How do I get a child started in golf?

My lessons are all game based so that means setting challenges and tasks without too much technical instruction. I will add some input with the swing or the grip but it will be very basic, for example I will talk about a hot dog grip rather than anything too traditional. If they are chipping a ball into a bucket as a basic game then I'll tell them to brush the grass to help get the ball in the air but that's as far as I'll go. Also, they've only got seven minutes to do it, as that’s when their attention span will drift, and then we’ll do something else. If you give them a task you should find that they will be more enthusiastic about completing it.

If you go to the range get the smallest bucket of balls and if he/she enjoys it then you can get some more. If you get big bucket then you will might want them to hit them all and they'll have lost interest by the 30th ball, then everyone gets frustrated, the child is told off for not concentrating and things take a downturn.

I remember playing with my son when he was around seven. After four holes he was done, he had done badly on the third hole and he didn’t want to play. So, rather than forcing him to finish the round as I had paid for nine holes, we played one more on the way back to the clubhouse. I do think that I would have run the risk of him never going back had we played on. It has to be a child-centred experience, we did stop but he then came back to it another day.