This week I tackled 3 questions that were submitted by players and parents on my IGTV series. 1. How important is course length for a tournament resume for college recruiting? Is 5800 yards the minimum? 2. What was my favorite part about playing college golf? 3. When is the ideal time to commit? WATCH HERE -Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant For questions or to schedule your free PKB 30 Minute Initial Consultation send an email to bjackson@pkbgt.org
This is an assignment that I can not emphasize the importance of enough, go watch college golf tournaments. The spring season is getting underway this week and there are some great opportunities to plan a trip to a college golf tournament. If you are in the midst of the process and talking with several coaches then you need to go watch them "in action". It is one thing to sit across the desk from a coach and ask questions, maybe even chat by phone and get to know each other, but you MUST get a better feel for how they are when they are coaching during a tournament. There are a lot of different coaching styles and not all are going to be ideal for your personality. If you get the chance to watch, pay close attention to how they interact with their players and how the [...]
For both 2022 and 2023 recruits, it is that time of year for official and unofficial visits. While visits are more often going to be offered on the coaches' end, you can still request to take an unofficial visit if you have an interest in the school and golf program. There is a lot of misleading and misunderstood information about unofficial vs official visits. As with so many areas of this process, this comparison is going to be very situational based on the coach and athletic dept, but I wanted to address a few things to help you better understand the differences. Unofficial visits are paid entirely by the prospect, with the exception of 3 complimentary tickets to a sporting event. You can take as many unofficial visits as you would like throughout your junior and senior years. Official visits are paid either entirely or partly [...]
“She shot 72 in her practice round, why can’t she do that in tournaments”. As a long-time competitive player, I simply want to say, “it’s just not the same thing” and expect people to take that as an answer. Obviously, it doesn’t work that way so let's see if I can create some of the feelings of playing tournament golf that just can't be simulated in practice rounds. Even if you take your practice round seriously, count every stroke, and play with intent there are still no consequences to your shots and decisions. From the minute you wake up on tournament day there is a different mentality and feeling in your body. This can vary based on which day of the tournament it is, the caliber of the tournament, where you stand on the leaderboard, your playing partners, and the potential for college coaches to be [...]
Based on the timing of the NCAA rules, with the COVID dead period recently ending, you will need to schedule and take visits so that you can meet with the coaches and get a chance to see if it’s going to be a good fit. While visits, especially official visits, are more often being offered on the coaches’ end, you can still request to take an unofficial visit. Be prepared for your visits if you are meeting with the coach. Use the research you did before to have topics of discussion. Be sure you are up to date on how the team played this past season. Make sure you have questions to ask and that you are prepared for any questions you may get asked. Get to know the coach as much as possible. Be observant and attentive. Be gracious and courteous. Say thank you. Sit [...]
As you may know, the Covid implemented Dead Period will end on May 31, which means for the first time in over a year DI college coaches can recruit again! This also, means you can take visits that will allow you to meet the coach and athletic staff. For the next couple of weeks, I am going to do some refreshers on these areas to help you better prepare for these exciting experiences! Since you as parents may be out of practice or it will be a new experience to have a coach watch your daughter, I want to give a few tips on what the coaches look for and hope to see in potential recruit's parent behavior. 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 watch her hit balls [...]
As you may know, the Covid implemented Dead Period will end on May 31, which means for the first time in over a year DI college coaches can recruit again! This also, means you can take visits that will allow you to meet the coach and athletic staff. For the next couple of weeks, I am going to do some refreshers on these areas to help you better prepare for these exciting experiences! For many players, this may be the first time you will have a college coach watch you play. It may be the first time you really get those nervous jitters on the golf course. It can be tough to concentrate and focus on your game. You feel the pressure that you need to play well or else you may lose your chance to impress that coach. So many thoughts and emotions can go [...]
I've been having some discussions recently with some of my players about how they get caught up in their score and wondering how they can prevent that. And my answer was, you can't! In my opinion, it's just part of getting better and knowing that you’re close to shooting a new low round. It is just part of the process. You can't really just ignore the obvious at that point, which is your score. To expect a young golfer to not think about their score when that is really the ultimate goal they are aiming for is really tough to ask. But thankfully, each time it happens and you are aware of it, then it gets easier the next time. So I recommend giving yourself a little bit of a break from thinking that it’s such a negative thing right now. When you’re in those moments, [...]
During a recent player consultation, I had a discussion about the number of schools a recruit should contact. This player shared her list of about 30 schools that she had contacted and out of them, at least 20 of them were top 75 ranked DI programs and the other 10 were top 125 ranked. This particular player had an average score of 79 as a 2022 recruit. And while I am an advocate for having big goals to work hard to achieve and keeping some dream schools on your list, you just have to be cautious about what percentage of dream school vs realistic schools you have on your list. In my recruiting checklist, I say to contact 50+ schools but as with many parts of this process that is dependent on many factors. The reason I use that number is for the average player who is [...]
Based on the NCAA rules that apply to the current period for your grad year, once you get a resume put together and do some research on schools and programs, you should begin to send out intro emails to coaches. A well-written intro email (by the student-athlete) is the first step in contacting the coaches. This email needs to provide some insight about you as a player, student, and person and have your resume/video attached or linked. You can use the same format for all of your intro emails but make sure they are specific and personal to each coach. Use your research notes! You can send intro emails at any point, there are no rules or restrictions on players sending emails to coaches. But a coach can not reply to emails or answer phone calls until June 15th prior to junior year so keep that [...]
