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Patient: Female Age: 15 Current Handicap: 8 Lowest Handicap: 5 Has played golf for: About 5 years Plays: About 3 times a week Practices: Almost every day The symptoms: My daughter is really enjoying golf, but she has struggled and regressed a bit this summer. She has gone through a tremendous growth spurt — from 5-foot-1 last summer to 5-foot-7 this summer. I’m wondering if this is having an affect on her swing or her equipment. What can I do for her? Dr. Golf’s prescription: Most juniors who play with standard-length clubs choke down on their clubs. As they grow, some golfers still have a tendency to grip the club in this manner. My suggestion would be to get your daughter to grip the club normally. As she gets taller, she also should focus on balance, staying down through impact and turning around her center as opposed to moving laterally away and toward the ball. Her growth spurt shouldn’t have any negative affect on her equipment. As she gets taller, her arms also get longer, so her hands are the same distance from the ground. I also suggest that she play more than practice. She’ll gain more confidence as she sees her scores go down. Patient: Male Age: 13 Current Handicap: 7 Lowest Handicap: 7 Has played golf for: Two years Plays: About two or three times a week Practices: About two or three times a week The symptoms: My son is a relatively new player who just started competing in junior events at our club this summer. He’s going back to school, but we want to keep the momentum that he has built up by playing all the time this summer. How can we accomplish this when he goes back to school, and how can he continue to improve his competitive playing during this time? Dr. Golf’s prescription: My prescription is to meet with the high school golf coach and ask him to be introduced to the boys on the golf team. The team members will most likely be at or near his competitive level. He should get together with them and play some competitive games at a nearby practice facility, such as closest to the target competitions and long drive and straight drive contests on the range. His competitive playing also could improve by playing nine-hole matches after school with the golf team members. I also recommend contacting your local junior golf program to find out if they conduct after-school or weekend tournaments during the school year. PGA professional Rod Prieto is the director of Desert Junior Golf. He can be reached at (760) 341-4323. Patients in need of help from Dr. Golf should e-mail their ailments to scpgamedia@aol.com. |
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