Miken.

He needs to play much more golf. 4-10 rounds a month isnt enough for a young guy looking to compete. Try and get him out for a few holes every couple of days. Shooting 78 is ok but I would imagine at the level you are talking about there will be a lot of sharks in the water. 16-18 year olds playing competitively will be mostly category 1 players, a lot of them 2 handicap or better. The scores he is putting together suggest he can shift the ball a healthy enough distance more or less in the same direction. He needs to start sorting out his course management as well. This can only be done on the course.

1. Dont let him practice ball striking on the course, thats range work, when he's on the course he has to make do. You cant practice in competition. Let him learn to compose a score even when he isnt hitting the ball as well as he can.

2. Use the remaining Golftec lessons to mould his swing into something repeatable and reliable.

3. As a target, set him score targets. I would suggest shooting 78 regular as the first step, then move to shooting 75 regular. Finally let him play "Level Fours" which means he uses 4 as the par for every hole. If he shoots level fours he has 72. This at almost any course will give him a 2 handicap. When he is at this level, get him playing as much competitive golf as you can. Enter everything and get him used to the difficulties of keeping a score going over 18 or 36 holes.

Remember not to leave out short game practice. For better scores, you have to divide time 50:50 between long game and short game st the very least. Personally I try to divide it 60:40 in favour of pitching chipping and putting.

Let him play as much as he wants but its as important to allow him not to play when he doesnt want to. Its easy for a young mind to grow stale and become a bit slaphappy. Its impossible to shoot scores in that frame of mind.

Good luck,

D.