Recruit PKB: Challenge Yourself

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you" This is just one of the many great quotes about the necessary impact of facing challenges. This is quite possibly one of the most truthful quotes you can find about life. You can also easily apply it to golf and your development as a player. I could sit and write for hours about this quote but I will keep it to just a few tidbits about how this applies to a young junior golfer. As with anything in life, if you aren't challenging yourself then you will never learn how to grow and develop as a person or an athlete. Take a minute and think about all of the big moments in your life, both good and bad, which ones do you feel that you learned the most from? Typically those are going to be the more "trying" [...]

By |2018-11-03T11:32:49-04:00October 31st, 2018|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Setting Realistic Goals and Dreams

I find myself very conflicted on the motto of "Dream Big" but also understanding in a setting like college recruiting what it can lead to through the process if you aren't realistic in your dreams and goals. If you have such a high standard for where you want to play college golf but physically, mentally, or maturity wise you aren't able to reach that dream, then you will end up feeling like the opportunities you have aren't good enough or you won't even give yourself the chance to find opportunities that will allow you to succeed in college golf. Yes, I hope you all have big dreams! Whether it's golf related, or your academics, or your future career, whatever it is - DREAM BIG! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I had a BIG dream when I was just 8 or 9 years old that I wanted [...]

By |2018-10-25T12:03:00-04:00October 25th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Let’s Talk About Goal Setting

Goal setting is an important step in the process of becoming the best junior and collegiate golfer you can be. But goal setting and the process of achieving them have been up for a lot of debate over the years. So I wanted to take the next couple of weeks to share my thoughts on setting goals and how I've learned to approach this process in my own life now in comparison to during my golf career. For starters, it starts with setting goals for yourself, not for anyone else. As a young athlete, I do believe your parents, coaches, and other adults are the best resources for advice and support on setting the right goals. Many times they do have a better understanding of what success looks like in the future and that the process isn't always going to be fun and games. They know that [...]

By |2018-10-04T11:15:34-04:00October 4th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Trying Out Competitive Golf Again

For those who may follow my social media (@bjacksongolf) you probably saw that I decided to play some competitive golf again for the first time in almost 8 years. My last full season was in 2009 where I played 11 LPGA Tour events that year and the rest on the Symetra Tour, then I only played a handful of events on the Symetra Tour in 2010 and officially gave up full time playing by 2011 so it has been quite a while since I played competitively. And within those 8 years since "retirement" I don't exactly play much golf period, except a few charity outings every year so this was quite the decision to play some competitive golf again. So for the last 4-5 weeks, I tried to commit some time each week to practicing and playing some rounds of golf. I switched my workouts from training [...]

By |2018-08-24T13:52:34-04:00August 16th, 2018|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Embrace Being Different

We were all made to be unique individuals. We all look different, think different and act differently. But as a middle school or high school student, it can sometimes be difficult to accept the things about yourself that are different. It is so tempting to want to fit in and be part of the popular crowd. But, the truth is the people who learn to embrace the things about themselves that make them unique tend to be the ones that go on to be more successful than those that don't. They are more confident and secure because they know who they are and they know that their uniqueness sets them apart from everyone else. I promise that what you think is popular now will mean very little a year from now and especially once you get to college. Growing up it wasn't necessarily "cool" to be a [...]

By |2018-07-19T10:42:25-04:00July 19th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Ladder Drill

No matter how good of a short game you may have, it never hurts to work on basic fundamentals. This ladder drill is a great way to work on consistency with your chipping. If you can't consistently land the golf ball where you want to on the green then you are keeping yourself from maximizing your potential. There are several different ways to keep the ladder drill engaging and creative. Lay 3 or 4 clubs or alignment sticks a few feet onto the green. Leaving about 3 feet in between each one. Try to land a ball inside each space in a row going up the ladder, repeat coming back down. If you miss a space then start over. Repeat with a different club. Try to call which spot you want to land the ball in and see how many times you can successfully hit the correct [...]

By |2018-06-29T09:02:15-04:00June 29th, 2018|Player Performance Articles|1 Comment

RecruitPKB: Find the Right Fit

The ultimate goal through the college recruiting process is to find the right fit with both the school and the golf program. As much as I wish I could say this was the easy part, unfortunately, it can be a very stressful time. Even if you take lots of visits, do the research and ask all the right questions, it can still be a tough decision. Sometimes you may end up having to go off that gut feeling that you get about a particular school, other times it may be an obvious right fit and for some, they may not feel they have found the right fit but are determined to make it the best 4 years of their life. But no matter what, you must do as much homework as possible so that you can make the best decision based on the options that are available. [...]

By |2018-06-15T16:57:07-04:00June 7th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

Recruit PKB: Ask the Right Questions

In order to begin to determine if a golf program and university is the right fit you must ask the right questions. You need to find out as much information about the coach's philosophy, how the program is run, what the university offers and if you are compatible with all of these. Make sure you keep track of the answers and compare what you feel is important for each school. Below are just a few questions to help get you started. Examples: What are the admissions requirements? What are common majors for golfers? Are there specific rules/regulations? Sororities/fraternities, curfews, mandatory activities, etc… Can you live off campus? What is a typical week of practice and workouts? How far are the facilities from campus?   For more help on the college recruiting process please contact RecruitPKB College Consultant, Brandi Jackson at bjackson@pkbgt.org    

By |2018-05-31T10:13:01-04:00May 30th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Masters Takeaways

One of the best takeaways a young player can get from Masters week is to watch the Masters on the Range coverage. If you don't get a chance to watch, here are a few takeaways from how the pros warm up: 📌 Most aren’t going to get too technical the morning of a tournament round 📌 They focus on balance and tempo with their swings 📌 They give themselves different lies around the practice greens 📌 They focus on putting fundamentals, usually with a training aid or some tees 📌 They take their time and focus on every shot they hit 📌 They aren’t rushed or anxious Your warmup is NEVER the time to get frustrated or in your head about not hitting it perfect or not feeling 100% confident. It’s the time to accept what is going on that day, trust your abilities and not fight [...]

By |2018-04-05T11:35:10-04:00April 5th, 2018|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Include Your References

"This is frustrating.  A request with no opportunity to respond. It would be good if you could do a blog to your mailing list and tell kids to be specific about times, places, (swing) coach's numbers for responses and figure out whether or not the coach is interested....... By the way, I think it's rude if I just no-show a kid and I wouldn't do that if it was possible to avoid it, but this makes it tough to avoid.  My goal is to treat all players with dignity and kindness whether or not we are interested or not." This past week a college coach at a top 75 ranked DI program forwarded an email to me that she received from a 2020 recruit. She thought if I shared why the email frustrated her as a coach it might help others not make the same mistake. The [...]

By |2018-01-26T12:28:34-05:00January 26th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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