GOLF FOR KIDS came about when I started giving lessons the year I retired. Teaching was something I enjoyed but didn’t take seriously. Then when school let out kids began coming. The next thing I knew I had more than fifty each weekday from the different municipal programs.

Teaching kids consists of a few basics: how to stand and address the ball, grip the club properly, and make a full shoulder turn while restricting the hip turn. Just as important is learning how to load the wrists in order to create a powerful release through impact.

But the main thing I try to get across to golfers of all ages is the importance of rotating around their axis, an imaginary line running from the top of the head to the seat of the pants. If they can learn to make the shoulder turn without letting their axis move they will create maximum centrifugal force, which is what clubhead speed really is.

The challenge is getting the message across. Since I’m left-handed I can stand in front of my students and demonstrate while I explain why the right arm has to be straight, how to create a wide arc in order to build maximum force at impact, etc.

Once you’ve gotten the message across, a lesson is little more than supervised practice. I hate to charge money for saying the same thing over and over, so I suggested people read a golf instruction book between lessons. Unfortunately there is nothing in the book stores for kids and the books available in the libraries all read more like a college text.

A simple, straightforward pamphlet on golf instruction was needed and I decided to try my hand with a short little text on the fundamentals. Pretty soon I had a complete book called GOLF FOR KIDS, which was published in April of 2009.