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: 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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RecruitPKB: Junior Golfers and Working Out

As many adults have probably gotten back in the gym as part of their New Year's resolution it's a great time to get the kids interested in working out as well. It is never to early for a junior golfer to learn the basics of good nutrition and exercise. I wish I had learn these habits at an earlier age. I didn't realize the importance of eating healthy and working out until I started my degree in Health and Exercise Science at Furman and we started working out as a golf team. It's very hard to change bad habits, even to this day I still struggle with it. I love doing Crossfit and spin class, and I do my best to eat healthy when I can given my schedule but it's still not easy. Not only will learning these habits at a younger age help the junior [...]

By |2018-03-21T20:46:38-04:00January 12th, 2014|Physical Performance Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Happy New Year

As we all ring in the New Year I'm sure many of you have set some goals/resolutions for yourself. A new year feels like the start of something fresh, a time to change bad habits, a time to commit to being a better you. The majority of people will set an outcome goal they want to reach (lose weight, eat better, work less, work harder, spend less, etc...). They become so focused on the outcome, i.e. the future, that they forget about the process and what they must commit to doing each day to reach those goals. I love this article by Train to be Clutch's Joshua Medcalf, "Burn your goals to become the person of your dream". He says "I want to see your commitment list. I want to know what you are committed to sacrificing and doing with your 24 hours a day to close [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:32-04:00December 29th, 2013|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Developing Talent

It's not about how talented you are, it's about how hard you work to develop talent. This may sound crazy but one of the biggest detriments to a young player's development is being told how talented they are. Check out this short video about motivation and hard work. I was one of those players who had a natural talent for golf from a very early age. I didn't have to be taught a lot of mechanics, I could just naturally figure out how to swing the club and hit short game shots with ease. Now that I work with young players, it has made me look back on my career to the things that kept me from being more successful out on tour. I truly believe that continually being told that I was lucky to have a lot of natural talent, kept me from working as hard [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:57-04:00October 27th, 2013|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Forget About It

As a player myself, I know how tough it is to let go of a bad shot or bad hole. The year I finished runner up at the US Women's Am I had a sticker on my golf bag that said "Forget About It". We were playing just outside of NYC and I got the sticker out of a machine at dinner early in the week. The cameras would occasionally show the sticker on TV and the media would even ask me about it after my rounds. It became my mantra for the week and even later on in my professional career. I know that many times you tell yourself to put a bad shot or bad hole behind you, yet it still carries over and affects the rest of your round. You lose confidence and find yourself hesitant over the next shot. You start to worry [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:57-04:00September 15th, 2013|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Keep up with your stats

A great way to become a complete player is learning to keep up with your stats. I know many of the parents do this but taking ownership of this as a player can really help you learn more about your game. Collegiate players keep track of their own stats and input them after every tournament. At a minimum, they keep up with fairways, greens, putts, up/downs and bunker up/downs. As a professional, when I wrote down my score after each hole I would also jot down F for hitting the fairway, G for hitting the green, tally marks for putts, U/D or Sand if I got it up and down, or a slash through U/D or Sand if I didn't. Then I would add them each up at the end of the round. While there are more detailed ways of keeping up with stats, these are a [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:46:57-04:00August 25th, 2013|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments
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