The Golf Parent, episode 9
Process Over Results: Nurturing Junior Golfers with Todd Kolb
2024-12-17
In this episode of The Golf Parent , I sit down with golf coach and author Todd Kolb to dive into the art of raising passionate, resilient junior golfers. Todd shares age specific strategies for guiding young athletes , emphasizing the value of multi sport participation and a competitive mindse
Tips paraphrased from The Golf Parent (hosted by Ryan Addams). These are our summaries from machine transcripts, not quotes, and times are approximate. All credit to the shows and their guests; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Golf beats everybody up. Be honest with your kid without being a "Pollyanna" who says everything's fine, and balance that honesty with support.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
Parent role
By about age 10, make sure someone has taught them correct basics (grip, general swing direction). It doesn't need to be technical.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
Expectations and pressure · Age by age
Build the short game early. A kid who can control the ball around the green can compete at any level.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
First tournament
Practice lag putting: juniors who hit the green are usually 20 to 40 feet away, so two putting from there is what turns good drives into pars.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
Putting
Chip with just the dominant hand to build touch and feel.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
Chipping and pitching
Play away from big trouble like out of bounds; rough or a bunker on the safe side is fine, since doubles and triples are what hurt scores.
Todd Kolb (instructor/author) · The Golf Parent
Course strategy