Putting "jitters"

[caligolfer2103]

Thought I'd throw this question out to the group... my son is hitting as well as he ever has. But the putting is killing him. It's weird because he's putting well in the sense that his alignment and putt direction are on point, but he's leaving strokes out there by either a) consistently short-arming short-mid range putts and not giving them a chance to go in and b) just messing up his longer putts and unnecessarily 3-4 putting. He's worked a lot on distance control and the thing is he's great in practice. It leads me to believe that a lot of this is mental - mostly because I finally watched his last tournament and I saw how he literally measured and re-measured his putt over and over, which is not at all how he practices. Full disclosure, his mom has OCD and he has some early tendencies so it's not surprising that he can "get inside his own head" at times. I also know that he's mentioned that he feels the pressure more since he went through a few tournament stretch where he broke 70 and was consistently breaking par. 

How have folks helped their kids get over something like this? What I asked him to try next round is basically just step up, don't measure anything and just hit the ball based on what he sees. He does this in practice and is good at it.  Curious if there are other techniques that have worked to just de-stress this process. I suspect it shows up most in putting because there is so much downtime - he's often the short putt, so he's waiting for others to putt and I can see him doing his reads over and over again.

 

Long message, so thanks for reading!

[BTE0816]

I wonder if it is a need to de-stress the competitive rounds or a need to up-stress the practice rounds. Everybody I play with can drop a 2nd ball after a bad shot and hit a really good shot "second guy is a pro" because there is no pressure because it doesn't count.

 

It may be time to find a way to add pressure to the practice. Hit x number of putts in a row before you can go home, hit x balls in a ladder drill before you can go home kind of thing.

 

I'm not sure how old your son is and I am in no way competitive at a high level, but it also may be that he just needs to get more reps in a competitive environment. When I was in HS I would play 9 with some of the older guys on the team during the summer for $1 a hole. Not huge stakes but if you are $3 down through 4 with a $5 bill in your pocket you start getting a little tight.
 

[golferdad8]

Perhaps try a consistent pre-shot routine. Ideally it’s the same for practice as well as in tournaments. 

[LawGenius305]

All good putters understand stroke length. Many pro's have taken up Aim Point because it takes the guess work out of stroke length. They calibrate the speed at the course and they then know how to measure that stroke length.

[Dallas]

I would highly recommend getting him on a SAM or Quintec and figuring out if there are issues in the stroke that can be addressed. This will allow you to definitively figure out if it is a mechanics issue or something else is going on.Usually, there are tendencies that appear that negatively impact speed in terms of stroke length or rhythm. 

Edited June 21 by Dallas

[jda]

People on the internet don't want to hear this, but heavily milled faces that feel "soft" as well as heavy putters really mute feedback.  The folks that struggle with these can be good to really bad depending on the green that they are putting - grass, slope, etc. - but they cannot take it from place to place.  It frustrates them because they are good one day and bad the next.

 

Most of the best putters in the world use smoother faces and lighter putters... like in the 330-340g range.  Of course, not all.  Firm feedback is what most people need to get really good touch and confidence.  Muting feedback with "softness" does the opposite.  Once you have this feedback and feel for things, then you need to just feel it with your eyes, hands and body - you are right about this approach, IMO.

 

For me, stroke is significantly less important than feedback and feel, which leads to confidence.  Once you can square the face, the rest of it is not really that important, but it is not nothing either - of course you want both, but so does everybody.  Read > feedback (confidence) > stroke.  I will take a confident wobbly stroke that comes in on a bad path any day over an unconfident young adult with a perfect arc.

 

If you only practice at one place, then you need to completely disregard this.  If he is great in practice at any green at any facility, then this is totally different and is exactly what you want and you do likely have mental things to work through.  I would expect any decent-to-good youth golfer to be really good practicing at their "home" greens/facility so DO NOT over estimate this.

 

I guess, most importantly, what does he think that it is?  Does he feel like he is making a good stroke and it does not work out?  If so, then the feedback that he is getting is not working for him.  Does he know that it is just nerves and he is failing to execute or think?  If so, then he might need to talk to somebody who specializes in this.

[caligolfer2103]

All super helpful. He has done Quintec and his stroke is solid. And he can practice well at any green. I think it's what someone said above, about building more competitive reps in practice to simulate the tournament feel. One idea... when he plays with friends, they like to play the tips, which at our course is long, and so he's left with a lot of long putts, which isn't the norm during tournaments. It was great when he was trying to nail down woods/long irons. So how do I get shorter putts for him in his practice rounds? I'm going to make him play from the front tees so he basically has drive and then short iron/wedge, which should leave him with a lot of 6 - 20 footers. And he has to learn to break par consistently playing this way. Does that make sense?

[Hawkeye77]

28 minutes ago, caligolfer2103 said:

All super helpful. He has done Quintec and his stroke is solid. And he can practice well at any green. I think it's what someone said above, about building more competitive reps in practice to simulate the tournament feel. One idea... when he plays with friends, they like to play the tips, which at our course is long, and so he's left with a lot of long putts, which isn't the norm during tournaments. It was great when he was trying to nail down woods/long irons. So how do I get shorter putts for him in his practice rounds? I'm going to make him play from the front tees so he basically has drive and then short iron/wedge, which should leave him with a lot of 6 - 20 footers. And he has to learn to break par consistently playing this way. Does that make sense?

 

Drop a ball or two at those distances? More/varied practice related to speed? A solid and consistent PSR (sounds like that is not the case)? They're practice rounds. No coach or psychologist, but moving up a box isn't where I'd go (or have gone) when I've had any putting issues - seems like a potential "solution" to problems he doesn't have and the notion he "has" to learn to break par sure seems like adding stress and I sure don't agree with up stressing practice when he's having competitive 3-4 putts (and he's a kid) - but surely there can't be that big a divide between competition and practice? If so - see someone who earns a living helping with this stuff.

 

 

Edited June 22 by Hawkeye77

[jda]

What age are we talking about?  I would have different advice for a 13 year old vs a 18 year old.

 

For many, you can never simulate pressure in practice.  It does work for others, but few, IME.  If you could ever figure put how to uniformly train for pressure in practice, then you could write a book, go on a speaking tour and get filthy rich.  Trying to mentally toughen kids in practice can cause unintended consequences, but impossible to know if/when/how/why since each kid is different - have seen it in all sports.  What some of them need is just more reps and time in real situations - this is often why cold weather kids are behind warm weather kids... it is not skill, but reps that they are lacking, but when they get the reps, they can really catch up fast.

[caligolfer2103]

He's 14.

I see what you guys are saying about building too much pressure in practice. Totally agree that whoever solves this issue of pressure would be rich, lol! Two thoughts:

1) I probably overstated his issues... We went through his last few rounds yesterday and he's averaging anywhere from 6-10 birdie opportunities (6-15ft) and typically hitting 1, maybe 2 a round. This weekend, he had 10 such putts and didn't hit any. They were all 2 putts. And what I see is his tendency is to leave it a little short, which he says is because he doesn't want to bang it too hard.
2) We talked about math of it yesterday, which is if he just told himself he's going to hit every putt long, the putts he gains (bc he actually gives it a chance to go in) will be far more than the putts he loses (because he hits it too far.) That seemed to resonate with him.
3) We tried something yesterday where we played a simple game... random 6 - 20 footers. Makes are 2 points. Past the hole is 1 point. How many points in a row can he score. Every 10 points in a row, I do an exponential # of pushups, so 10 pts = 5 pushups, 20 pts = 10 pushups, 30 pts = 20 pushups. No penalties for him. He seemed to have fun with that

4) I can see the pros and cons of adding too much pressure on his competitive rounds. But what I realized is when he plays with friends, he's playing tips on a long course and so he's left with a lot of very long putts, so he's not getting much practice in on the putts he has to have more in competition. So it's not about the pressure of trying to break par specifically but simply having his practice rounds provide opportunities to get more putts in that 6 - 20' range.

 

I'm probably way overthinking this lol, but I'm a problem solver by nature. Part of this is just trying things with him and seeing how he likes it. What I love about him is he is very even-handed about this - he knows he needs to get better, he wants to get better and so I told him we'll just try things to help.

 

Thanks all!

[Bizzle80]

We went thru something similar with my daughter. She used to walk off putts and try to measure everything out when competing. All of a sudden her distance control was all over the map. In practice she would roll every long putt to within tap in almost without ever thinking about it...but when trying to analyze in competition it was a mess.

 

We stopped with over analyzing and every long putt she just does the Dave Stockton thing of just sort of eye balling distance and reacting. She still lines it up but her lag putting improved so much just reading and reacting versus trying to walk off and measure distances. She just played a 2 day at Chambers Bay and only had two 3 putts in 36 holes which for those greens was phenomenal - just ask Dustin Johnson.

 

I think this might work better for creative brain...but might not for someone who is more analytical?

 

 

 

[phillyspecial]

14 minutes ago, Bizzle80 said:

We went thru something similar with my daughter. She used to walk off putts and try to measure everything out when competing. All of a sudden her distance control was all over the map. In practice she would roll every long putt to within tap in almost without ever thinking about it...but when trying to analyze in competition it was a mess.

 

We stopped with over analyzing and every long putt she just does the Dave Stockton thing of just sort of eye balling distance and reacting. She still lines it up but her lag putting improved so much just reading and reacting versus trying to walk off and measure distances. She just played a 2 day at Chambers Bay and only had two 3 putts in 36 holes which for those greens was phenomenal - just ask Dustin Johnson.

 

I think this might work better for creative brain...but might not for someone who is more analytical?

 

 

 

 

 

This is interesting.  My daughter currently walks everything off, and its been a mess lately.  She is analytical brain and having a 'system' makes her more comfortable - but going to try this.  

[Bizzle80]

1 minute ago, phillyspecial said:

 

 

This is interesting.  My daughter currently walks everything off, and its been a mess lately.  She is analytical brain and having a 'system' makes her more comfortable - but going to try this.  

 

My kid is very creative brain, so I think the analytical approach was crushing her. She had a putting coach try to put her on a metronome once and it was like she was putting left handed - almost couldn't make contact.

 

She still has a very dialed in routine, it just no longer includes walking everything off. She just looks down the line, quick peek from behind hole sometime if needed, lines it up, last peek at target/hole and away it goes.

 

Worth a try maybe? Dave Stockton is the OG putting guru and he is very much  "read and react" - he doesn't even like players lining it up with a line on the ball. 

 

 

[jda]

At 14, I would ask him if he thinks that this is a real issue right now.  If so, how does he want to go about solving it.  If he acknowledges that it is not good, but thinks that it will solve its self, then respect this... for now.  Let him work.

 

Let him drive this.  If he is motivated to be a great player, then you will only hurt by taking any sort of lead.  If he is not, then there is nothing that you can do anyway but just enjoy playing with your kid.  14 is about the time that mom and dad need to let a kid be their own advocate.  Of course, if he is coming to you without asking, then that is totally different.  I always thought and analyzed my kids, but kept it to myself - when they came to me, I had an answer.

 

If he is lost and wants help, then get it for him, but let him ask you for it and have it be his idea.  I usually am supportive of second opinions from an outside coach, but I have seen kids be resistant to this because they feel loyal to their current coach and don't want to upset them - have had kids that we suggest this to that are complete jerks about it, but then all of a sudden it is their idea and it is all good.

 

You have time for this to work out.

 

As for the rest, I am a big fan of reading the ball from all sides but not for distance of anything.  I have never met a great putter who is digital over analog - they must feel it and see it.  Many cannot even explain what they saw, but they knew what to do and executed.  Trying to quantify things can take away the sight and feel, IMO.  I was lucky that both of my girls were excellent putters and could read and feel putts.  The youngest is not going to play in college, but she is a well above average putter too - it infuriates people who practice way more and are no were near as good.  No alignment lines, no measuring distance, no heavy face milling or heavy weight to dull feedback.  Follow Carraher on here when he posts - it is not often, but he usually has good stuff like not using an alignment line, MOI is meaningless, lighter putters, etc.  It is free and he is usually spot on.  🙂

[alittleoverpar]

Sometimes looking at the hole when putting can free up your stroke.  I know when I get overly focused on the mechanics of making a stroke, putting on a few holes while looking at the hole helps free up my stroke.

[ATXGolferGuy]

26 minutes ago, Bizzle80 said:

just sort of eye balling distance and reacting.

THIS, this right here!  The best athletes are reacting on their respective fields, not over thinking/analyzing their moves. 

 

To me you should spend the majority of your time 10 feet and in with the remainder outside 40 feet.  If you have uber confidence in your short putting, lag putts and chips become infinitely easier. 

 

Doing the old circle drill, 10 tees around a hole with some slight break to it from 4 feet will be better for your overall putting than practicing random 6-20 footers.  There is something to making 100 four footers in a row as a goal. 

 

[caligolfer2103]

To the ones who said their kid simplified it, absolutely. I can see him on the green getting into his own head, walking, measuring slope, doing it again and again. So yeah, there's an element of just forgetting everything and go with what your body feels... That's part of what he's trying to find in competition!

[caligolfer2103]

2 hours ago, jda said:

At 14, I would ask him if he thinks that this is a real issue right now.  If so, how does he want to go about solving it.  If he acknowledges that it is not good, but thinks that it will solve its self, then respect this... for now.  Let him work.

 

Let him drive this.  If he is motivated to be a great player, then you will only hurt by taking any sort of lead.  If he is not, then there is nothing that you can do anyway but just enjoy playing with your kid.  14 is about the time that mom and dad need to let a kid be their own advocate.  Of course, if he is coming to you without asking, then that is totally different.  I always thought and analyzed my kids, but kept it to myself - when they came to me, I had an answer.

 

If he is lost and wants help, then get it for him, but let him ask you for it and have it be his idea.  I usually am supportive of second opinions from an outside coach, but I have seen kids be resistant to this because they feel loyal to their current coach and don't want to upset them - have had kids that we suggest this to that are complete jerks about it, but then all of a sudden it is their idea and it is all good.

 

You have time for this to work out.

 

As for the rest, I am a big fan of reading the ball from all sides but not for distance of anything.  I have never met a great putter who is digital over analog - they must feel it and see it.  Many cannot even explain what they saw, but they knew what to do and executed.  Trying to quantify things can take away the sight and feel, IMO.  I was lucky that both of my girls were excellent putters and could read and feel putts.  The youngest is not going to play in college, but she is a well above average putter too - it infuriates people who practice way more and are no were near as good.  No alignment lines, no measuring distance, no heavy face milling or heavy weight to dull feedback.  Follow Carraher on here when he posts - it is not often, but he usually has good stuff like not using an alignment line, MOI is meaningless, lighter putters, etc.  It is free and he is usually spot on.  🙂

100%. I've said before - I don't play golf. All I can do is support him financially (easy) and mentally (not so easy sometimes.) But I've learned to let the latter be guided by him. He's definitely frustrated and wants to figure it out and knows that it's not working for him right now. The thing to is he (and I know) it's just part of his progression. A year ago, if you said he'd go most rounds 2 putting everything, he'd have been thrilled. But he sees that right now, this is the biggest thing holding him back from consistently breaking par. And agreed, at age 14, I'm not too concerned and so we're just going to take it day by day, try new things and see what works. Plus, its a good life skill, just not being afraid to problem solve by trying new things and figuring it out step by step!

[caligolfer2103]

2 hours ago, ATXGolferGuy said:

THIS, this right here!  The best athletes are reacting on their respective fields, not over thinking/analyzing their moves. 

 

To me you should spend the majority of your time 10 feet and in with the remainder outside 40 feet.  If you have uber confidence in your short putting, lag putts and chips become infinitely easier. 

 

Doing the old circle drill, 10 tees around a hole with some slight break to it from 4 feet will be better for your overall putting than practicing random 6-20 footers.  There is something to making 100 four footers in a row as a goal. 

 

Agreed! That's what he still does (some variant of that circle drill) and he's great at it. 

[caligolfer2103]

Thanks all for the input. Super helpful to just read how other parents think about this and how other kids got through similar issues!

[UnderPar18]

As you know experimentation is probably best to see what sticks and what he prefers. 

 

1. He likely is putting stress & pressure on himself during competition. You could recreate this more often when he practices so he feels more accustomed to it. OR you can go the complete opposite way and try to reduce the stress from competition to have him play closer to his normal leisure rounds. 

2. Going through a routine and sticking to the routine is going to sound very vanilla, but it could help. Example would be to take 2 practice strokes, address the ball, look at the hole, forward press ever so slightly as a trigger and putt. When he does this for every single putt whether its leisure golf or competition golf his routine has remained constant. 

3. If he is leaving putts short in competition he is likely not freed up. Having him try to make every single putt is sometimes fun. My best putting has come when I have putted aggressively (not recklessly) and if I hit it past I had all of the confidence in the world I would make the comeback putt. When you try to make putts you tend to get them to the hole or even by the hole. 

 

Good luck to him!

[LawGenius305]

17 hours ago, Bizzle80 said:

We went thru something similar with my daughter. She used to walk off putts and try to measure everything out when competing. All of a sudden her distance control was all over the map. In practice she would roll every long putt to within tap in almost without ever thinking about it...but when trying to analyze in competition it was a mess.

 

We stopped with over analyzing and every long putt she just does the Dave Stockton thing of just sort of eye balling distance and reacting. She still lines it up but her lag putting improved so much just reading and reacting versus trying to walk off and measure distances. She just played a 2 day at Chambers Bay and only had two 3 putts in 36 holes which for those greens was phenomenal - just ask Dustin Johnson.

 

I think this might work better for creative brain...but might not for someone who is more analytical?

 

 

 

With AimPoint, you have to walk it off. AimPoint is all analytical.

[LawGenius305]

16 hours ago, ATXGolferGuy said:

THIS, this right here!  The best athletes are reacting on their respective fields, not over thinking/analyzing their moves. 

 

To me you should spend the majority of your time 10 feet and in with the remainder outside 40 feet.  If you have uber confidence in your short putting, lag putts and chips become infinitely easier. 

 

Doing the old circle drill, 10 tees around a hole with some slight break to it from 4 feet will be better for your overall putting than practicing random 6-20 footers.  There is something to making 100 four footers in a row as a goal. 

 

Spending time doing drills when set up is off, green reading is off, just means you are practicing missing.

[Mike_C]

Get Geoff Mangum's book on putting.  Here it is online.

 

https://online.fliphtml5.com/wuhxa/lqnj/?search=distance

 

But I agree with much else said here, being too robotic with putting messes with natural ability and feel.  Same goes for things like a line on the ball.  This video of Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler talking about  it being more "athletic" when putting kind of gets to the point (basically an ad for TM, but still like what they are talking about).   Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda's Putting Secrets Unlocked

 

Kids should just be able to feel putts, they aren't experienced enough to know how hard putting really is......😁

[LawGenius305]

1 hour ago, Mike_C said:

Get Geoff Mangum's book on putting.  Here it is online.

 

https://online.fliphtml5.com/wuhxa/lqnj/?search=distance

 

But I agree with much else said here, being too robotic with putting messes with natural ability and feel.  Same goes for things like a line on the ball.  This video of Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler talking about  it being more "athletic" when putting kind of gets to the point (basically an ad for TM, but still like what they are talking about).   Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda's Putting Secrets Unlocked

 

Kids should just be able to feel putts, they aren't experienced enough to know how hard putting really is......😁

I wouldn't take putting advice from either of these two. Great Ball Strikers, Great Players, very inconsistent putters that might be average at best.

[Mike_C]

13 minutes ago, LawGenius305 said:

I wouldn't take putting advice from either of these two. Great Ball Strikers, Great Players, very inconsistent putters that might be average at best.

Scottie is still top 20 strokes gained putting on tour......and Nelly is better than "average" on the LPGA....which puts her in elite status for putting in the world IMO.    I wish I was as "bad" at putting as Nelly Korda.....

Edited June 24 by Mike_C

[jda]

As a dude who has to listen to kids and their parents tell me all the time about pros doing this or that, I would not buy into what any one pro does.  I get to hear about how Scheffler does this, or Rory does that... Xander, a few Tigers but not so much anymore.  What they don't understand is that each one of them is an outlier in their own way and there is not much that you can take from them that will help you.  You can look at trends and larger groups of stuff, but not like you might think.  For example, many assume that pros have switched to mallets for more MOI, but this could not be further from the truth - the MOI is the sales pitch from the manufacturers to get YOU to buy... pros don't miss the sweet spot.  One pro will tell you that they switched so that their caddy could easier see if they were rocking the putter back on their heel.  Another that it was plumbers neck was more out of the way than with his other putter.  Some don't want the alignment lines at all since it can mess with the path, but they like something else about the mallet.  One guy, who has won on tour, just likes that it does not leave as large of a mark on the green when he leans on it.  Some play them for money since they can putt just as well with anything - most brands have artists who make putters that can duplicate what you already have, so why not pocket another hundred thousand, or more.  Overall, people care too much about what a pro does... and it can be a hinderance to your own personal progress.

 

Just last year I heard from a kid: Forgot Who did not bend over this last weekend to read his putts.  I said: you are not him and your reads are terrible, so you need to bend down.  About 5 years ago, had kids trying to do the lay down without touching the ground... horrible.

 

In baseball, the ultimate are kids who would tell me about Jose Altuve being 5'6" and being a MLB player.  Sure.  He is.  He is one guy.  Go ahead and bet on the outlier and see where that gets you, but you should probably have a fallback.  The same is true with golf - I tell them all that both good Rory and bad Rory use that 325g plumbers neck mallet with the toe hang.  He can be really good with it, but he also sucks with it sometimes.  Both good and bad Rory are still outliers.  Kids never mention Bryson, so I guess that they do not relate to him? which is good since it saves us time.

 

If you listen to the best putters of the last 50-70 years, they all tend to say the same things... square face and feel.  This is important and most people miss: they want the face perpendicular to the line and do not try and have a line on the club follow the line of the putt.  Many of them have a routine that they use for nearly all putts, but they will vary a stance or routine for the situation as needed.  When unsure, they go with pace over line.

 

My whole issue with being digital/robotic is that the read is not that, so it can take focus away from the most important part.  We can argue whether infinite analog is better/worse than convenient digital, but mixing both of them is hardly ever a good idea.

[Hawkeye77]

21 hours ago, caligolfer2103 said:

He's 14.

I see what you guys are saying about building too much pressure in practice. Totally agree that whoever solves this issue of pressure would be rich, lol! Two thoughts:

1) I probably overstated his issues... We went through his last few rounds yesterday and he's averaging anywhere from 6-10 birdie opportunities (6-15ft) and typically hitting 1, maybe 2 a round. This weekend, he had 10 such putts and didn't hit any. They were all 2 putts. And what I see is his tendency is to leave it a little short, which he says is because he doesn't want to bang it too hard.
2) We talked about math of it yesterday, which is if he just told himself he's going to hit every putt long, the putts he gains (bc he actually gives it a chance to go in) will be far more than the putts he loses (because he hits it too far.) That seemed to resonate with him.
3) We tried something yesterday where we played a simple game... random 6 - 20 footers. Makes are 2 points. Past the hole is 1 point. How many points in a row can he score. Every 10 points in a row, I do an exponential # of pushups, so 10 pts = 5 pushups, 20 pts = 10 pushups, 30 pts = 20 pushups. No penalties for him. He seemed to have fun with that

4) I can see the pros and cons of adding too much pressure on his competitive rounds. But what I realized is when he plays with friends, he's playing tips on a long course and so he's left with a lot of very long putts, so he's not getting much practice in on the putts he has to have more in competition. So it's not about the pressure of trying to break par specifically but simply having his practice rounds provide opportunities to get more putts in that 6 - 20' range.

 

I'm probably way overthinking this lol, but I'm a problem solver by nature. Part of this is just trying things with him and seeing how he likes it. What I love about him is he is very even-handed about this - he knows he needs to get better, he wants to get better and so I told him we'll just try things to help.

 

Thanks all!

 

I think you should take a hard look at PGAT Tour stats from various putting distances and then see what I think may be an unreasonable standard you are expecting him to meet.  The stats you provide are a bit general and not asking for a deep dive - but I assume actual putting stats are being kept, i.e. outcome from "x" distance on each hole, so at least you have the real numbers and not kind of a "sense" of what's happening.  15' is the outer limit of his proximity to the hole for a GIR for his last few rounds? I'm more than skeptical about that.  Playing putting games is great - you play along with him!

Edited June 24 by Hawkeye77

[caligolfer2103]

8 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

I think you should take a hard look at PGAT Tour stats from various putting distances and then see what I think may be an unreasonable standard you are expecting him to meet.  The stats you provide are a bit general and not asking for a deep dive - but I assume actual putting stats are being kept, i.e. outcome from "x" distance on each hole, so at least you have the real numbers and not kind of a "sense" of what's happening.  15' is the outer limit of his proximity to the hole for a GIR for his last few rounds? I'm more than skeptical about that.  Playing putting games is great - you play along with him!

I know! He's been on a bit of heater with his driver/irons recently. His last 3 rounds, he had 6/7/10 putts from 15' in. Admittedly, the last three tournaments have been from 6,000-6,400 so shorter than he's playing most times. Which means he's had a lot of short irons/wedges into the green. 10 putts this weekend from inside 15' was definitely an anomaly. And he hit zero. But that's why he's so focused on getting better at these putts.

My biggest takeaway from all this is a) don't worry too much about it, b) don't let him worry about it too much, c) keep it fun, and d) he's 14, he'll figure it out! 

[caligolfer2103]

15 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

I think you should take a hard look at PGAT Tour stats from various putting distances and then see what I think may be an unreasonable standard you are expecting him to meet.  The stats you provide are a bit general and not asking for a deep dive - but I assume actual putting stats are being kept, i.e. outcome from "x" distance on each hole, so at least you have the real numbers and not kind of a "sense" of what's happening.  15' is the outer limit of his proximity to the hole for a GIR for his last few rounds? I'm more than skeptical about that.  Playing putting games is great - you play along with him!

And agreed - I did look at the PGA putting stats. Definitely not holding him to that 🙂