Lanford coaches the Florida State men's golf team, and is a longtime coach of junior golf in Georgia and Florida. But if you put 14 clubs and some balls in a bag, it's going to be too heavy for a kid to carry. The next step, pros say, is to enroll children in clinics. Almost all golf course offer such clinics at nominal prices, generally during the summer. Such clinics introduce children to the rules and etiquette of golf, as well as the basics of swinging a club properly.
Lessons are fine.
When they're with kids their age, they learn to encourage each other. You can show them a few things. But their minds are not really mature enough to grasp a lot of teaching. In most cases, say the pros, the best age for children to start lessons is between 8 and 10 years old. Mainly, Lanford says, teaching should be kept to a minimum.