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During Mike\'s Course - Mike & Billy share a listener email from Austrailia via Facebook.com/Golftalkradio Mb.\\xa0

There are two very important words of the U.S. Kids Golf mission to help kids have fun learning to play golf.

The words are fun and play.

Our research into the development of young golfers has shown that when golf is no longer fun for kids, they lose interest. According to studies from the Positive Coaching Alliance, parents and coaches tend to become too technical too early with our kids. The trouble with golf is that it\\u2019s highly technical.

When kids 11 to 13 were surveyed and asked, \\u201cWhy did you quit golf?\\u201d they were almost unanimous in their response: \\u201cIt wasn\\u2019t fun anymore.\\u201d So how do we make it fun for kids\\u2014and keep it fun? As a baseball coach, I had some kids on my team who were striking out too much, and I noticed they weren\\u2019t keeping their eye on the ball. They\\u2019d come back to the dugout frustrated because they tried so hard and had not succeeded. But instead of being frustrated with them, I looked for something\\u2014anything\\u2014that they did to improve. If they fouled out, it was an improvement over missing the ball every time. If a batter just touches the ball, it\\u2019s an improvement. So I said, \\u201cGreat! You watched the ball. You fouled it off.\\u201d Until that became a good thing. I watched the kids\\u2019 level of encouragement rise.

As coaches and parents, you\\u2019re in the midst of something very important. You can encourage your kids every time you\\u2019re out there to play and to have fun and encourage them for the improvement they show\\u2014even when the shots don\\u2019t go where they want them to. Over the long term, what\\u2019s really going to make our kids great is their joy for the game and the fun they have playing it. That is why U.S. Kids Golf exists. It\'s why we make clubs that are easier to swing and why we encourage parents to caddie for their kids. We want learning the game to be a fun experience full of special moments for kids and memories of fun with their families, coaches and friends.

Dustin Smith

PGA , Class A Professional

Jim Mclean Certified Instructor

Instructor,The First Tee of

Coachella Valley, California

Mike & Billy also pay tribute to Seve Ballesteros.

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