Norman Puckett Junior clinic pro uses color coding to teach

Published 7:01 pm Friday, May 28, 2021

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Duncan Park Golf Course will host the Norman Puckett Junior Clinic every Monday from June 13th through July 5th for $50. Those interested in joining the clinic can sign up at the Duncan Park Golf Course Club House.

Every year there is a guest pro who works with the kids, and this year Khater M. Salomon will teach the juniors, Duncan Park Golf Director Greg Brooking said.

“This is going to be monumental. It is going to be earth-shattering for these juniors,” Duncan Park Golf director Greg Brooking said. “I’m really excited to have him here. It is going to be new for the kids. Every two to three years we get a new coach. I’m really excited to have him here.”

Email newsletter signup

Kids 6 to 10-year-olds start at 9 a.m., and kids 11 to eighteen-year-olds start at 11 a.m. Salomon will drive up from New Orleans to teach kids every Monday morning.

Salomon uses a method called turn2blue. This method utilizes color-coding of blue and green on a golf club and paddles shaped like a tennis racket and a baseball bat to teach kids the proper swing technique. This color-coding is simple. The green side faces the grass, and the blue side faces the sky.

This method is helpful because it creates a connection between the mind and action, Salomon said. He first developed the system at Tulane University and wrote a booklet called “The graduated teaching method FORe Golf”.

“All they are doing is matching colors,” Salomon said. “There is no mistake in the application of movement, therefore, they create more enjoyment and self-efficacy. The successes they experience right off of the bat works to benefit them and the teachers.”

Kids start off using a high tee and work their way down to a golf lie. The progression creates the proper orientation and joint action movement, he said. Turn2blue is self-correcting because if a kid made a mistake, they can realize they failed to turn their club, bat, or tennis racket to blue.

Salomon said in addition to painted golf clubs for right-handed players, he will have clubs for left-handed kids.

Brooking said there would be a tournament at the end of the Norman Puckett Junior Clinic to reward the kids for taking part in the clinic. Volunteers are needed, so those interested or wanting to learn about golf are welcome. There will be volunteer training on June 12 at 4 p.m. at the driving range in Duncan Park.