Junior self caddie - teaching them to do it on their own

[Medson]

This is actually good advise. Is there an optimal time to talk about it?

[heavy_hitter]

When they want to.

[J_carp]

My 11 year old nephew recently started playing about 2 years ago and almost everyone out there has a parent looping for them.

I try and make it a point to not offer advice to him unless he asks for it. Like others have implied, the more he can figure out on his own, the more he’ll appreciate the game going forward.

[hangontight]

Son is 9. His main issue is sticking to the routine - frankly a lot of the time it’s pure laziness. If he knows I am watching from afar he will step behind the putt and give a quick half - A squat to “read the putt”. And with yardages, especially inside 80 yards or so there are not many yardage markers, so he will skip the whole rangefinder deal and “eyeball” it.

Started cutting the cord end of 7 year old year, don’t think I read one putt last year. Became more enjoyable for us both once he embraced that I was there to carry & support - he started owning his game more , the good and the bad.

[tobaccoroad]

How I caddy:

In tournaments, just push the cart and talk to him about video games, football etc. Have him get his own yardages and decide on a club himself. If he asks for help on reading a putt, do it.

They learn to "caddy" for themselves in practice, not necessarily as much in tournaments. The more they make their own decisions in practice, the easier and more routine they do it in tournaments. This is for any sport. If you play, play WITH him as a playing partner. If you don't play, drive the cart and spend the time with him.

Time with your kid is SO SHORT. I absolutely love any amount of time I can spend with my boy. Pushing a bag around is something I will personally absolutely miss when the time is completely over. But I don't do much more than that at this point. It has been this way since for years. This idea that you have to get your kid to do everything for themselves to avoid being "that parent" is false. Not every parent that caddies tees up the ball for their kid or talks to them non stop about what to do. There is a balance.

Finally, if he wants to do it himself, let him fly. It will be sad for you but when he is ready, he is ready.

[tiger1873]

I live in a pretty populated area and a larger city. From your comments it sounds like you live in small town. You just don’t wonder around here for no reason. Generally speaking golf courses do not want liability of kids hanging around so they don’t allow young kids to be dropped off unsupervised. Some courses have supervised practice but we are not talking about that.

[BloctonGolf11]

"Maybe better parenting and it would be sane. Just saying."

Pretty sure that is an attack. Is what it is. I am just not sending my kid out for 2 hours with a bunch of adults I don't know in the area. To many wrong things can happen. Just not responsible in my opinion in this day and age, or any day and age, on golf courses particularly where a ton of the adults out there are drinking.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

I live just outside of Washington DC. Pretty sure its not that small of a town.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

IMHO I think that one of the down falls of Hyper 24/7 news. There is always something bad going to happen. Never had a problem dropping my kids off to play golf and encouraged them to play with other adults.

One time he played with the play by play announcer for the Washington Capitals. But I get it different strokes for different folks.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

My wife and I have had more fights about this than money and anything combine. The post game analysis. She is ready to rip heads 5 minutes afterwards. I'm like if they want to talk they will talk about it later.

If You're so pissy then play adult softball or something.

[tiger1873]

have you ever had the privileged to go on police patrol with an officer. Even the safest part of towns have crime. Suggest you look up Sex offenders in any given area it is shocking to say the least at the number there are.

I have girls so I am more concerned then I would be boys at any age. With boys in controlled environment you are going to be ok. With girls I have no problem in a busy area that is safe but not good for them to be alone on the course or anywhere by themselves in a lot cases.

[leezer99]

Can we all knock off the parenting tips from here please? I mean, next you're going to tell me my kids shouldn't be working in a coal mine after being home schooled with their cell phone and no vaccinations.

[wildcatden]

 

[Medson]

This is my attempt to get the conversation back on topic.

I'm always eager to talk about her round (or even just her lessons) immediately after. However, I noticed my daughter is less eager to talk. I think I need to make a mental notes to ask her again at a later time otherwise both my daughter and I will forget.

[BloctonGolf11]

If he doesn't put his hours in at the coal mine how will he ever understand the meaning of hard work. C'mon man!

[BloctonGolf11]

Back on track...I am bad about wanting to talk to him right after rounds. I have learned to shut up. If we do talk I get him to focus on what he did right. We will deal with the issues later.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

I learned with my oldest to read his face. If he came off the basketball court talkative then we talked, if not eventually learned to make some notes about the game.

The better half would just rip him a new one no matter what.

Hindsight 20/20 I was 100% harder on him than my other two kids. Trust me he hasnt let me forget it either.

[AUSweeper]

I just ask mine “what did you do best today” and “what did you do worst”. He will give his take, then nothing more is said.

[heavy_hitter]

I agree with this. Looking back, I really enjoyed carrying the bag, raking bunkers, filling divots, and YELLING (just kidding) at my kid. Those memories will last a lifetime.

[heavy_hitter]

The biggest issue with kids today is that they think Coaching/Critiquing is YELLING at them. If they shoot a 68 for 18 what did you learn? They should learn how they controlled their emotions, thoughts, and breathing. They should learn what they were eating and drinking. As far as golf goes, they probably didn't learn much. If they shoot an 80, they should learn a lot. You learn in sports by fixing the mistakes and to fix the mistakes you have to pick apart what was done wrong. Kids today think you are picking on them, but it is a process they need to understand to learn how to get better.

[tobaccoroad]

I coach tennis and have been fortunate enough to have had some great players. Some that came to me after they were great, others that I started from the very beginning.

One policy I have at tournaments (and there were times I would have 30+ kids at a tournament) is that I will not talk about a match until at least 30 minutes after. If the kid wants to talk earlier than that, they always can. But every player I work with knows this is how it is. There are so many emotions right after a match (or round) and most kids do not know how to handle immediate disappointment in a way that is productive. Unless the kid is ready to talk, ANYTHING that is said will be received negatively and that is no help. 30 minutes is the magic number for most. They will have gotten to the point where they can actually listen to what is being said and not resent whatever it is immediately.

[kekoa]

My son played his first no caddie event yesterday (for this year) and man was it great. Great for me, but primarily for my son. He looked to be having a great time out there doing things on his own. He would still look over at me after a missed putt though. lol I strongly urge you guys out there who haven't done these events to try them. Really no reason to do US kids stuff anymore with exception of the larger two day events.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I actually think US Kids Locals are ideal environments to go solo. No caddie required, less stress and nothing really at stake.

Also, due to shorter setups, course management comes into play more than on a "standard length" course.

[leezer99]

He played exceptionally well. Next stop TTC!

[tiger1873]

With us kids locals almost all the kids have caddies at least all the events I have done have had this. I assume when you say solo you just tag along and try and not give much advice?

That is what I do with my youngest. Lots of parents have a hard time understanding why you would do this because it not helping them win today. Your not going to win at worlds doing this though. The thing is long term it is great and really helps them. The only thing is my youngest sometimes gets mad that I don’t help out much. So doing tournaments with no caddies allowed is much better if they can handle it.

[JuniorGolfParent]

Caddies are optional for US Kids events age 9 and older.

[tiger1873]

I know they are optional but I would never let my kid especially one that is 9 have to stand up to other parents. With caddie events you need to tag along because Some parents enjoy being a caddie a little too much.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I have left my oldest to fend for himself many times in US Kids events when I had to caddie for my younger child, for whom a caddie was required.

Before he was 9 he also played in our PGA section's junior tournaments, which don't allow any caddies or spectators at all (only a single chaperone per group is permitted).

Kids learn pretty quickly in that environment.

[darter79]

Walk with them, keep everyone score you don't necessary have to just drop off and leave. My daughter who is 9 will be doing some solo events in USKG pretty soon. I will walk and watch, but that's about it. But I also know all the people she plays with pretty well so I don't have the concerns of cheating or anything to that nature.

[heavy_hitter]

My kid is coming off a hand injury and was out for 4 weeks. Through him into a US Kids Local to see where he was at and rub off the rust before playing a big event next week. We were in the last group out. Our group and the group in front of us had NO CADDIES. Just parents on the sidelines watching. Have never seen that in a US Kids.

 

BTW... The richest caddie in the world was there on Saturday. Pretty cool that Tiger shows up to these dumpy courses and spends the day with his kid. I was never a huge Tiger fan because I wasn't into golf 15 years ago. I do think it is admirable that he plays in Riviera last week and shows up at a goat track this week just for his child.