Motor Development Program Project: Teaching Beginning Developmental Golf to Elementary Age Students

Part I:  General Description and Introduction

The purpose of this program is to teach developmental golf skills to elementary age students, typically aimed at grades 3-5, and ages 7-10.  This program will include boys and girls.  The following skills are targeted in this developmental program:  grip, body alignment, body position, the swing, and the putt.  All of these skills are necessary to begin a training program in the game of golf.  While these are not complete elements, as golf is a complicated emotional and physical game, this program will give this age group the appropriate skills necessary to begin the game of golf.  This program is designed to give these basic components upon which all other skills necessary in the game of golf are founded.  Without these necessary elements, one cannot teach nor learn the game.  This program is designed to be taught in a total of six (6) separate lessons.  The final lesson will take place at a miniature golf course that allows the student to fully apply their fundamental knowledge in a fun and interactive setting.

This program will charge $50 per hour, per child, with group discounts of 10% for 5 or more students.  Individualized lesson plans based on the skill of the child involved and the desire of the parents for the child to learn can be discussed at the conclusion of this course.  As with all people, there are different inherent skill levels of students, with some exhibiting fairly advanced eye-hand coordination, and some needing to build on the necessary audio/visual/motor cortex connections.  At the age group involved, there is also the emotional maturity level that needs to be taken into account, with some students able and willing to take the initiative.  Confidence levels will vary with inherent skill levels.

For some taking beginning developmental golf lessons, the impetus is to engage in a career sports-track for professional, high-level playing.  For others, it is for socialization, broadening the mind, and enhancing physical skills and emotional skills of both athleticism and mental control.  Depending upon the setting, individual lessons or group lessons, one will be able to gather what the goals of the parents are when it comes to enrolling their child in the program.  At this age group involved for this program, individual lessons will foster a more focused approach to the elements presented, while in a group lesson setting, there may be factors related to engaging in common tasks that are not team-related, such as competitiveness among individuals, embarrassment in front of peers, or even more social and less program focused behaviors (silliness, inattentiveness).  The involvement or watchfulness of parents during the lessons may contribute to shy feelings or even lead to overcompensation issues on the part of the students.  It may be wise of the instructor to segregate parents to an area where they are out of the line of sight of the student(s), in order for the instructor and student(s) to bond and correctly gauge each others involvement.

Part II:  Task Analysis:

This section is geared for the instructor administering the beginning developmental golf program.  It is assumed that there is some measure of basic skill in the game of golf on the part of the instructor, so that at the least, the instructor understands the mental focus issues relating to the complex motor and attention issues in the game of golf.