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: Setting Specific Goals and Dreams

While some goals and dreams are going to be general, do your best to keep them as specific as you can. This may mean that you need to readjust as you get closer to reaching your goal or dream to make it more specific to your current progress. As I mentioned the other week, I had a dream when I was 8 or 9 years old to play on the LPGA Tour, and while then it was obviously understandable at that age to not be very specific about that dream, as I got older I never readjusted to set a more specific dream. I technically did live out my dream to "play" on the LPGA Tour so I can't be mad at 8-year-old Brandi, but what might have happened if I had set my dream to finish top 10 in a tournament, or maybe even win an [...]

By |2018-10-18T08:11:15-04:00October 18th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Long Term vs Short Term vs Process Goals

Last week I talked about the importance of knowing the "why" behind your goals and now this week I want to talk about the difference between long term, short term, and process goals. All three are important but knowing the difference and which ones to focus on can be the difference in achieving them or not. Goals are normally thought of as future achievements. They are dreams and wishes for something you want to happen in the future. By the time I was 9 years old, I already had my long-term goal (or dream) - to play on the LPGA Tour. That is all I wanted to do. I never made a backup plan, never thought about another profession or career. Not long after that, I set another shorter, but still, long-term goal, to play at Furman University. Because of the legacy of the Furman Women's Golf program, I knew it [...]

By |2019-01-18T12:06:56-05:00October 11th, 2018|Player Performance 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: Club Golf in College

The goal for most young female golfers is to move on to play varsity golf in college, however, that plan doesn't always work out when the school of your choice and the golf program's needs for a player like yourself don't match up. If this does happen to you, it doesn't mean you have to give up playing golf once you get to college. The statistics on playing varsity golf in college aren’t exactly optimistic. According to the NCAA, only 2% of male high school golfers will play Division 1, and 3% for females. For students that don’t go to Division 1 though, there’s still plenty of options available. Division 2, Division 3, NAIA, NJCAA, as well as several smaller leagues provide a competitive outlet for students. One option that is often overlooked is non-varsity college golf. Club golf has grown tremendously in the last couple years [...]

By |2018-09-19T20:12:22-04:00September 19th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

Recruit PKB: College Coach Perspective

Some insight from college coaches on what junior golfers can do beyond their games to prepare for college golf. What else beyond their golf game can they do to better prepare for college golf? "Time management is the biggest problem for Freshman. If you can start making a weekly schedule now it will help you when you get to college." – Division 1 Women’s Coach “Work hard in school. Take Honors and AP classes. The harder you work in high school, the easier it will be in college. You'll have a better foundation and be less stressed about golf. You cannot work too hard in high school!!” – Division 1 Women’s Coach “Academics! 9th grade means as much as 12th grade. The better your grades the better options you will have for scholarship opportunities.” – Division 1 Women’s Coach “Improved interpersonal communications skills; modern technology has all [...]

By |2018-08-30T11:37:50-04:00August 30th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Preparing for September 1

This past week we hosted a webinar on Preparing for Sept 1st (of junior year). If you missed the webinar you can listen to the replay <HERE> I wanted to share a few of the highlights that we discussed on the webinar. If you are interested in scheduling your free 30-minute RecruitPKB consultation to learn more about the recruiting process please select a time from the online calendar <HERE>. Preparing for Sept 1st 1. Understand the NCAA contact rules for Sept 1 of Junior Year Electronic communication is allowed by the coaches (phone calls, texts, and emails) starting on Sept 1 of junior year. Prior to Sept 1 of junior year, coaches can only communicate with a player if the player calls and they answer or the coach speaks to a 3rd party (high school or swing coach). Official and unofficial visits are allowed starting Sept 1 of a recruit's [...]

By |2018-08-24T13:51:28-04:00August 23rd, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Bad Attitude in College Recruiting

How much does a bad attitude affect a golfers chance for a scholarship? "Positive attitude is the number one thing I look for and a bad one is an instant radar killer. Have one and you’re off my radar immediately." - DI Women's Head Coach "Depends on the coach. Attitude might not affect scholarship but may affect how many options he/she has. A bad attitude usually reflects character, and character is the number one thing we look for in a recruit." DII Women's Head Coach I was recently asked this question on Instagram during a Q and A session so I reached out to a few coach friends of mine to see what they had to say. A bad attitude is definitely a consistent factor in a coaches "red flag" list. Keep in mind tho that all coaches do have different player styles that they like to see [...]

By |2018-07-26T11:53:53-04:00August 9th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

Recruit PKB: College Coaches Advice to Parents

  What advice would you give parents to better support their kids throughout junior golf? "Don't make decisions or discourage the decisions your children make. Help them learn how to do things for themselves." - D1 Men's and Women's Coach "Let the kid push themselves because in golf you need to be self-motivated once you get to college golf" - D1 Women's Coach "Let them be responsible for themselves, making schedules, filling out applications" - D1 Men's Coach "Stay out of the way and don't interfere with golf swings. Let the instructor or coach deal with it and let it be their responsibility" - D2 Men's and Women's Coach "Parents need to realize that not every kid is going to be a superstar, in fact, most often, their child will excel when they play a supportive role behind the scenes." - D1 Women's Coach How much of [...]

By |2018-07-26T11:24:19-04:00August 2nd, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Understanding the Coach’s Gut Feeling

Many parts of the recruiting process are difficult to understand and explain but a coach's "gut feeling" is definitely one of the toughest, especially in my role with a player and parent who are trying to figure out if and what they may have done wrong. I recently asked a college coach to share her thoughts on that "gut feeling" and this is what she had to say: "Last year I tried to soul search for the best way to answer that because I realized I haven’t ever signed two players for the same reason. The only thing they all had in common was a feeling I got at some point along the way that told me I need her on my team! And now I just own it because it really is true. No resume stands out for being great, the only ones that “stand [...]

By |2018-07-26T11:16:26-04:00July 26th, 2018|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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