Sophomore year is the transition year for most junior golfers. It’s the year that tends to determine what path you will take with playing collegiate golf. In many cases where your golf game is by sophomore year will determine what level you play in college golf. This isn’t always the case but you need to make sure you maximize your time both on and off the course.
As you approach the winter months it is extremely important to get your resume together and begin to send out intro emails. Yes, if your resume isn’t what the coaches are looking for at this stage then you may not be able to make much progress but it is time to begin to figure that out so you can set a better game plan. Make sure your resume includes all of the necessary information that a coach needs to know.
Begin to research potential good fits. You can use www.collegegolf.com to search and read more about the golf programs. You can also visit the team and school websites. You can find the team rankings at www.golfstat.com and www.golfweek.com. Also www.collegeboard.com will give you lots of great insight into the school and what it offers for a student.
Keep in mind coaches can’t reply to your emails at this stage so you will need help from your swing coach (or someone like myself) who can help communicate with the college coaches. You can also try to make phone calls and hopefully get the chance to speak with them by phone to set up a visit this winter. Being proactive is very important at this stage in order to not fall behind once your junior year gets here.
As we near the end of 2015, it is a great time to set some goals for the upcoming year. Write down a few big outcome goals you have in mind, but remember the important part of setting goals is to develop a game plan and specific short term process goals that will help you stay on track and see your progress. Focus on time management and better practice habits. These are two areas that many junior golfers struggle with, so the sooner you can develop better habits the better chance you will have of reaching your potential.
While the winter time provides players the chance to take a little break make sure you don’t get too far behind. Don’t let the cold weather scare you away, make the most of your practice time when the weather is decent enough to be outside. There are some great indoor drills you can work on to keep your fundamentals in check. A hitting and chipping net, putting aids and a mat, foam golf balls, tempo swing trainers and many other aids can help you when the weather outside is too extreme for practice.
Also, the winter time is a great chance to get in the gym with a TPI certified trainer to work on your fitness. As long as you are with a certified coach, who knows what they are doing, it’s never too early to develop some agility, strength and conditioning that will help with your overall athletic ability as well as your golf game..
As a sophomore, you can’t take the mindset that you have plenty of time and you can’t just wait for things to happen. Understand that you must take ownership of the process and begin to make things happen in regards to college recruiting. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself when you are in competition but know that you need to continue working hard and stay focused on what you can control in order to achieve your dreams of playing collegiate golf.
If you would like assistance with building your resume, developing your game plan for 2016, or any of these other areas check out the RecruitPKB packages or contact Brandi directly to discuss her full time programs.
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