Transition to playing without a caddie

[phillyspecial]

My son starting to play non-USKG tournament rounds with no caddie (9y) ...and his scores outright and vs the fields are a lot worse.  Lot seems to come down to his decisions (Im not there watching) but curious if others saw a major adjustment period?  

[tiger1873]

For sure it's a major adjustment. Take a deep breath and start keeping track of what they did wrong.   The thing is after every tournament focus on 1 thing and make sure they do not do it again. It's a long process.

 

Just remember it's okay for them to do mistakes if they learn from it.  The kids winning are told exactly how to play but are not learning the hard lessons.

[Abh159]

I think the adjustment period will vary depending on how involved you (or whoever was caddying) were as a caddy. If the caddy was telling him what club to hit on every shot, where to aim on every putt, and etc. then the adjustment period will be lengthy. However, if the caddy was mainly there to just carry the bag then the adjustment should be minimal.

 

If his recent poor play was due to bad decisions like you said (hitting a driver off the tee that went into the water when a 3 wood would have stopped short of the water for example), then that is something that could easily be avoided by having a "game plan" before the tournament. 

 

Get him involved and come up with a plan together before the round. "Remember you can't hit driver off this tee. If you are in the trees just get it back into the fairway instead of going for the hero shot. Make sure you don't hit it long on this green because there is OB behind it."

 

That sort of planning will help you remain involved and will also be good for his learning/development. Just don't be that parent that doesn't let his kid think for himself. It's not good for you, and it's not good for him.

[phillyspecial]

Thanks.  These tournaments are low priority and we have not been doing any game planning, so I can change that.  

 

He's also an extremely fast/impatient player (this is good and bad) who is also quite stubborn.  He doesnt take his time with anything .  As these are played on weekdays, Im not there to observe.  Just getting his word and the scores as my feedback.  

[heavy_hitter]

26 minutes ago, phillyspecial said:

Thanks.  These tournaments are low priority and we have not been doing any game planning, so I can change that.  

 

He's also an extremely fast/impatient player (this is good and bad) who is also quite stubborn.  He doesnt take his time with anything .  As these are played on weekdays, Im not there to observe.  Just getting his word and the scores as my feedback.  

 

There is nothing wrong with being fast.  Being impatient is not a good thing.  This is coming from a parent whose son is fast and was impatient, so much so it was embarrassing in early teen years.  Make him go through a routine.  Even a 10 second routine will slow his brain down to a point where he can focus for a 1 second shot.  Check wind, get line, hit shot.  Same for putting.  Make him line up the ball and go through a routine walking both sides of the cup.  

 

ABH hit the nail on the head.  Kids who were pampered (daddy reads green, tees up the ball, picks the club, etc.) usually struggle the most.  A lot of these kids fade away when they get older because they can't do it on their own.  My son was 9 and we just teed off on hole 9.  We are walking down the fairway and he says, "Dad. Why don't you ever help me read the greens or tee up the ball?".  I said "Son, everyone has to learn how to wipe their Word not allowed at some point." 

[tiger1873]

2 hours ago, heavy_hitter said:

 

Kids who were pampered (daddy reads green, tees up the ball, picks the club, etc.) usually struggle the most.

More people need to let this sink in with kids at younger ages.
 

You would be surprised at how many kids never make the jump beyond the caddie years.

 

Letting the kid do it all can save a lot money because if they refuse to do things for themselves it means they do not like it. 
 

Better to find out at young age if they like golf instead of after you spent a small fortune traveling with them.

 

 

 

[leezer99]

Some kids are still attached at the umbilical cord.

[kekoa]

We are basically past the caddying days and the golf relationship between my son and I has improved because of it.  I don't get pissed anymore after a bad shot and he can't blame me for pulling the wrong club or a bad read on the green.  Win/Win.   With that being said, I do miss caddying though.

[RmoorePE]

Caddying in the USKG is fun for me and I think it saves my daughter a stroke or two here and there. Her issues typically are just alignment (tee boxes that point in weird directions are her nemesis, lol) and some decisions. Also, if she got down or jumpy I could calm her pretty quickly. I never pick a club or gave swing advice. It is just fun to be there with her, and get to give positive feedback. She actually has been placing higher in the no-caddy tournaments against the same players for the most part. Some of those kids were definitely being over caddied (mostly reading greens), which is pretty obvious, just from the look on their faces when things go wrong. 

 

In the -JGA stuff where you can't coach, it is fun to see them work out their issues themselves and also it causes them to communicate better with the other players. In the USKG the caddies end up doing most of the communication. I think a mix at the younger ages is completely appropriate, and a lot of fun. I wouldn't worry about their scoring. Since they are going to "graduate" from having caddies I would not recommend reading greens for them.

[phillyspecial]

I don't read his greens in USKG.  I ask him what he thinks and go with it unless he is way off or he asks what I think.  He can read a green. 

 

The uncaddied rounds he is scoring poorly on have been on awkward Exec course setups where the yardage isnt intimating but the par on the card isnt relevant, and seems like a lot of general oddities that come from playing par 3s at too long a yardage (ie driver seems obvious but is prob dumb with more hazards in play than a normal par 4).  

 

Appreciate the perspectives here, this forum is like Decade for Jr golf.  

[wildcatden]

We just started to transition to playing without caddie as a 10YO this year/season.  The learning process for him has been tough and scores through the roof. Generally, he knows how to read greens so that transition has been fine.  However, course management and learning to play different shots into and around the green have been a struggle.   The other struggle is keeping their competitive emotions in check as there is no one there to help them "forget the last shot" and focus on the next.

 

We probably should have started this process at age 9, but every kid is different.  Overall, he is adapting so have no fear with your kid that they can make the jump.

[leezer99]

21 hours ago, kekoa said:

We are basically past the caddying days and the golf relationship between my son and I has improved because of it.  I don't get pissed anymore after a bad shot and he can't blame me for pulling the wrong club or a bad read on the green.  Win/Win.   With that being said, I do miss caddying though.

 

The next cool step is when you just drop them off at an event and then go back hours later to pick them up.  Hearing them walk you through their round is pretty fun stuff.

[tiger1873]

3 hours ago, leezer99 said:

 

The next cool step is when you just drop them off at an event and then go back hours later to pick them up.  Hearing them walk you through their round is pretty fun stuff.

 

What's even better is the look on other parents face when you tell them they can do it without you being there.

[leezer99]

1 hour ago, tiger1873 said:

 

What's even better is the look on other parents face when you tell them they can do it without you being there.

 

In complete bewilderment I completely agree with Tiger here.

 

A dad asked me if I was going to watch my son in his playoff the other day.  I said, 'nope, me being there won't effect the outcome.  It's not like I can hit the ball for him.'  

[MWhack]

First tournament I helped my daughter (7y at that point), she scored awesome and won by over 20 shots on 6 holes.
Next tournament I stopped helping, other parents still did, she won by her own, not that clear anymore and scores went up by 5-10shots per round.

She asks me all the time why do other parents help their kids and me not, I said I don't care what others do, she has to understand how the ball reacts on her decision.
At the practice rounds, where I discussed her decisions(not dictated) she easily could qualify for the worlds at USKG (probably top 10 placement), alone she didn't made the cut (Europe not that many tournaments), she cried after the last hole, it broke my hard still its the right decision, she missed it by 2strokes, but she is working hard to do it by her own and I'm proud! 
I check the rangefinder and then hand over to her, and let her check the distance by herself until she finds it (in tournaments depends on group).
If she wants to ask me about greens, sometimes I just turn and watch the other direction and Ignore the cute face which tells me Daddy please help me.
Guess what, she putts already better than I do (I'm not a golfer, but an adult brain can easier process the Information he sees, so I should win).

It worries me a bit what I see, winning the first place and doing some Instagram pictures is more important than the kids development!
All the help a child needs is at the beginning, Dear please turn 180* don't aim on the water but on the green 😂 but even this should be stopped after few rounds, let them hit in the water, they will learn faster.

 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

On 7/29/2021 at 2:54 PM, leezer99 said:

 

In complete bewilderment I completely agree with Tiger here.

 

Hell has frozen over.