He is definitely better this year

Over the weekend I had a chance to find a bunch of Sean's numbers from last year and compare them to this year's performance.

Last year, as a 13 year old, his stroke average was 86.3, playing 24 rounds in 15 tournaments. He shot only one round below 80, and five rounds 90 and above.

This year, as a 14 year old, his stroke average is 75.2 over 4 rounds in two tournaments. He even managed to stay under 80 for his worse two rounds so far (79 and 77).

On a per round basis, Sean has reduced his bogeys and increased his pars. Compared to last year, he has cut his double bogeys in half, and (knock on wood) hasn't had a worse than double, yet. He has also more than doubled his birdies per round. Despite the latter, the big improvement in scoring is coming from eliminating all those mistakes that caused the bogeys, the doubles and worse.

When he gets to the point where the mistakes are even more rare, and while continuing to get a few birdies per round, he is going to become a heck of a golfer.

I don't think this improvement, though based on a limited number of rounds is an aberration. No doubt, tournament rounds in the 80's are an inevitable part of his future. But my suspicion is that those rounds, for him, will be like one of those days in baseball where he failed to get a hit over 3 or 4 at bats, or made some bone-headed plays in the field. Pretty rare.

I also think this year on year improvement is real because at home he is shooting under 80 for almost all of his practice rounds, which is evidence that his skills are improving at an accelerated pace. In fact, I can't remember when was the last time he told me he shot over 80 at home, but it has been several weeks now. He's just doing what we figured was going to eventually happen, and that is learning how to golf the ball.

Why is he so much better this year? The simple answer is because he has been working hard to get better. The motivation to improve comes from entirely within himself, and he really puts in the effort. His self-image is not just wrapped up, but completely cloaked, into becoming one of the better golfers out there. He wants to be at the club all day every day, where he practices and plays rounds from morning to evening.

I also really like how he puts more time into playing rounds than into banging balls on the range. I also like how he is putting more effort--though I think he can do a lot more-- into practicing his short game, when he practices.

And of course, he has a truly great swing coach in Bobby, who turns out to be more than just a swing guru, but offers Sean the whole package, particularly his encouragement and thoughts on how to play competitively. I will never understate the importance, for a junior, in getting not just any swing coach, but the right one.