Golf Short Game Practice Plan for 9 and 10 Year Olds
At 9 and 10, the chip becomes a calibrated tool: clock SIZES (the brushing stroke sized small-medium-big, tempo never changing, exactly like putting) and LANDING-SPOT discipline: every chip preceded by a called spot, because chips aimed at holes get greedy and chips aimed at landing spots get close. The first up-and-down games arrive, pairing the chip with its putting sibling.
This session runs about 45 minutes with a lofted club, balls, towels, and a putter for the pairing games. The professional secret shared out loud: great chippers are not doing anything fancy: they are landing balls on chosen spots with rehearsed swing sizes, over and over, while everyone else aims vaguely at flags. Choosing the spot IS the skill.
This plan was written for every 9 and 10 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
Why land on a spot instead of aiming at the hole?
Because chips spend most of their life rolling: the flight is short and controllable, the roll is long and predictable. Landing spots put the controllable part in charge. It is the single professional habit most separating good junior short games from hopeful ones, and it installs perfectly at 9.
How many rehearsal swings should a chip get?
Exactly one, feeling the called size while looking at the landing spot: zero rehearsals breeds guessing, three breeds paralysis. The one-rehearsal habit installed now becomes the calm pre-shot rhythm every pressure chip will lean on later.
When should pitching (the bigger swing) be introduced?
At 11 and 12, once the chip's sizes are owned: the pitch is a different engine (wrists and body join) for a different job (more air, less roll), and learning it too early usually breaks the chip's quiet hands. The chip is the foundation; the pitch is its ambitious sibling.