!

Contest to win green fees at Alameda Golf Course

Here's a chance for you to win four rounds of golf for the Mif or the North course in Alameda!

Just click the link below and like us on our Facebook page.

Look at the Improvements for Alameda and East Bay Golfers at Chuck Corica

Greenway Putting Together a Golfing Jewel in Alameda

Alameda is in store for an amazing transformation of their golf facility and it is great for golfers inside of driving distance.

The new driving range was opened a few months ago and a renovated par three golf course will become the talk of the entire bay area if not country (yes).

What's so special about a little par three course? Have a look a this short video:

I have the great pleasure to invent fun ways to use the par three and it will be fun since all levels will enjoy it even though the holes distances range from 70-155 yards. Marc Logan who is the grass expert in the group, holding Masters degrees in both Botany and Agronomy. Just about as impressive is where he got his early experience and that would be at the famed Alister MacKenzie golf course in Australia Royal Melbourne.

FYI- I believe Australia has the best greens in the world and they are bent grass greens. Marc and Greenway Golf have numerous golf courses now that are bent and remained bent for ten years with a proven model and they are on a crusade to bring others on board but strangely enough this hasn't happened. So they continue on their merry way consulting more enlightened courses on how to construct and maintain bent grass greens.

Good news for Alameda folks is that bent greens will soon be what they putt on and I have a feeling many more courses will get in line. 

So beginning in April 2014 golfers will have a chance to play the new par 3, hit balls on the new grass tee on the back of the range and practice their chipping and sand shots in the new short game area. Whew, can't wait!