Question: My son gets angry sometimes when he plays a bad shot. I assume that Karl controls that, doesn't he?

Answer: Again, this question has so many parts to it, particularly as every junior is different, but I'll try to keep it brief.

You'd be surprised, as Karl gets angry too, but I simply don't show those moments on video because I want him to view the positives in his game rather than the negatives.

Kids and Touring Pros alike both share the same expectation of hitting every shot perfectly. The higher the ambition of the player, the more frustrated they can become over a poor shot. Why exactly, I don't know. You'd have to read one of Bob Rotella's books on the player's mindset to get a better understanding of why they react the way they do. All I can do in this answer is to relay some of my experience with Karl.

Firstly, we as parents need to know whether their angry reactions are in line with how they react to disappointment in anything they do that doesn't turn out how they expected. For example, dropping a catch at cricket or maybe striking-out at baseball. I know (for example) that since he could walk Karl has always been quick to show his disappintment whenever anything he does isn't exactly as he'd like, and his reactions at a poor golf shot mirror his reactions in other sports he plays.

The reasons are many, but in Karl's case, he is hyperactive and has a big issue with rushing into things without thinking. I don't caddy much for him at all these days, but as his caddy I'd forever be trying to get him to slow down his breathing and to take his time before deciding on his strategy. He is easier to slow down in big tournaments such as the Junior Worlds as he understands what's at stake, but even then he has missed the odd 1-foot putt when I've turned around after having expected him to have marked his ball and taken his time. That can be very frustrating for a parent, but whatever frustration we feel, it's much greater for the player. Dealing with the resulting frustration after making such a silly mistake is the biggest challenge, as the player can blow a few shots in the next few holes unless they settle back down quickly.

In the 2009 Callaway Junior Worlds, Karl had a bit of a "meltdown" in the middle of the final round. He wasn't realistically going to win, but he was in with a good shot to get 2nd. Those 3 or 4 shots be blew within the space of just a few holes saw him come Tied 4th, but as he still had next year in the same age group, I tried to look at it as a lesson for him to learn.

We didn't have to wait long for Karl to take advantage from that lesson, as 2-weeks later he was in danger of having another meltdown in the final round of the US Kids World Championships when he put his drive in the water on the first of 2 Par 5's in the middle of his round. I could see his frustration immediately and recognised the signs, so I pulled him aside and asked him to think of what could have been had he not had the meltdown at the Callaway Junior Worlds and that what happened next was entirely up to him. He calmed back down, took a drop, hit a magnificent Fairway wood to the green and walked off with Par, then Birdied the following 2 holes to set up his first World title.

These days he still has a temper at times. Two ways in which I deal with particular situations include;

• Club-throwing: To his credit, Karl's never "hurled" his club as such, but the odd time when Karl has thrown his club down after a bad shot, that club goes straight into my possession for the rest of the round. One day I ended up carrying 3 of his clubs, so it hasn't happened again since. That was in April of 2011. It only takes a few times for the player to realise that Putting-out with a substitute club is much harder than using the putter.
• Blaming the caddy: It's never the player's fault, is it? Well, the player doesn't have to have a caddy, so as soon as the blame-game starts, I quietly advise him that he's pushing his own cart for the rest of the round.

If all that fails, then head to the bar.