LPGA Pro aspiration

[Kenny Lee]

People vastly underestimate  what it means by "hard" work needed to be a pro in any sport.   Hard work in this context (starting out late in life to make it to LPGA) certainly means spending almost every waking hour for golf. No or very little time for romances, and other social activities that young people do these days for fun.    I.e, it has to be a full time job and more to catch up, with proven coach (preferably who coached eventual pros before), and environment  ($, family support, etc).  

Agree. As a young man, Greg Norman would arrive at the driving range while it was still dark so he could do his stretches in the parking lot. He was ready to start hitting balls at the first sign of daylight.

After it became too dark to see, he would leave to go work out.

[Gator Hazard]

I think we need some pics to "verify" you are a woman.   Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge.

I vote for swing video in a bikini (unless she really is a woman using her fathers account in which case my comment could be construed as sexist).  However, if taken in a bikini, man or woman, the video would show clear body motion without obstruction to provide the most accurate advice.

This is my dad's account from years back im assuming (still got the details saved when i login) FYI he didnt get anywhere near down to 1, interesting to see that was his goal!

ill post a swing video in the next couple of days to prove i am not some random 45 year old guy posting about his lpgas dreams (!) although im not sure what someone posting that would really get out of it.

 

Thanks for your other replies - interesting to hear a variety of opinions

Very well, that at least offers a plausible explanation although it is certainly easier to set up your own account than have to figure out your dad's as well as get the password.

If that is the case then your chances are still minimal at best but I personally have always enjoyed proving people wrong so I would say go for it while you are still young and still can.

[Lihu]

This is my dad's account from years back im assuming (still got the details saved when i login) FYI he didnt get anywhere near down to 1, interesting to see that was his goal!

ill post a swing video in the next couple of days to prove i am not some random 45 year old guy posting about his lpgas dreams (!) although im not sure what someone posting that would really get out of it.

 

Thanks for your other replies - interesting to hear a variety of opinions

That would be very strange indeed! Too bad your dad didn't get to a 1. So, what did he manage? I can only imagine if my daughter or son took over my account someday 8 or 9 years from now! I have swing videos and they would suddenly change. . .

[DrvFrShow]

I see you're at the "almost there" stage. Good enough to hold your own on a local course and possibly win your local club championship, but not good enough to go any further than that at the moment. Note: it's different for women than for guys. Most ladie's clubs are populated with women in their 40s, 50s, and older, and all but a handful bogey golfers.

So being out of school now, you need 1) money - hopefully you'll still have family support - (you'll need to get with a quality professional who has a rig like a GC2 + video; or Flightscope + video; or Trackman + video and take some lessons to work out the kinks in your game. Even the pros have swing coaches); 2) If you're handicap is down already, and you have pro aspirations, you need to test your game from the men's tees. You should be able to drive the ball a minimum of 235 yds with about 75% fairway accuracy. This means a lot of practice with your driver. Longer is better. 3) You'll need to hit a lot of golf balls to groove your lessons, and you'll need to play a lot of golf. 4) Like others have said, little or no time for social life to be a pro.

You could be a competitive amateur. If you put in the effort and learn a lot about the game and want to be part of the golf industry, you could become a teaching professional, but everyone isn't cut out for that. We need good teaching professionals. There are a lot of teaching professionals, but a shortage of really good ones.

 

[WillM]

I am in a similar boat as you and I would say don't give it up if it is really your dream. I followed a very similar path to yours, I played once or twice a year until I was 16 and then started playing competitively and caught the "golf bug." I am now 19 and down to a 1 HCP. Hoping to get it lower and have another 4 years to improve playing in college. Like you, the goal is eventually to play on the highest tour. The work it takes to get there is immense.

Anyway, there are a few things I would address. Some of them have already been said but they bear repeating.

1) Money - Golf is expensive. Between lessons and greens fees and tournament fees, etc, etc, you are going to need a way to support yourself. If your family is well off enough to support you in your attempt to follow your dream then by all means go for it. But getting a real job to support yourself would make it quite a bit harder.

2) There will be naysayers. There always are. If you truly believe you can do it then don't listen to them. From the sound of it, you are on a very good path so far and your game has not plateaued.

3) Track your stats religiously and compare them to the LPGA tour players. That will give you a good indication of where your game is.

4) Practice is about quality, not quantity.

5) It is going to take a bit of luck. You might become good enough to play on the tour of your choosing but you have to play through the qualifier for it and you might have a bad week or bad month that tears it all down. You have to be prepared for that. You can work as hard as you want to be prepared for the qualifier but if your swing just isn't clicking then it just might not happen. Even if it is clicking it can come down to a bad bounce...

5b) In connection to above, you need the ability to go low. You may be able to shoot 70 on a difficult course but if it's for a qualifier there will be people who turn in 63-65 and you won't sniff qualifying. So like I said, a bit of luck. You need the ability to go low and be lucky enough to catch fire at the right time.

Good luck, I am interested in your story so keep posting.

Edited October 29, 2015 by WillM

[rkim291968]

 

4) Practice is about quality, not quantity.

 

It's quality & quantity if you want to get somewhere, like (L)PGA tour.     You want the practice to be efficient but repetition makes them yours.  Why Korean ladies dominate LPGA?  It's the amount of work they put in, besides having good fundamental training early.    American girls will be the first ones to tell you how long & hard the Korean girls work.    Sure, if you want to get to scratch level, you can fool yourself being happy with quality practice.   But if you want to get to tour level (or world class athlete in any sport with a very late start), you can't separate quality of practice (and coaching) and quantity of hard work.   Don't kid yourself.   

 

 

And if the OP is for real, she is 21 and at 6 HI.   You and she are not in similar boat.  You are in much better situation.  You will add more muscle to your frame.   At 21, she has already reached her physical peak.   You are playing in college.   She isn't.   I.e, you have much better chance.   Think about that when another post like this shows up.  

Edited October 29, 2015 by rkim291968

[WillM]

It's quality & quantity if you want to get somewhere, like (L)PGA tour.     You want the practice to be efficient but repetition makes them yours.  Why Korean ladies dominate LPGA?  It's the amount of work they put in, besides having good fundamental training early.    American girls will be the first ones to tell you how long & hard the Korean girls work.    Sure, if you want to get to scratch level, you can fool yourself being happy with quality practice.   But if you want to get to tour level (or world class athlete in any sport with a very late start), you can't separate quality of practice (and coaching) and quantity of hard work.   Don't kid yourself.   

 

 

And if the OP is for real, she is 21 and at 6 HI.   You and she are not in similar boat.  You are in much better situation.  You will add more muscle to your frame.   At 21, she has already reached her physical peak.   You are playing in college.   She isn't.   I.e, you have much better chance.   Think about that when another post like this shows up.  

Good points. Thanks for the insight (and supportive words?). You are correct that it is about quality and quantity. I should've qualified my statement. If she is going to be coming out of university and be working a job and still trying to make this work then it would be better for quantity in the limited time she would have available. But if she would be working a job then I don't know why she would be pursuing this out of college anyway. Guess I gave a half baked idea.

[rkim291968]

I didn't mean to discourage you at all.    I believe you know what you are doing.     Like I said, the OP's situation is much different.  

[phillyk]

I say this to anyone with high aspirations, not to diminish them, but to make it realistic.  Try qualifiers for national level events, either the US Amateur, US Women's Open, anything.  There are thousands of people with the same goals.  These tournaments can guide your practice and tell you how close you may or may not be.

[JP golf]

Surely go for your dream, you have progressed very fast.  Do realize -

Improving becomes progressively harder the better you get.  You have less margin for error.  If you want to be impressed, watch just how consistent the pros are.

GIR stats can be impressive but proximity to the hole is more telling.  I can have a 10 foot putt from off the fringe or a 50 foot putt from on the green.  One is a GIR the other is not.

FIR can also be an important stat but it is very overrated.  You have to have the length.  LPGA pros play tees that are usually longer than most casual golfers play on the weekends.

I honestly wish you luck but you have a lot of grinding ahead and just realize how hard it will truly be to continue improving to consistently shoot under par.

[uitar9]

Your 21-go for it. You will never know where this will take you. It might end up being a direction you never thought of and become your passion.

Listen to yourself-lessons , practice, whatever you need to do, do it. Talk to some lady pros if you can. Lady teaching pros-

You will only realise your limitations

Start tomorrow morning

[DrvFrShow]

At only 21, she can add more muscle through strength and fitness training. She hasn't come close to her physical peak.

While you'll hear a lot about strengthening the lower body and core, I can just add - do not neglect rotator cuff exercises.

[rkim291968]

There is a reason why many of these first time posters never come back to post "yeah, I made it."   Kids who are serious about this, who have family backings and resource, and good coach don't need to come here to post "can I make it" thread. 

Did anyone who made it to PGA or LPGA started with posting in a golf form like this, asking can I make it?    What makes anyone think he/she will be the first one (starting from +6 handicap) to make it to (L)PGA tour?   Responding with "yeah, pursue your dream while you can" may sound like the best advice.   But is it?   What if the person listens to your advice, spend years in practicing, invest tens of thousands of dollars, miss opportunity to study and make something out of himself, and regrets and blames you?   Some kids who are posting these may be impressionable enough and go with that advice.  Giving such advice must come with some responsibility and accountability.   Mentoring isn't something one should take lightly.   You can do more damage, like giving bad golf instruction to your friend. 

Edited November 1, 2015 by rkim291968

[Shorty]

Your 21-go for it. You will never know where this will take you. It might end up being a direction you never thought of and become your passion.

Listen to yourself-lessons , practice, whatever you need to do, do it. Talk to some lady pros if you can. Lady teaching pros-

You will only realise your limitations

Start tomorrow morning

What on earth does "Go for it" mean?

Winning a US Amateur?

Becoming No 1 player in the state four years running?

This sort of facile "advice" ranks alongside the logic that if Greg Norman can be off scratch a year and a bit after starting a hacker off 27 can at 27 years of age.

If you have the potential, people atre telling you how good you are. You aren't asking complete strangers how good you might be.

And you certainly aren't hanging around golf forums.

 

[uitar9]

So, given any thought to what you are going to do?