UberPete
Golfin' in the Hammer
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2020
- Messages
- 721
- Reaction score
- 709
- Location
- The Hammer, Ontario, Canada
- Handicap
- no skill?
My teenaged son is athletic and competitive in a variety of sports. While this gives him drive to improve, it is also a big source of frustration for him as he learn golf and struggles with inconsistencies or problems he can't readily fix.
I remind him of PGA players that have bad holes (Tiger's 10 on a par 3 in a Master's I think?) and suggest that he set small goals (one good drive, one good approach, one good putt over the nine holes, for example.) If he gets that one good drive, then the 9 was a success, and next time he can set the goal at 2. The goals increase but remain achievable relative to his level of play.
Basically, make the focus the few really good shots, instead of the numerous imperfect ones.
I encourage him not to look at hole par or keep score when he is struggling. Instead, focus on keeping the ball on the fairway. If you drive out if bounds, a success on the next shot is an easy chip onto the fairway, rather than trying to blast it to the green.
Last, I make a rule that if he wants to talk about what happened on a hole, he MUST start by saying something positive, eg " I had a decent drive/chip/finish but..." I find that helps not to spread the negative stress to me and others and I think it stops him from a negative spiral.
I remind him of PGA players that have bad holes (Tiger's 10 on a par 3 in a Master's I think?) and suggest that he set small goals (one good drive, one good approach, one good putt over the nine holes, for example.) If he gets that one good drive, then the 9 was a success, and next time he can set the goal at 2. The goals increase but remain achievable relative to his level of play.
Basically, make the focus the few really good shots, instead of the numerous imperfect ones.
I encourage him not to look at hole par or keep score when he is struggling. Instead, focus on keeping the ball on the fairway. If you drive out if bounds, a success on the next shot is an easy chip onto the fairway, rather than trying to blast it to the green.
Last, I make a rule that if he wants to talk about what happened on a hole, he MUST start by saying something positive, eg " I had a decent drive/chip/finish but..." I find that helps not to spread the negative stress to me and others and I think it stops him from a negative spiral.