Kids Coach in Portland, OR

[mdl]

My low key, no pressure, just make it fun when she wants to go scheme is paying dividends! My daughter (7, 8 in June) is in a big upswing and super excited about golf, at least for now. She's expressed interest in lessons. Anyone know a good kids coach in Portland?

[iacas]

I didn't tell my daughter (@NatalieB) much beyond the following until she was about 9 or 10, and she'd been hitting balls or playing golf since she was 3:

• Stand here (to the side of the ball)
• Grip it this way (fingers, hands together)
• Turn so your left shoulder points toward the ball (i.e. relatively centered pivot, shoulder down).

I think a lesson or two is good, but beyond that… it can start to feel like work really fast if you're not careful. I'd recommend finding her an instructor, and watching but not participating in the lesson. Maybe with a woman or a super gregarious type guy. One who will keep things REALLY simple.

[mdl]

This is great. Thanks Erik! I love left shoulder at ball. I've been trying to not talk about much except setup. She naturally stands too close to the ball and really wants to hit with split hands. But she's playing enough she'd like to be hitting the ground less. So I've talked to her about centered pivot but it's clearly been bad for her swing and her fun when I give mechanics tips.

She's responded better in other contexts to a teacher rather than me or her mom. So I was thinking maybe that was the way to go. But shoulder at ball feels like a great framing to keep it fun and action oriented. Maybe I'll just go with that for now.