While the college coaches are busy with their season, I am going to give them a break from picking their brains about the recruiting process. Now it’s your chance to get your questions answered. Email me with any questions you have about college recruiting, playing college or professional golf or other questions you may have about becoming the best golfer/person you can be. Send them to bjackson@pkbgt.org and I will do my best to address them over the next few articles.

How often should a player be communicating with a coach?

As with most questions this is relative both to your resume and grad year but hopefully this will give you a general idea. Based on my earlier article about when the process starts for players, that should give you an idea of when the process will typically start based on resume and grad year. From there this is a general rule of thumb to keep in mind. If you are one of the freshmen and sophomores with a strong resume and starting the process early, then you should send out your intro emails and make some follow up phone calls to the coach.

Always include your swing or high school coach’s contact info so that a college coach can reach back out to them. From there, make sure you update the coach about once a month with your upcoming schedule, any tournament results or other achievements. During slower periods this may be closer to every 6 weeks, during prime tournament season this may be more often. Don’t feel like bad scores are a reason not to contact a coach. If the coach is interested they still want to hear from you and want to know what you are learning from your rounds and what you are working on to help you improve.

As a junior the communication will tend to be more often. Coaches can now reply to your emails and return phone calls. If you have made contact with a coach and know that they are interested, then weekly contact is more likely needed at this stage. Keep them posted on your results, your progress with your swing coach, upcoming schedule or things going on with their team/tournaments. Don’t just rely on emails or texts, pick up the phone and call to speak with a coach. This goes a long way in standing out among other players.

Many coaches feel that the younger generations lack interpersonal communication skills, so take the initiative to show them you can speak over the phone and carry on a conversation. You must develop a genuine relationship with a coach to both capture their interest and to help insure you find the best fit. Make sure you schedule visits and try to reach out to coaches several times before you cross them off the list. Always keeping in mind that the more realistic you are, the more responses and communication you will receive, and the increased chances of earning scholarship money.

If you have any questions specific to where you are in the process, please contact me at bjackson@pkbgt.org to schedule a consultation.