Kids play an active role in most households, but helping them choose a sport to play can be difficult. Golf may not seem to be the most exciting option out there, yet this hobby offers some clear advantages for children.
Keep reading to explore our six reasons why golfing is excellent for kids!
1. Physical Coordination
Learning to use tools to interact with the world is an important part of early development for children. Think of interactive games for toddlers as an example. While toddlers are too young to play golf, kids can start learning to swing around 5 or 6 years old.
Golf teaches two-hand swing skills and the hand-eye coordination needed for plenty of real-world activities and other sports like tennis, baseball, and cricket.
It also doesn’t hurt to walk around the course. Any kind of sustained physical activity is great for kids. Well, human beings in general.
2. Character
Golf has got to be the most frustrating sport in the world at times. There are times your child will slice their shots, completely miss, overshoot, undershoot, hit sand traps, or a plethora of other things that can go wrong during a game of golf.
Now you might be asking, why would I want my kid to get frustrated while playing a sport?
It’s all about the learning opportunities. Being in control of emotions is a skill that even many adults haven’t mastered. Exposing children to a world where they have the opportunity to work on themselves (with your guidance) can help them not throw tantrums in the real world too. Win-win, right?
3. Social Skills
Golf is a solo sport, but that doesn’t mean kids won’t have plenty of time to socialize with other children. There are always group lessons, tournaments, ambrose games, and club meetings.
This is a particularly good benefit for kids who have trouble socializing. They’ll be able to meet kids from other schools and areas of different ages with similar interests.
Just remember, you may have to put a little effort in as the parent to get the ball rolling initially. Make sure you head to pre and post-tournament events and organize play dates for your child’s new friends.
4. Driving Skills
Okay, so it’s not a great idea to put a 6-year-old behind the wheel of a golf cart. But as they get a little older, it’s reasonably safe to let them drive the club cart under adult supervision. Not only will they find it fun, but they’ll also be learning important skills that will help them learn to drive a car in their late teens.
Who knows, maybe they’ll like it so much they’ll get one of these affordable golf carts on their own accord when the time comes.
You can also talk to them about safety rules and being sensible behind the wheel of a vehicle. Something that many people don’t carry past their learner’s permit, so it’s good to put that in their minds from an early age.
5. Patience
Golf takes a lot of patience. By a child’s standards, it takes a long time to line up a shot, walk between shots, and search for lost balls in the rough.
That’s not even including trying to get yourself out of a bunker. As their golf skills grow over time, they’ll find that their patience is paying off. That hopefully means they’ll be more patient outside of the golf course too.
6. Practice Makes Perfect
It takes a certain degree of talent to be a great golfer. But, even the worst golf swing gets better with practice. If consistent practice is paired with excellent coaching, the improvements can be quite drastic in a short space of time.
Many times in life, many of us wish that we practiced something more, whether that be a sport like golf, a new language, or anything else. Wouldn’t it have been great to learn the importance of practice at a young age?
Learning From a Love of the Sport
As we’ve discussed, golf can teach kids many life skills, but most importantly, it can teach them about the game itself. If you’ve landed on this article, you likely love golf. That’s something you can share with your kids in the near future if they take up golf.