AD | As a parent, I think it’s fair to say we all want what’s best for our children. For many of us, that includes choosing a sport for them to play so they can stay active, rather than slumping in front of their phones in their free time. While golf is an often-overlooked sport for kids, there are plenty of reasons to encourage your child onto your local golf course. Here are 5 benefits of golf for children, and a few good reasons to start them early!
5 Top Benefits of Golf for Children
What are the benefits of golf? Playing golf isn’t only a physical activity that gets their heart rate up and improves blood flow, it’s great for their mental health and character building too. A round of golf in the fresh air also gives children a chance to meet new people as well as spend time with their family. Walking the course is good exercise as well as sport. And the more they play golf, the more they’ll improve their game – as seasoned golfers will all attest.
How is Golf Good for You? Exercise is Important for Development
In today’s digital age, more and more children are leading sedentary lives, glued to their iPads, tablets, phones, and TVs. Golf is excellent for getting kids up and moving after long periods of inactivity as it’s low intensity and has a relatively low risk of injury compared to many other sports.
Exercise also helps children to:
- Concentrate in school
- Gain higher self-esteem
- Grow and develop
- Improve social skills
- Improve coordination
As golf is a two-handed swing sport, learning to play golf will also help them pick up other sports with similar movements, like baseball or rounders.
What Skills does Golf Teach? Golf Helps Build Character
There’s no denying that golf is a frustrating sport at times, and your child will almost certainly get mad from time to time when things don’t go to plan. But the fact that they’ll learn how to responsibly deal with their emotions over time will benefit them greatly. Golf is a sport that requires a lot of patience, such as when you’re lining up a shot, or looking for a ball lost in the rough. They say patience is a virtue – golf can help to build it.
What are the Emotional Benefits of Golf? You Can Spend More Time With Your Kids
Suppose you’re considering getting your kids into golf, it’s likely that you already play. Even if you don’t, you can start playing when they do too. Walking around the course together, or riding on the golf cart, can be a great way to spend time with them and reconnect.
What About the Social Benefits of Golf? Your Child Can Make New Friends
Although golf is an individual sport, your child will have plenty of time to socialise while learning to play. One such opportunity is during group lessons. Golf has many small nuances that you have to think about during the swing. That means that lessons are pretty much a requirement for children to get the most out of the game as soon as possible. If they take group lessons, they’re very likely to meet other kids that have similar interests and ages. Another time they can socialise is before, after, and even during tournaments, which are often run by golf courses.
Why is Golf Popular? It Helps Teach the Importance of Practice
Golf is a sport that very clearly demonstrates just how important practice is to improve. While a certain degree of talent is involved, there’s no substitute for working on your swing. The shaving of strokes from your child’s handicap over the years will make them feel accomplished. And hopefully, carry that discipline with them into other areas of their life.
It’s a good idea to encourage your child to practice golf. Perhaps even before they make it to the course for the first time, you can buy a set of used golf clubs and practice balls to hit around the backyard. This will also help gauge if they’ll have sustained interest before you end up forking out for more expensive golf club gear and memberships.
Get Them Golfing and Start Them Early
As we can see, there are so many health benefits of playing golf, and this makes answering, “What age should you start golf?” very easy. As soon as you can, of course, even if it’s only on a mini-golf course to begin with!
These are just 5 good reasons to play golf. Is this a sport you’ve ever tried? Do you think it’s something your children, or any children you know, would like to try? If not, what’s your favourite sport and why?
* This is a sponsored post – please see my Disclaimer.
Golf is a great way to get the kids physically active in a safe environment.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Absolutely, as well as some fun family time.
I never played golf, but after reading this I can totally see why it’s a good sport for kids! We never think about how many sports are at high risk of injury and playing golf sounds like a great place to meet new kids too!
Absolutely – all that fresh air and long walks, what’s not to love!
I love this, Lisa… my boys used to love going to the driving range with us when they were little, and I love how you pointed out that it helps with their concentration in school, too! Golf really is so much fun for the whole family!
Oh that’s so lovely to hear, Heidi, your boys are very lucky – thank you for sharing this!
The fact that golf can help you develop so many different kinds of behaviors really interests me quite a bit. This can easily help my sons grow up to be fine young men, especially if I can also use it as a way to bond with them and share my life experiences to them. I’ll go and look for any golf instruction classes I can take my sons to right away so this can be something we regularly do.
Thank you, I’m glad this was useful – I hope you can find some golf instruction classes near you 🙂