Help! My junior golfer's scores are exploding!

[TXHusker]

This next few weeks will be interesting around our house.  He clearly isn't on varsity right now and might not be again this fall.  That means he will not be playing in several upcoming tournaments.

One thing we have struggled with in regard to his golf performance is the lack of ownership on his part.  He likes to pull the victim card:

"I got robbed"

"I got bad bounces"

"So-and-so shouldn't be shooting better than me"

"I need a mental coach"

These are all crutches, and assign the blame to someone else.

A lot of this is simply lack of maturity (he's not quite 15), but what we are really reiterating is that, in life or golf, you have to own your stuff.  You don't shoot your number, you're not on varsity.  It doesn't really matter how many bad bounces you got, or what someone else is shooting.

For him, varsity will require qualifying scores of 40 or below - period.  If he's above that, he's likely playing JV.  And to shoot 40 and below, he has to take care of the shots around the green - no 3-putts, careless chips and pitches, etc.

So right now, it's about ownership and taking care of the little things.

[14ledo81]

This next few weeks will be interesting around our house.  He clearly isn't on varsity right now and might not be again this fall.  That means he will not be playing in several upcoming tournaments.

One thing we have struggled with in regard to his golf performance is the lack of ownership on his part.  He likes to pull the victim card:

"I got robbed"

"I got bad bounces"

"So-and-so shouldn't be shooting better than me"

"I need a mental coach"

These are all crutches, and assign the blame to someone else.

A lot of this is simply lack of maturity (he's not quite 15), but what we are really reiterating is that, in life or golf, you have to own your stuff.  You don't shoot your number, you're not on varsity.  It doesn't really matter how many bad bounces you got, or what someone else is shooting.

For him, varsity will require qualifying scores of 40 or below - period.  If he's above that, he's likely playing JV.  And to shoot 40 and below, he has to take care of the shots around the green - no 3-putts, careless chips and pitches, etc.

So right now, it's about ownership and taking care of the little things.

I applaud you for this line of thinking.

[Pretzel]

One big thing for me in high school tournaments, as someone who had been in that position before, is to think of the remaining hills as birdie opportunities rather than a challenge to overcome. At 7400 yards it can be difficult if you only drive it 210, but on the shorter courses he can compete with everyone. One bad tournament does not define your season, but how you bounce back does.