I serve as a guest blogger for WomensGolf.com and they recently asked me to write an article about my experiences from playing on tour. I thought I would share that as part of my Recruit PKB article this week. I hope you enjoy some of the stories and lessons from a few of my favorite experiences both on the LPGA and Symetra Tour. You can read all about them HERE.
There is a lot of information out there about what it takes to play golf in college, the scholarship opportunities and what you need to be doing in regards to the recruiting process, but I thought I would take a few minutes and give you some insight on things you may be doing or not doing that could ruin your college scholarship chances. Here are a few of the things you need to know so that you don’t cost yourself the chance to play in college and hopefully earn some scholarship money Poor Grades – For those junior golfers who struggle to keep their grades up in high school, it could be grounds for not receiving a golf scholarship. Poor grades are a red flag for a college coach that you may lack the time management and discipline needed to play golf in college. College life is [...]
I have re-posted almost every blog that Coach Sutherland from SMU has written because the information is so insightful and valuable for junior golf families. I was honored to have her complete an interview for me last year which you can find Part 1 and Part 2. But this week she shared some details about the team's practice schedule that should give you some great ideas on how to set up your practice as well. You can check out the article HERE. Personally, this article was very satisfying for me to read as I just started a 4-week challenge with my full-time players that included some very similar drills that Coach Sutherland uses in her practice. The girls have a specific plan of action each week, they track their results, they WRITE THEM DOWN, they work on their weaknesses, and they have something specific to focus on improving the [...]
Over the weekend, I traveled to DC to be the guest speaker during the Mid-Atlantic College Golf Day at Congressional CC. I was honored and excited to join a group of great coaches that included the Virginia Tech men's head coach, Marshall women's head coach, Towson men's and women's head coach, Naval Academy men's head coach, Bridgewater College coach, McDaniel College coach, Shenandoah University coach and several others. After presenting my talk, I was fortunate to have the chance to sit in on the breakout sessions that were led by the college coaches and I wanted to take a few minutes to share some of the highlights of those sessions that I feel would be valuable information for you. When comparing your scores as a junior golfer to a collegiate player's scores you should add 4-5 shots more to make it a fair comparison. Courses aren't just longer but they are [...]
Social media can be a very useful tool to utilize during the recruiting process but it can also be a way to cost you opportunities if you don’t use it wisely. While there are rules on the coach’s end for connecting with recruits through social media, they can still do their homework to investigate what you are posting about, what your friends are posting about, and how you present yourself when you aren’t in front of them. However, if you use social media wisely, it can be a great way to learn more about the coach, the golf program, and share your own progress throughout your junior golf career. Furman University Head Women’s Golf Coach shared her thoughts on the use of social media: “We are a little limited on who we can friend and things like that, but there’s probably a good chance that I [...]
Join RecruitPKB College Consultant Brandi Jackson for a One-Day Game Assessment & RecruitPKB College Recruiting Workshop on Monday, February 15th, following the Rocket Tour Players at University of Georgia Golf Course. The workshop will be conducted at the UGA Collegiate Golf facilities and the schedule will include: 8:30-9:00: Check In 9:00-10:00: Game Planning for 2016 Session (parents asked to attend): Small group discussion of tournament scheduling, travel tips, navigating the rankings, goal setting, time management 10:00-11:30: Short Game Assessment: Calculated measuring system to determine a player's current short game ability and provide a trackable chart for improvement with recommendations 11:30-12:00: Goal setting session: Girls will complete a specific goal setting exercise and have the opportunity to build their own vision board 12:00-12:30: Lunch 12:30-1:00: Golf Nutrition and Fitness: Understand the importance of proper nutrition on and off the golf course, plus some general golf specific exercises and warm up routines 1:00-2:30: [...]
This article is part of guest series to the RecruitPKB "Complete Golfer" program by Chris Finn, owner of Par4Success in Cary, North Carolina. --- RecruitPKB Perform: Warm-up For Injury Free Power With the season underway I have been getting a lot of questions in the past month about what my juniors can do to increase their distance in the short term while their strength is improving over the long term. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to answer the loaded question with one of the many options as my response is usually, “Well, it depends.” There was a study done recently that looked at the effects of how golfers warmed up and what effect that had on their power output, if any. The study started by having everyone go out and hit golf balls without a warm up and their performance was measured. The next day, the [...]
As we kick off 2016, it’s the perfect time to set your goals for the new year. But by “goals”, I don’t just mean your New Year’s resolutions stating that you want to do something better next year, I am talking about very specific process goals. Yes, you need big picture outcome goals such as scoring milestones, tournament finishes, your dream university, etc to keep you motivated and driven to reach the end result that you are working towards, but when setting goals you need to be very specific in what you need to do day in and day out, week in and week out, in order to achieve those big outcome goals. I had a lesson in goal setting myself recently that I thought I would share to help encourage you to set your goals for 2016. All the way back to my college golf days, [...]
Here is an updated breakdown of the average scores that a college coach looks for with their recruits. Keep in mind these are general guidelines, some variations and exceptions are possible. Click on image to enlarge. Examples of national tours/tourneys: PKBGT Invitationals and Championships, AJGA Invitationals and Championships, USGA, PGA Jr Championship, Big I Championship, Optimist International, etc Examples of regional tours/tourneys: PKBGT, HJGT, SJGT, FCG, IJGT, Golfweek Jr Tour, etc
“It’s not about how talented you are, it’s about how hard you work to make the most of the talent you were given” – Me 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 very natural talent for golf from an early age. I didn’t have to be taught a lot of mechanics, early in my golf career swing coaches wouldn’t make any changes to my swing except a few tweaks to my setup if it got off. I could naturally figure out how to properly swing the club, work the ball, creatively get myself out of trouble and hit different short game shots around the green without thinking much about mechanics. Now [...]
