You're excited about golf. You want your kids to love it too. You've heard that putting is where games are won and lost, so naturally, you're thinking about getting them out on the greens for practice.
After 27 years working with thousands of junior golfers, I can tell you the fastest way to kill a kid's love for putting: make it feel like homework.
What actually works looks completely different.
Start With the End in Mind
Before we talk about drills and practice routines, we need to talk about why you're doing this. If your answer is "because putting is important" or "because they need to practice," stop right there.
Kids don't care about stroke averages or getting up and down percentages. They care about fun, challenge, and feeling successful. When I work with junior golfers, my first goal isn't to build a perfect putting stroke. It's to create positive associations with the putter in their hands.
Would you rather have a kid who putts okay but loves practicing, or one who putts great but groans every time you mention the putting green? The first kid will eventually become a better putter anyway because they'll actually want to practice.
Make It a Game
The putting green is basically a giant board game waiting to happen. Most parents set up a ball three feet from the hole and say, "make ten in a row." That's not practice for a kid. That's torture.
These approaches work much better with juniors:
Around the World: Set up balls at different distances and angles around a hole. Each made putt moves them to the next station. Miss, and they start over. Kids love the progression and the challenge of different looks.
Horse (Like Basketball): You make a putt from somewhere tricky, they have to match it. Then they choose one for you. This works brilliantly because kids get to challenge their parents, and they love beating us at stuff.
Points for Distance: Forget about making everything. Give points based on how close they get. A make is 5 points, inside a foot is 3 points, inside three feet is 1 point. First to 25 wins. This removes the pressure of perfection and rewards good speed control.
Keep Sessions Shorter Than You Think
Fifteen minutes. That's about the maximum effective putting practice time for most kids under 12. After that, you're fighting diminishing returns and building negative associations.
I've watched parents keep kids on the putting green for 45 minutes, wondering why their child is melting down. The kid isn't being difficult. They're being a kid. Their attention span is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
Three 15-minute sessions per week will do more for your junior golfer than one 45-minute slog.
Let Them Own Something
Kids need autonomy. They need to feel like this is their thing, not just something you're making them do.
Give them choices. "Do you want to practice lag putting or short putts today?" "Should we play a game or just putt around?" "Which hole looks most interesting to you?"
Better yet, let them create a game. Some of the best putting practice I've seen with juniors came from games they invented themselves. Sure, the rules might be weird and the scoring might not make sense to you, but if they're engaged and hitting putts, you're winning.
Focus on Feel, Not Mechanics
Unless your kid is asking about technique, save the instruction for later. Young golfers learn through experimentation and play, not through positions and angles.
Let them figure out that hitting the ball harder makes it go farther. Let them discover that the ball breaks toward the slope. Let them experiment with different length backswings.
Your job isn't to be their swing coach during practice. It's to be their playing partner, their encourager, and occasionally their competitor.
What Actually Makes the Difference
The biggest factor in getting kids excited about putting practice? You being excited about it.
If you're on your phone while they practice, they'll notice. If you're genuinely interested in the game they invented, they'll feed off that energy. If you celebrate their good putts like they just won the Masters, they'll want to experience that feeling again.
I've seen kids with perfect fundamentals quit golf, and kids with funky strokes play for decades. The difference usually isn't talent. It's whether they associated the game with joy or obligation.
So yes, get your kids putting. But remember: you're not building a putting stroke right now. You're building a relationship with the game. Do that right, and the stroke will come.
Now get out there and let them beat you at Horse.
