Playing DG With Your Kids

[jhgonzo]

I've got two kids (a third on the way!), ages 9 and 10, and I started bringing them out discing with me when they were about 4-5 years old, when I knew they could traverse the approximate mile or so to play 18 holes on a typical course. My daughter (the older one) lost interest pretty quickly, but she gets really easily frustrated and turned off when she can't accomplish something immediately. My son, on the other hand, is becoming a pretty avid and accomplished DGer (he'll probably be outdriving and outputting his old man by the time he's 12 or so!) and enjoys our Sunday drives where we'll ususally stop and play a course other than our home course.

My experience, both with my kids and friends' kids, is that younger children don't get bored as quickly with a heavily wooded course. I don't know if it's the excitement of walking through the woods as opposed to walking in relatively open fields where they can get bored easily with less to take in nature-wise...and this specifically applies to the kids walking with you that aren't actively playing, and thus requiring more stimulation to prevent getting bored. It can be frustrating when you're not even halfway through your round and a kid starts whining about how they want to leave or go do something else, but the instances of this seems to drastically reduce with scenic, wooded courses. Even my daughter, who won't even pick up a disc anymore, enjoys walking through the trails, looking at wildlife, checking out the various plants and trees, so when she's with us we try to accommodate her as much as possible and play a course that will be interesting to her as well.

What's your experience with bringing non-disc-golfing kids (or kids too young to really play) out to a course? Do you spend more time keeping them occupied than focusing on your game? Have you noticed a difference in their receptiveness to an open course versus a wooded course?

 

[Looneytick]

I taught my son a couple of years ago the art of disc golf. He's 26 years old and generally kicks my butt. I'm 57 and we have to figure an old fart handicap!!!

 

[mashnut]

I've done the opposite, I got my dad and my girlfriend's dad both into disc golf, and now both play reasonably regularly and have bags full of discs now. I love playing with my dad, so those of you who are dads, take your kids out, they'll love it and make great memories of spending time outside with you.

 

[swellerdiscgolf]

I try to take my 5 year old with me when he wants to go. I bought him his very own Leopard-Lion disc and sharpied his name in big letters underneath. He still gets bored playing, but I do bring the stroller along so he can ride. Luckily our courses here are relatively flat. There was a pretty good article in the most recent "Flying Disc Magazine" about taking kids to the course.

 

[billnchristy]

Our daughter will let us play all day if a course is wooded and has creeks. If it is wide open she is good for about 10 holes and then starts asking when we can hit the playground.

 

[bazillion]

I played some rounds with my daughter and two of her friends (they were all about 12 at the time) but then they discovered cell phones and that was the end of that.

Until my birthday earlier this year, when out of the blue my daugher, now 20, calls me up and invites me to go shoot a round with her.

Only thing I can say is,

 

[Miller]

My son is 4 and my daughter is 2 and I started playing a little over 3 years ago. My wife and I both love to play so they have come with us almost every time we go. They each have their own disc, we use a double-stroller, and bring plenty of snacks. We also try and make a point to play on the playground if we can.

 

[ChrisMacG]

I regularly take my 9 year-old son with me to play. He's usually good for about six holes before he stops throwing and looks for other things to occupy his thoughts. He likes to pick out white discs and then color them. His facorite is the Wasp and the Destroyer, because he likes to color them.

I wish he would be more serious about throwing, but at least I can get him away from his video games once or twice a week. One thing that my son does love is to search for lost discs. He gets a $1 bounty for any lost disc he finds and will often charge into dense brush in search of discs. When we play with groups he offers to bound into water hazards to fetch discs for a buck each too.

 

[Pigme]

MY brother is only 11 and he loves going out to play disc golf, it's actually one of the few things that I can do with him that has an exercise element to it (damn video games). Over the past several times we've played I've developed the following rules that help with keeping my sanity and his fun:

1. Take snacks/drinks. It seems best to have snacks along so we can take a break between holes for a little snack break. That way he has fun, and i don't listen to him complaining.

2. Child friendly discs. Watching a kid throw your disc strait into a water hazard or tree makes me cringe/get agitated. Plus kids do better with lighter discs. I make sure my brother has his 150-class discs with him when we go out so he's not using mine.

3. Bathroom Break. Make sure you go to the bathroom right before starting the course if there is no facilities before the end of the course. Seems dumb to put here... but don't doubt it's importance.

4. Course Quality. I agree that wooded courses seem to be better than more open ones where kids don't have as many distractions to keep their attention going.


Well those are just the ones I try to go by. If I think of anything else I'll try and add it.

 

[Guurn]

My son is 14 now and he has played with me ever since he could walk. When he was 3-8 years old every now and then he chose to play on the playground instead of with me, his mom watched him. From 9-12 he played most of most rounds. From 13 til now he rarely plays with me but when he does his muscle memory proves much better than mine. He drives great even with few throws in a year.

I guess what I am saying is make sure they have fun doing whatever while you play your round. I did things like tell him took for snakes or taught him to practice rollers. Another really good idea is to bring a few of thier friends along, they will want to show off skills. From that time forward they will have the basic skills ready to go when they do play.

 

[hooboy]

I'm 50 years old, and I too get bored on open courses. Wooded courses are simply more interesting, challenging, and generally cooler (both literally and figuratively). I don't think that one is age specific.

 

[SomeChump]

5, 2, and newborn. I've played before with 1 of them, 2 of them and all 3 of them. The 5 year old can walk 18, the 2 year old only 9. So if I bring the double stroller and can stand the whining from the 5 year old I can get 18 out of them.

Bringing friends helps, snacks are key, the pacifier for the 2 year old is key, and the boob for the newborn is key. I bought the 5 year old her own disc, that seems to help. We almost always stop at the playground, sometimes after only 9 while I play the last 9 myself.

Despite all this, my 5 year old is hoping we move somewhere without any disc golf courses.... But she does really love her new 100g polecat.

 

[jhgonzo]

I've noticed that impatient or bored kids will happily accept instructions to "go wait at the next tee." I think it makes them feel like leaders in a way, they get to be "first" at the next destination, and they get a chance to occupy themselves sans grown-ups for a few minutes.

I frequently use this method at our home course if my kid(s) get bored, but usually I'll let them jump ahead a few holes when I'm on #8, 'cause there's a nice creek at hole #11 they like to watch and throw sticks and stones into and jump over. Small bodies of water work wonders on children, and for some reason I've never really outgrown my fascination with them, either!

 

[magictenor1]

I'm trying to get my 10 year old interested but with very limited success so far.

 

[ShaZaun]

every now and then my kids go the course with me...... my girl (7) and boy (5)..... they both loose interest or get tired of the hills pretty quick so alot of the time I just play a quick 9 with them..... they like to play on my home practice course alot cause when they get bored they can just jump on the trampoline insted of hearing me saying come on one more hole......