An Afternoon in the Park

Last week we had our second outdoor Urban Golf Academy session at 97th and 5th. There is a beautiful bend in the park filled with lots of open, green grass…the perfect place to practice our favorite game.
I arrive about thirty minutes before the children and start setting up. We have lots of different tools we use to work on every aspect of the sport. I set up four different stations. There are four shots in golf: the putt, chip, pitch and full swing shot. We worked on the putt, chip and full swing at these stations.

-The first I call the “little points” game where children work on lining the ball up and rolling it towards a "Rollerama" (makeshift Velco bench) with different numbers on it. The goal is to have the ball line up with the number 1 which is in the center of the Rollerama (the balls adhere to the Velcro). The children put or "roll" (in SNAG terms) the ball towards the target.

-The second station I set up is to work on full swing. The children use modified golf clubs to work on their swing. They stand in color-organized hula-hoops that tell them where their arms should be for their swing. For instance, if they want to work on a regular shot, they are meant to stay within the blue area of the hoop.

-The third station I set up is where we practice “chipping.” Chipping is a skill used to get the ball up and into the air when it doesn’t have a great distance to travel but the grass is tall and the ball needs height. In this station we work with a tool called a snagazoo that makes a funny sound when the children bend their wrist. For chipping shots the swing is very small and the goal is to keep the snagazoo perfectly silent (quite a feat amongst the youngsters).

-The forth area I set up is with the snapper. The snapper is a stick with a long, red ribbon attached to the end. If anyone has ever seen rhythmic gymnastics it is basically the same tool they use. The snapper is meant to help children with wrist control. When they are working their wrists in the ideal way the ribbon will “snap,” hence its name.

The children start to arrive around 3:10 but one boy comes around 3:00. “Does this mean we can start earlier?” he asks eagerly. Definitely a sign of a good afternoon ahead.

Once all the children arrive and get settled (we have about 10 today, aged 4-8), I call everyone over to a rock a few paces away for a “quick meeting” before we begin. I go over a bit of what we are going to do today, who is going to start where, and we’re off.

The girls head on over to the snapper while the older boys start working on their swing and the younger boys work on the snagazoo and the “little points” game. I am careful to keep an eye on the overall dynamics of the group and split my attention equally. Luckily my amazing co-teacher, Monica, and a trusty assistant are there to help. I walk around to the different stations and engage with each of the children to get a feel for how they are doing and what level they are at today. One of the girls get’s a “bulls-eye” on the little-points game and three of her friends cheer. High five’s all around.

After about ten or fifteen minutes I call the children in for another “quick meeting.” I tell them what I saw. I always start with positive reinforcement and go over (quite pointedly) what worked. I use different children as examples and we have a brief question-answer. Then we split up again and rotate stations. After each switch we have a quick meeting. It is a great way to pull the energy of the group together and make sure things don’t get too fractured or splintered as well as give the children the opportunity to get fast feedback and responses from me.

We always pick up all the balls together as I want the children to be engaged and active in every aspect of the sport. We switch three times, enough for every child to get to practice at every station. Once we have finished we all gather for a final meeting, under a tree by the sidewalk. As we sit in the shade we talk about how each of us has a different recipe for our golf swing with very special ingredients all our own. I ask each child what they think their key ingredient is and help them to understand that the things they need to work on are not problems, but unique skills. There is always some chatter and a lot of noise coming from the snagazoos, but the children often seem calmer after their golf practice then before. Despite the heat and the activity they have come together to focus, improve and most importantly, have fun. High five’s all around, indeed.

The Urban Golf Academy is now back from Montauk Downs Golf Course and we're holding sessions in a number of locations throughout the city. If you’d like to find out where and when our sessions are please refer to our schedule on the sidebar of the blog or feel free to email me.

See you all outside!

-Kate