Padraig Harrington's 'Advice for Kids'

Mr. Larson

Swiped from his Facebook Page today:

Take away your child's driver and lob wedge...and give them blades!

USE A 2-WOOD, NOT A DRIVER
Most kids under 15 are not physically capable of hitting a driver with enough speed to impart the backspin that gets the ball in the air. So what they do is help it, by moving their weight back, which is detrimental to their swing. What they need is a 2-wood.

THE BENEFIT OF BLADES
You could argue that a kid should use a blade for the long-term benefit to their game, because it teaches you to swing correctly. A blade is good for practising, but if you want consistent scoring then you should be making use of the technology that's there. I do.

PRACTISE WITH A PITCHING WEDGE
Young kids shouldn't carry a lob wedge or a sand wedge. If you want to be a good chipper, you don't want the club to do the job for you, you want to do it yourself. Seve didn't learn to chip with a lob wedge and neither did I. If you want to be good, practise chipping over a bunker with a pitching wedge. You'll learn to be more imaginative. You'll learn to hit it higher and softer, or lower and skiddier. With a pitching wedge over a bunker you can't just punch it in and expect it to stop, you have to be more skilful. But here's the catch. While that would make you a better player, if you wanted to win tomorrow, you should carry a lob wedge because it's easier to play.

Hope this helps,

Padraig.

ShriekingSheet

Astoundingly good advice imo - not always the case with those "tips from the pros" type things.

I learned to play with blades, not by any great strategy, just because they were being chucked away by a relative. Think I got my first lob wedge when I played off 9 too, but again, only because I didn't know they existed prior to that.

DonkeyPokerTour

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

Astoundingly good advice imo - not always the case with those "tips from the pros" type things.

I learned to play with blades, not by any great strategy, just because they were being chucked away by a relative. Think I got my first lob wedge when I played off 9 too, but again, only because I didn't know they existed prior to that.

I agree and disagree.

Its great advise in terms of he's 100% right, however there is a possibility of putting kids off. If the game is "too hard" then Kids may get frustrtated and not want to keep playing which is bad. Although I agree with the No lob wedge, its very difficult to get a driver out of a kids hand. Kinda what you need is to get a 2/3wood with driver written on it, they wont know the difference but will feel like there "hitting a driver" which for street cred is very important.

Tom Ghostwood

Playing with blades wouldnt put a kid off. They arent that hard to hit.

ShriekingSheet

DonkeyPokerTour wrote: »

I agree and disagree.

Its great advise in terms of he's 100% right, however there is a possibility of putting kids off. If the game is "too hard" then Kids may get frustrtated and not want to keep playing which is bad. Although I agree with the No lob wedge, its very difficult to get a driver out of a kids hand. Kinda what you need is to get a 2/3wood with driver written on it, they wont know the difference but will feel like there "hitting a driver" which for street cred is very important.

Well yeah, a 12 degree driver = a 2 wood really. Slightly shorter shaft and you're laughing.

On the blades being too hard to hit and frustrating kids. You'd be amazed at how much our perspective is tainted by being used to hitting game improvement clubs. As I said, I started with blades and it was really no big deal when you don't know any different.

The "frustration" you're talking about might more accurately come from a situation where someone had chunky irons taken off them, and were then handed blades - that'd be a big deal. But to a learner, it isn't so much.

Webbs

Couldnt agree more with his advice, I learnt with a half set of blades and a couple of proper 'woods' a 2 and a 3 wood if memory serves right, I dug one out the other day and the heads were tiny on them.

I think learning on those clubs has made me a better player - I took about 15years off the game and when I came back recently I still had the basics of ball striking and a feel for the short game with the intervening improvement in irons I can now see my game really picking up.

DonkeyPokerTour

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

Well yeah, a 12 degree driver = a 2 wood really. Slightly shorter shaft and you're laughing.

Agree 100%, for kids "hitting a driver" is very important. A bit of tape over the number 2 and a D written on it might even work.

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

On the blades being too hard to hit and frustrating kids. You'd be amazed at how much our perspective is tainted by being used to hitting game improvement clubs. As I said, I started with blades and it was really no big deal when you don't know any different.

The "frustration" you're talking about might more accurately come from a situation where someone had chunky irons taken off them, and were then handed blades - that'd be a big deal. But to a learner, it isn't so much.

Personally I have never hit blades, so I'm just assuming there "too hard" to hit. Your probably right to say if you dont know any different the hitting blades and hitting cavitys is probably no different. I'd also probably go one step further and give them a half set of clubs, get them to learn how to take a little off a club to get it to go shorter etc.

Anyway who am I to disagree with PH, he has three Majors and I'm a 15handicapper who's be 16 again come easter monday if something amazing doesn't happen.