It’s been a long time since the last time i tried out for high school golf team, but i see a lot of kids asking questions about it, so i decided to share my experience as well. I’m in college now, and actually don’t play golf anymore, but believe it or not, i was quite good in my teenage years and regularly made it in my high school golf team. It wasn’t result of much practice, either. It’s just that my father is huge golf fanatic, and would take me along with him whenever he went to play. And i went, because i enjoy to play golf, and would be doing it now as well, if it wasn’t for my busy schedule. With part time work and studies, i just can’t find a spare time or money to get my own golf gear and visit nearest golf course. Back home, my dad bought me this great junior golf club set (second in this list of best juniors clubs by GolfClubsGuru), but i’ve grown and become too tall to play with those now. And don’t want to ask my dad for new one, as he’s already sacrificing a lot for me. But as soon as i graduate and get my life on track, i will definitely get back to my roots and start playing golf again.
Now that we’ve covered my background, let’s get to the point. My first advice for junior trying out for high school golf team, would be to focus on your game. I know it sounds obvious, and it actually is obvious, but when most kids are in high school, they’re obsessed appearing perfect and fitting in. So you might have some technique that you use and is advantageous to your game, but might be tempted to give it up just because you’re the only one using it. Under no circumstances should you do that. Just do you. If others express curiosity about your style of game, explain what you’re doing and keep going, but never observe others and try to find things wrong with your style. That never ends up well. Although there’s fine line between what i advised before and not listening to any objections at all. And it’s going to take me long few pages to get through that, so i’ll let you define that line instead.
And my second biggest tip would be to play for fun. Not for extracurricular achievements or whatever other goal you might have, but just for fun. Do your best at the tryouts, but just do it for the fun. It will help you stay relaxed during the game and keep your head cool, which will end up very beneficial for you. Having a static set of goals that you need to achieve in order to consider yourself successful is very stressful and will put you under a lot of pressure. Instead, i would advise to focus on doing your best whenever you can, and learning from your failures and enjoying your victories to the fullest. I think that’s the healthiest way to approach playing the sports in high school.