Recruit PKB: Parent Influence on the Player’s Decision

žThis week's Recruit PKB: Recruiting Process article from the series "Parent Role in the College Recruiting Process" will cover a parent's influence on a player's decision. Obviously the parent's will have a major influence on their daughter's college decision, but trying to help your daughter make the right decision for herself can be a difficult task. Below are a few tips to help the parents guide their daughter through her decision making process. Review all of the positives and negatives for each school: Help your daughter create a positives and negatives list for each school as she takes visits, communicates with coaches and does research. Your role as a parent is to insure they put emphasis on the important factors within each of these lists and don't base their decision on the wrong factors. Help them to understand what each factor will mean for their college experience [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:10:35-04:00September 30th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Parent Role with Coaches

žžThis week's Recruit PKB: Recruiting Process article from the series "Parent Role in the College Recruiting Process" will cover a parent's role with college coaches. The relationship a parent builds with a college coach through the process can have a major influence on the coach's decision. Below are a few areas to be aware of as a parent so that you as well can make the best impression on your daughter's future coach. Say hi to coaches at tournaments but don't approach them: Because recruiting rules can vary so much depending on a player's grad year, always stick to the side of caution when you see a coach at tournaments. Be friendly and say hi but try to allow them to begin a conversation if they choose to. Some coaches are more talkative and will carry on conversations with parents, others just want to be left to themselves [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:10:35-04:00September 1st, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Parent Role at Tournaments

žThis week's Recruit PKB: Recruiting Process article from the series "Parent Role in the College Recruiting Process" will cover a parent's role at junior golf tournaments. I cover parent behavior quite often throughout my seminars and articles because I know the influence it can have on a young girl's golf career. I also know the influence it can have on a college coach's decision to recruit a player. One of the first experiences a coach will have when recruiting a player is the interaction that they see between a parent and child at a junior golf tournament. Below are a few tips on ways to insure your role at a tournament is a positive one for both your daughter and a college coach. Don’t hover when they are warming up: Try not to hover over your daughter while she is warming up to play. It is ok to [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:10:36-04:00August 24th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Support Without Pushing Too Hard

žThe next series of "Recruit PKB: Recruiting Process" articles will cover a parent's role in the different aspects of the college recruiting process. The first topic addressed is one that I get asked very often from parents who are concerned with pushing their daughter too hard, but who also know their daughter needs some guidance and structure in order to stay on track towards her goal of playing college golf. I am not a parent myself but I do understand that there is a very thin line between pushing too hard and just trying to keep a young girl motivated to succeed. Below are 5 recommendations that I believe can help a parent understand how to best support their daughter and work together as a team throughout the recruiting process. žContinue to ask your daughter what she wants out of her golf: First and foremost, it must [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:10:36-04:00August 17th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: College Coach Perspective Part 5

As many players make their college decision over the next few months here are some thoughts to consider that college coaches feel are important factors. From a coach's perspective, what are some factors to help a junior golfer determine the right fit? “Do they like the school, the coach and the team? Does the school have the correct major for the student? It is important to establish a relationship with the coach and to know the students on the team. The student must be qualified academically. The student has to have a solid tournament record.” – D1 Coach “The Coach, what is expected by the coach out of the student athlete, size of school, area of study, how far you want to be from home, the team.” – D1 Coach “Does the school have my major field of study? How many players are on the team? Is [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:10:36-04:00July 21st, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Happy Mother’s Day!

With Mother's Day around the corner I thought this would be a great chance to give all of those golf mom's some recognition for what they do. Because many times it tends to be the dad who does most of the coaching and caddying, the moms don't always get the credit they deserve. Many of their responsibilities are pre-tournament or behind the scenes such as getting the junior golfer to practice everyday, signing up for tournaments, booking travel, packing, providing snacks and being the cheerleader. From my own experience, my mom always made sure I had snacks on the course. Sometimes it was a superstition factor that decided what she would pack, such as marshmallows, other times it was grapes, granola bars or a sandwich. She helped plan my travel as a junior golfer and made sure I packed what I would need on the road. When [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:30-04:00April 28th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Warm Up Like a Pro

I hope many of you got the chance to watch The Masters this past week. I know for me it is definitely "a tradition unlike any other". I've been fortunate to attend 10+ times starting when I was just 6 or 7 years old. I absolutely love the thrill of walking in the gates and seeing the beauty of Augusta National that not even the best HD TV can come close to capturing. But the part I like the most is the chance to watch the players warm up. I could spend the majority of my day down there sitting on the practice area watching the players warm up. You may not be able to hit the ball like the pros do or putt like they do but you can certainly learn a few things from how they go about warming up and getting ready to play. [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:31-04:00April 13th, 2014|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Upcoming Schedule

A very important step to remember is to email coaches with your upcoming schedule. Heading into the spring and summer months is a great time to get this done. Coaches have no way of knowing where you will be playing unless you tell them. So if you want them to come out and watch make sure you let them know where you are going to be. Don't wait until the end of summer to send them your results, make the opportunity available for them to come out and watch you play. For 2015 recruits, coaches are able to reply to your emails so it's a great idea to ask them where they plan to be this summer or if they have any suggestions for tournaments. This way you can try to play in tournaments that you know they plan to attend so you have a higher chance [...]

By |2017-09-13T12:14:13-04:00April 7th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Just Say No to Negative Self Talk

Every time you hit a bad shot, have a bad hole or make a mental mistake stop for a second and ask yourself this question. What would I tell my playing partners if they did the same thing? I highly doubt you would tell them "that was stupid" or "geez what were you thinking" or "you're terrible". More than likely you would tell them "it's OK" or "shake it off" and not really have much emotion towards their shot. You may feel bad for them if they are having a rough day but you would never put them down or belittle their golf skills. So why do that to yourself? Why beat yourself up about a bad shot or mental mistake? Shouldn't you be as quick to boost your own self up as you would be to do it for somebody else? We can all be our [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:31-04:00March 30th, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Find Your Mantra

According to Wikipedia a mantra "means a sacred utterance, numinous sound, or a syllable, word, phonemes, or group of words believed by some to have psychological and spiritual power". Mantras are personal and self-motivating. They are words that inspire an athlete to excel and stay focused. Every athlete should have their own mantra. It can be original or one that is borrowed. It can be one word or a whole sentence. But it must be something that you can remember and always turn to when you need it. It must inspire you to get through whatever obstacles you struggle with both on and off the golf course. Here is a great article on some mantras from athletes in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Two of my favorites from this list are "breathe, believe, and battle" and "if you think you can't, you won't and if you think you [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:31-04:00March 3rd, 2014|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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