Kids Swing Into Golf Through Academic/Sport Class Combo
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2022-03-10
By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf
SPRUCE GROVE, Alberta — Stop me of you’ve heard this before but ... when I went to school, it was uphill both ways, always 40 below and ... so on. And, we NEVER got to golf! Well, OK, maybe we took golf as part of a phys ed class once a week for an hour for two or three weeks. But never, ever, did we get golf for a whole year with professional instruction to boot.
That is how the world of education has changed though and through the integration of sport and studies kids are thriving in both elements. That’s the case at a school in Spruce Grove where a hockey based program that added golf to its curriculum is finding the solitary sport a huge hit with the kids taking part.
Said Jason Fischer, one of the men behind the Parkland Hockey Academy that runs out of École Broxton Park School, “We were talking about trying to expand (the hockey program) with the Parkland School Division, that we wanted to offer something besides hockey. We wanted to add something that the kids enjoy.” That was accomplished by chipping in with the twice weekly golf classes using an indoor facility, On Par Golf, during the winter months and then moving outside to an actual course, The Links at Spruce Grove, when the weather warmed.
The fact the students in Grades 6 to 9 in the Parkland School Division’s Connection for Learning are enjoying this immersion into golf (one of many sports included) is evident by the smiles on their faces and the exuberant strikes, and yes sometimes m-hits, the kids take on the simulators. The reason for that joy, said Fischer, is the kids are experiencing a sport where success, and failure, are entirely up to themselves.
“It’s a different attitude compared to the hockey and the kids really love to come here. This is something where they can focus on their own skills and have some fun doing it.”
Of the 23 kids involved, Fischer noted, “We’ve got three newbies who have never swung a club, we’ve got another five or seven who have gone to the driving range with their dad two or three times a year, and then we’ve got a handful of kids that have played two or three times. We’ve got a wide variance so when we break them up into groups, we encourage them to be positive, help one another.”
“One of the things we realized when we first started talking about this was we recognized some of our athletes were leaving here to go to an academy in the city (Edmonton) and we realized there were enough in this area that we could probably do our own (such academy),” said Fischer and with the support of the Parkland School Division, the idea was launched. And it’s successful by the looks of how this golf program has taken off.
Many of the students involved have only had a brief interaction with the game of golf, if at all. Yet, given proper instruction by former CPGA professional Ryan Latta, they are eating up the advice offered in a game that by its nature is difficult. Yet, that wasn’t stopping the smiles and the laughter in each of the five bays the kids used to hone, or learn, swing skills.
While Golf Is One Of The Only Sports Where You Hit A Stationary Ball, On Park Golf Instructor Ryan Latta Works On A Drill With One Of The Students, Focused On Tempo By Hitting A Ball Rolled Toward Them.
About having a school class descend on the business, Latta said he’s delighted to work with the kids and teach them good habits that will hopefully last them a lifetime. As such, the five stations at the indoor venue include chipping, short irons, hybrids and/or fairway woods, and of course, the driver. At this point, because of the difficulty with putting into a screen, the kids don’t touch on that part of the game electronically although there is a small putting surface available at the venue. Why this setting is so valuable to the young players is the fact there is a definite plan in place for them to learn.
“At Kokanee Springs (where he was a member of the PGA of BC) a lot of times parents would bring their kids out with no plan for them. They were going to focus on lessons for themselves,” while the kids just whaled away with no goals in mind, Latta explained. “One of the aspects here is we have the ability to teach them more of the game than just on a driving range. We have the ability to teach them the short game, accuracy with irons. The kids are enthusiastic. They want to learn.”
An interesting part of this process is that while golf is definitely a one-person sport, at On Par Golf because of the proximity of the bays teamwork becomes a larger part of the plan than one would see outdoors. “The difficulty is to get everybody involved so we work together as a team to encourage each other. We promoted that right from the get-go. It’s going to help push us through, help them learn better and become better players because of it,” explained Latta.
Pryce Myshak and Tanner Rushfeldt both said they truly enjoy these ‘classroom’ sessions at On Par Golf and the skills they’re picking up in the game. But, not only does this help them improve things on the course but elsewhere as well. In separate interviews both said they find these sessions help relieve stress and lets them better focus on schoolwork. While both had some experience in the game previously, this to them was a huge step in becoming more interested in playing.
“It’s really good,” Myshak said about skill improvement. “I’ve been hitting farther than I normally have been. As to his schoolwork, he noted, “I have been getting higher marks. I play in the afternoon and I’m more relaxed,” when buckling down to studies.
As for Rushfeldt, he has “played a fair bit,” as his parents have a place at a golf resort west of Spruce Grove. Of teeing it up inside, he said, “It is a different game, for sure (than outside) but it has helped me improve a lot on my swing, getting it closer to the pin and trying to hit farther.”
One of the best things these kids learn, and this is great news for anyone who has ever been stuck behind, or playing with a person who takes forever to launch a shot during a round is that there’s no need to stand over a shot for a lengthy period. Here, basics have been put in place to ensure quicker play.
“A lot of players when we first started would take three minutes to hit the ball, as we all do from time to time,” laughed Latta. “But I showed them once the foundations of your swing is there it defines a tempo so it shouldn’t take three minutes standing over a ball.”
Asked about the importance of learning the proper techniques of golf early, Latta emphasized it is a huge step forward to success in the game, no matter how often one decides to play.
“There are basic fundamentals kids have to learn starting the game. Instruction is important because it all comes from the same place. It all comes from the foundation of golf. The proper grip is one of the first things. You start on the right path and don’t be working from behind because they’ve already developed bad habits,” from improper advice. “The beautiful thing about the academy is there are no bad habits (coming in). It’s a blank slate. This starts them off the right way so they don’t have to backtrack and are always improving.”
As to the success of the program, it appears to be growing within the community. “I’ve had five or six families reach out and tell me their son loves this and then five or six friends of those families say, ‘We’re coming next year,’ So, it’s been very positive,” said Fischer and thus far those results are showing up on the simulators and the classroom with the great outdoors next on the schedule. In fact, it’s expected the program next year will include students up to Grade 12 in the 2022-23 school year.