Juggling Schoolwork and Golf

Picture this scene. You are thrilled to start life as a college freshman. Even better, you are competing on the college golf team for the first time. Visions of NCAA Championships are dancing in your head. School just got started. First-year classes have been set, and you are ready to learn about the arcana of microeconomics or molecular biology. After taking the big plunge, you come to a startling realization that eventually dawns on most student-athletes: This is a lot of work!

Yes, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. Juggling schoolwork and golf is a tall task. Official NCAA regulations stipulate that golf-related activities take no more than 20 hours a week. Candidly, this rule is more often observed in the breach than in practice. From an academic perspective, homework, class time, and studying can take anywhere from 15-40 hours a week, depending on your major and how much effort you want to put into your classes. So, in total, you are looking at as much as 60+ hours a week of time — more than most full-time jobs! This also doesn't include time spent on other extracurricular activities, or partying — er, "socializing" — with friends.

The net-net? Time management is important. Scratch that. It's really important.

Here are a few good time-management tips to help you keep some order in your life:

1. Make your calendar your best friend:

We recommend befriending your favorite calendar and using it to mark when classes, practices, workouts, tests, and homework occur. This helps with knowing what and when things need to be done each day. Strive to stay on top of the calendar, and not let the calendar stay on top of you!

2. Schedule your classes early:

This is imperative for balancing golf and academics. A basic day as a college golfer is (a) an early-morning workout, (b) morning classes (when your class schedule allows for all-morning classes), (c) golf practice with your coach or teammates in the early-to-late afternoon, (d) dinner, (e) homework, and (f) rinse and repeat. This seems like a lot, but you are able to get everything that you need done each day, and after a little time, you will find a nice routine that works well for you!

3. Get to know your teachers, counselors, and coaches:

"Hi Mr. Jones, it's me, Steve Davis. Just wanted to let you know I'm a competitive golfer, and that means I may be missing your class fairly frequently!" Really, though: get to know your teachers, counselors, and coaches well. They are key to your scheduling, and having a positive relationship with each of them makes it so much easier to be flexible with assignments, practices, and workouts. For example, if you get to know your teachers and have a positive relationship with them, they will be more likely to work with you to help you make up for any work you miss through practice or traveling to tournaments. Teachers are required to allow students to miss class to travel for a sport; however, the nicer you are to teachers, and the more advance notice you give them regarding missed class time, the more they will work with you to move assignments and tests around. Test date conflicts are the toughest — with certain teachers, big tests like midterms are immovable, and without a good relationship with them, you may be required to miss traveling to a tournament.

4. Work with friends and teammates on homework, and take advantage of tutoring:

Both of these suggestions (don't cheat!) are ways to understand material more quickly and help cut down time spent on homework and studying when done right. Once again, asking teachers for extra help and establishing a good relationship with them can also be extremely helpful when it comes time to tackle large assignments or study for a big test — ultimately saving you time on schoolwork!

5. Go to class!

Duh! It may be tempting to miss class, but attendance is important if you want to do well. Teachers will often give hints in class about what will be on tests, which sections of the textbook are more important than others, and key practice problems and explanations of key concepts — all of which contribute to your success on assignments and tests. If you pay attention, take notes in class, ask questions, and contribute in class, not only will you start developing a good relationship with your teachers, but you will also be incrementally learning the concepts and doing practice problems (in some classes) that will ultimately help you acquire the knowledge necessary to do well on tests. This is basic "chunking": doing a large task a little at a time. This, along with keeping up with homework and your study plans, helps make studying for tests easier, because you don't have to learn the entire body of content covered on the test in a single night!

In short, there is a lot that goes into being a student-athlete. If you follow these tips and learn from others on the golf team or other athletes about how they balance being a student-athlete, you'll master it in no time, and college will be a success and a blast!

Enjoy your Journey!