How can we rebrand junior golf?

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PGA Professional Oli Tucker reveals how junior coaching can take a step forward
Posted on
September 30, 2019
by
The Editorial Team in
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Golf is forever battling its moniker as the โ€˜old manโ€™s gameโ€™.

Getting junior players into golf at club level is one thing, but encouraging them to stick with it into adulthood is entirely another.

While both the menโ€™s and womenโ€™s professional fields currently showcase an abundance of talent, bereft of the one-man or one-woman dominance of years past, the technical and repetitive side of junior coaching is holding back the sportโ€™s popularity with youngsters.

Oli Tucker, resident PGA professional at Horton Park Golf Club, is recognised by US Kids Golf as one of the top junior coaches in the country, largely due to his unique coaching style, and he is setting a precedent for young players to view the game differently.

Q&A with Oli Tucker

Oli explains how his sporting background has helped him tailor his coaching for juniors.

โ€œWhen I first looked into what was going on in junior golf it seemed very boring and very technicalโ€, he says.

โ€œLooking at other sports like football, sessions would be very loud, very energetic and it was only golf that were doing it quite old school โ€“ it was slow and there was a lot of focus around gripping the club which didnโ€™t really need to happen.

โ€œComing from outside of golf I was lucky enough not to follow that mould and I could do my own thing and make it a bit more interesting and based around movement skills. This also helps to get juniors better prepared for whatever sport they want to take up.โ€

With golfโ€™s technical side the subject of much debate, Oli feels it is important for the young juniors to let that side go, and focus on their coordination by creating challenges or games.

โ€œA lot can be done in golf to increase its playabilityโ€, he notes.

โ€œThe excitement factor of making the hole bigger has been talked about and a lot of clubs believe itโ€™s the right thing to do โ€“ unfortunately no one is doing anything about it.

โ€œSimilarly with shorter tee boxes โ€“ the current junior tees are not short enoughย when they can only hit the ball a certain distance. The same problem arises for the seniors off the back tees.โ€

Q&A with Oli Tucker

For Oli, juniors can benefit from having the freedom to play and work out their own swing and style.

Certainly, with the wide and wonderful variety of golf swings in the professional game โ€“ Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnsonโ€™s techniques spring to mind โ€“ there is no correct blueprint to sit down and replicate.

With this in mind, Oli explains that parents can quite easily prove a barrier in their childโ€™s development.

โ€œOften parents need to let the kids play โ€“ let them get on with it! There is so much going on in kidsโ€™ heads already so itโ€™s best to keep these thoughts limited.

โ€œIf weโ€™re working with an elite junior, they will only have one or maybe two things to work on at a time concerning either their swing or pre-shot routine.

โ€œWhat is so frustrating is seeing parents translate lessons from their own game onto their childโ€™s technique โ€“ it can be incredibly confusing.โ€

There is truth in the consensus that the game of golf is stubborn in keeping its traditional ways.

Certainly, when it comes to encouraging juniors into the game, there must be a considered move away from the technical and towards pure enjoyment.

If moving tee boxes and creating different hole sizes can help this, why not try it?

***

Oli Tucker is a resident professional at Horton Park GC
https://hortonparkgolf.com/

You can contact or follow Oli using:
e: oli@hortonparkgolfschool.co.uk
Insta: olitucker10
Twitter: tuckeroli

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About The Editorial Team

The editorial team at Golf Today strives to provide readers with captivating content that celebrates the rich heritage and exciting developments in the world of golf. Their collective expertise and dedication ensure that Golf Today remains a premier destination for golf enthusiasts seeking the latest news, insightful analysis, and engaging stories from the world of golf.

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