Last week I shared some of the college coach's feedback about demanding majors and their impact on playing college golf. I took to IGTV to clarify some things and give a bit more insight and perspective on this subject and why it's so important to consider. IGTV EPISODE Written by: Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant For more information about college recruiting, please contact Brandi at bjackson@pkbgt.org
I recently dove into more research and insight on players wanting to pursue certain majors in college that have a tendency to conflict with golf schedules and coach preferences. I've got quite a bit to share so I'll start this week with some of the coaches feedback. Keep in mind, that these particular responses are from some of the most elite DI programs (all are top 100 ranked DI prograams) where the golf demand is very tough, along with some demanding academic schools included in these responses. I started with this group of coaches/programs just to shed some light on those elite programs that many girls dream of attending. As much as many girls want to overachieve and “do it all”, sometimes it’s just not that simple. I’ll be sharing more coach and player responses plus data on programs across all divisions as this was just a [...]
For those that may not know, I moved on from playing professional golf back in 2010 after giving it a go for 8 years. It's hard for many people to believe how little golf I play these days after over 20 years of playing competitively. I shared this story several years but it popped back up on my feed recently so I thought I would share it again with a few updates. I was asked to play in a 27 hole 2 person team tournament for a big charity here in the upstate of SC. I was paired up with Ali Rogers, 2012 Miss SC, and 2013 Miss America Runner Up. She had played a little high school golf but was a big softball player. The format was 9 hole best ball and 9 hole captains' choice before going in for lunch to be re-flighted and re-paired [...]
"MORE THAN YOUR SCORE" Never forget that you are better, bigger, brighter, and bolder than your score. Your score is just.... a number. a tally of golf shots. a total of drives, GIRs, up and downs, and putts. You are the sum of... all the hard work, dedication, and commitment to getting better all the hours practicing by yourself all the late nights studying all the effort in the gym all the putting drills till dark all the range balls till your hands hurt all the tournaments, practice rounds, long car drives, and weather delays all the wins and losses all the friends made You are more than your score If you need any assistance please contact Recruit PKB College Recruiting Consultant Brandi Jackson at bjackson@pkbgt.org.
If you want to have dream schools on your list that is completely ok, I love to see a female golfer willing to work hard to play at the highest level possible. But especially if scholarship money is a top priority, then you need to focus most of your time and energy on the realistic schools where you are #1 or #2 on their list. If you only focus on your dream schools where you are on the coach's “interested” list then you will find yourself missing opportunities at great schools and programs where you may receive offers earlier. Scholarship money is not as abundant as many are led to believe so be sure you give yourself the opportunity to earn scholarship money by being realistic with the schools you focus on. Written by: Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant For more information about college recruiting, please contact Brandi at bjackson@pkbgt.org
I recently had a discussion about the number of schools a recruit should contact. Typically when a player shows me a list of 20-30 schools, the majority, if not all of them are unrealistic for the given recruiting timeline. While I am an advocate for having big goals that you have to work hard to achieve and reaching out to some dream schools, you have to be cautious about what percentage of dream schools vs realistic schools you have on your list. This not only leads to a lack of coach responses and interest, but it also creates a lot of anxiety and a decrease in confidence. In my recruiting content, I always say to contact 50+ schools but as with most parts of this process that is dependent on many factors. The reason I use that number is for the average player who is doing this [...]
"I was playing decent before I was talking to coaches. And when I started talking to them my scores went higher. I feel really stressed." - Junior Golfer In many ways, this is almost inevitable. No matter when you start the process, there is almost always going to be a shift in your mentality and expectations. Even if you have big goals of playing college golf at an early age, it’s difficult to avoid the added stress and pressure that the actual recruiting process can place on you. It is meant to be a learning, challenging, uncomfortable process that helps you decide a big piece of your future. For some recruits, the stress isn’t seen as much in their actual games bc they were able to get over stages of development prior to the process starting for them. For them, the stress may come more in the [...]
At the start of the new year, I shared with you some things to consider reflecting on from 2021 in order to then plan for 2022. I had all my clients do this assignment, this week I wanted to share some of the most common and most insightful responses that they shared with me. What sentence or phrase sums up your 2021? "A rollercoaster" "Hard work works" "Frustrating but making progress" "Improvise. Adapt. Overcome." "You learn more by losing than by winning," What is the biggest challenge you overcame this past year? "Balance between school and golf" "Online school" "Getting back up even when I wasn't seeing the progress" "Letting go of all the negative thoughts I had about my game" "Recovery from surgery/injury" What was the single biggest time “waster” this year? "Doubting myself and thinking I couldn't" "Not working on my mental game" [...]
"Any young girl starting this process should know that, like anything, it takes practice to be comfortable emailing and talking to coaches, so don’t beat yourself up. I remember physically shaking before my first phone call! Do your best to prepare, which is all that you can ultimately control, and learn from every experience just like you do on the golf course." - Allie Kantor 2021 Recruit - UVA Class of 2025 The recruiting process certainly has a way of making you feel uncomfortable, but so does your golf game, college golf, and life in general. Learning to prepare for the steps in the recruiting process is vital to successful communication with college coaches. Those first emails when you hit send and first phone calls with a coach will make you a bit nervous and scared. But the more you learn, prepare and plan for each [...]
"I would say my least favorite part of the recruiting process was the very beginning. It was difficult for me to stay motivated at that point when I wasn’t seeing those immediate responses from coaches or a lot of immediate results. But as I learned, it is a long process, and it was definitely worth the patience and time I put in in the end." - Megan Morris, Freshman at Rhodes College For those who may feel like the process isn’t going as you imagined or you aren’t seeing the results from your work, just remember to stay focused on your efforts. The timeline and end goal may look very different than what you’re anticipating right now, but if you are committed and persistent then it is going to work out as it should. It requires a lot of trust in the process but also not [...]
