I think most of us who play golf have bad swing habits that we wish we never developed. If only we could just learn to play all over again, to rebuild our original foundation.
We decided to put our two boys in lessons at the Coronado Golf Course with one of the Club Pros, Mark Fernando, who had come highly recommended by my mom after she reported great improvements to her game (much thanks to Mark).
Having been under Mark’s tutelage for about 4 months now, my boys’ progress is really starting to show much because Mark is focused on building a solid foundation for his young students, one that good habits can grow from. Mark says that, “contrary to games like baseball and basketball, golf is a game that can last an entire lifetime”.
Mark uses positive reinforcement (namely jelly beans) and a fun environment to train his young golfers, but my favorite part of his youth classes are his catchy phrases that quickly snap his energetic young students back into concentration. Here are a few:
“Hot Dogs”
When kids hear this phrase, they know to correct their grip by aligning their thumbs down the shaft of the club. This grip alignment allows for a better swing and solid grip throughout contact.
“Gum on Your Shoe”
To get his students to hold their follow-through in a balanced position, Mark uses the phrase “check for gum on your shoe”. My 5 year old, Charley, caught on to this idea very quickly (of course the Spider Man shoes helped tremendously).
“Shoulders”
While putting, it is common for young kids to use their wrists too much. Mark simply says “shoulders” or “relax” so that they let their arms hang and use their shoulders in the putt.
The Jelly Bean Putting Challenge
When you put jelly beans on the line, the performance really steps up. In the below video, my 7-year-old son Dylan appears to have “closest to the hole” all locked up until Charley (my 5-year-old) drains a putt from about 25-30 feet!
All in all, as a father and former competitive athlete, I am very impressed with the training facilities and approach of the Coronado Golf Course and especially with Mark Fernando’s teaching ability. Currently, Mark is running youth lessons on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 3:30pm.
Coronado is indeed a wonderful place to raise a family and the game of golf certainly helps grow the little rascals as well. This is Jamie Tuckey, Coronado Realtor and father, signing off!
