Drills you can do without becoming the coach.

A coin, a putter that is not taller than their chest, two pieces of tape as a gate.

Roll the ball through the gate so it stops on the coin. Five in a row, they pick the snack.

When the face gets serious. You already won.

Same putter length as them. A mug or a tape cup. You go first — they copy your putt.

Miss and you get a letter. First to H-O-R-S-E carries the bag to the car. Make it, they have to make the same one.

One game. Do not play until somebody cries.

A bath towel covering the cup so they cannot ‘make’ it. Putter that fits.

Lag it onto the towel from 10–20 feet. Landing on the towel is a birdie. Missing the towel is a bogey. First to three birdies.

They will want the hole back. Not today. Speed first.

A bath towel on the grass, foam balls, one short club.

Land it on the towel. Count loud. Race you.

Twenty balls, max. Leave them wanting the towel tomorrow.

Just off the green. Putter only. A tee as the ‘hole’ if the green is busy.

Bump it through the fringe. Closest to the hole wins the hole. Play five holes around one green.

If they grab a wedge, the putter police take over. This shot exists so they don’t skull it.

A par-3 or the practice green as three made-up holes.

They tee it. You carry the bag. No swing tips. Ask which flag they want next.

Hole three, even if they beg for four — especially if they beg for four.

Two tees just wider than the putter, 4 feet from a cup or mug.

If the putter hits a tee, it doesn’t count. Make 8 of 10.

If they mash it, move closer, not farther.

Four balls at 3 feet: north, east, south, west. Like a clock.

Make all four. Then take one step back and reset the clock. A miss restarts that ring. They call the time.

Three rings is a full session. Do not build a fourth because they ‘almost had it.’

Alignment stick on the ground, 7-iron only, 15 balls.

The session is over when they strike one that sounds right. They get to pick it.

Do not “just hit a few more.” That is how range rats are born.

Fringe, a 7-iron or 9-iron that fits, a hole 8–12 paces on the green.

Land it one bounce on the green and let it roll. Five in a row inside a putter-length. Count out loud.

If they start opening the face, the 7-iron goes back in the bag and you walk.

Towel, wedge, real balls if you have space, foam if you don’t.

Land, don’t roll. Five towels in a row is the round.

When the neighbors get a vote.

Nine starts, each 25 yards from a green (Operation 36 Level 1). Putter + wedge is enough.

Par is 4. Write every number. 36 or better is a party. 37 is data.

Nine holes. Not 12. Not “let’s redo 7.”

Putts from 15, 25, 35 feet. A club laid 3 feet past the hole as the backstop.

It has to finish in the 3-foot box. Three in a row at each station.

If the stroke gets short and stabby, go back to 15.

Three tees: 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feet. Same hole. Same putter.

Make three at 3, three at 6, three at 9. A miss at a station restarts that station only. They keep the card.

One trip through. The 9-footer is allowed to stay a 9-footer.

Four lies: fringe, light rough, tight lie, a little downhill. One ball at each. Putter stays away until the chip is done.

Chip, then one putt. Score out of 4. Beat last week. They pick the next lie.

Four. Not eight because ‘the last one was a flyer.’

A towel two paces onto the green. Wedge. Then the putter they already have.

The chip has to hit the towel. Whatever they have left, they putt once. That’s an up-and-down. Play 8.

Eight chances. Keep the score. Leave.

Flags or towels at 30, 40, 50 yards. One wedge.

Three balls each. The miss you care about is short/long, not left/right.

Eighteen balls. Then water.

Longleaf / a forward tee they can reach with a 5 they actually hit. One ball.

Keep a card. No second shots. You caddie. They decide.

If pace of play is a problem, pick up at double par and walk.

Ten balls around a green, different lies. Putter lives in the bag until the chip is done.

Chip then one putt. Keep a score out of 10. Beat last week.

Ten. Not until the bucket is empty.

They play from 15 yards. You play from 25. Same flag. Small stake: loser buys the slushie.

Call the shot (bump, regular chip). Make the up-and-down or take a letter. First to HORSE walks in.

One game. Protect the series.

Start at 4 feet. Make it, stay. Miss, the next putt is one grip farther away.

Get back to 4 feet. That’s the game. They keep the tees.

If they’re putting from 20 feet in anger, you already lost. Reset to 4.

Ten balls. Same club. They must: look at a target, take one rehearsal, step in, go.

If they skip a step, the ball doesn’t count. You are the referee, not the coach.

Ten honest reps beat forty wiggly ones.

They play their tees. You play from farther. Small stake: they pick dinner if they win.

Match play. You do not give putts you wouldn’t give in a tournament.

Three holes. Protect the series.

One ball, tournament tees they can reach, a card, a time you will finish.

No coaching between shots. After: they mark three keeps and one change.

You may not re-hash hole 2 in the car. Ask about hole 8 instead.

Pick a target with a safe miss (bunker left? then the miss is right).

Every ball needs a spoken miss before the swing. If they cannot name it, they wait.

Twenty balls with a sentence attached.

Wedge only. Eight balls from 20 yards, mixed lies including one bunker if you have one.

Get down in two. No putter until the ball is on the green. Score /8.

Eight. The bunker one counts even if they hate you.

A cheap notebook in the bag. After each hole: club off the tee, miss, what they’d do again.

They write. You do not edit. Patterns show up in a month.

If it becomes homework, it dies. Three words is a complete entry.

Ten 50-yard shots, but they jog 30 yards before each one.

Heart rate up, same routine. This is the shot they will have on 18.

Ten. Then a drink. Then go home.

Two clubs or sticks as rails, just wider than the ball. A mug at the end. U.S. Kids camp staple.

The ball has to stay in the tunnel. Five in a row, they pick the snack. You go next.

When they start aiming the rails instead of rolling the ball — that’s enough.

Stack three balls or three plastic cups. A putter that fits. Four feet away.

Knock the tower down. Rebuild. First to five towers. U.S. Kids / First Tee game — not a stroke-play event.

Five towers. Then they get to stack yours.

A laundry basket or bucket, foam balls, one short wedge.

Land it in the basket. Count out loud. Race you to five.

Twenty foam balls. The neighbors already voted.

Nine tees in a square, 3×3, about a putter-head apart. Two balls of different color, or you vs them.

Putt to a tee to claim the square. Three in a row wins. Best of three games.

Three games. Do not become the rules official.

Same 6-foot putt. They go, you go. Miss and you’re out of that round.

Last one making it picks the next hole on the practice green. Play three rounds.

If it gets mean, it is over. This is a game, not a ranking.

Fringe, a wedge that fits, a hole they can actually get to. Watch Hardy first.

Simple chip, then one putt. Five up-and-downs is a party. Count them.

Five. Not until the pro walks over.

15–25 yards, one wedge, a towel as the landing spot.

Land on the towel, then putt once. Score out of 8. Jim Hardy’s U.S. Kids pitching is the picture.

Eight balls. Then go play a hole.

Balls just off the green. Putter first. Wedge only if the putter is a joke.

Junior short-game rule: the Texas wedge is legal. Eight balls. Count up-and-downs.

When they start flopping it for fun, the putter comes back.

A club on the ground 3 feet short of the hole, across the line. Lag from 20–30 feet.

Finish past the club and short of a 4-foot circle past the hole. Hit the club = poison. You skip a turn.

Ten lags. Speed is the whole game.

Circle of balls at 4 feet. You and them. Make it or sit down.

Take a step back each made round. Last one making it picks dinner.

One game. Protect the series.

Two sleeves of balls (or two tees) just wider than the putter. 4–6 feet.

Stroke through the gate. If you clip a ball, it doesn’t count. Make 10 clean. Michael Breed / Titleist.

Ten clean. Then one from 8 feet without the gate.

Eight balls in a circle at 3 feet. Dave Pelz’s short-putt classic.

Make all eight. A miss restarts the circle. They keep the count of restarts.

Three clean circles is a session. Four is a personality.

3–4 footers, a line on the ball if they use one. Quiet.

Make 10 in a row. Miss and restart. Brad Faxon on short putts — not a swing thought, a roll.

Ten in a row or 15 minutes, whichever comes first.

A few 6–10 footers. They already have a stroke. This is feel, not a rebuild.

Watch Utley. Then roll 20 putts without a lecture. Hands can be in the stroke. You do not become Stan.

Twenty. If you start coaching shoulders, you sit down.