The new age of golf instruction is a crowded space, which can make it difficult for students who want to improve their game. With so much information available on the internet, it can leave golfers wondering, “Who and what should I be paying attention to online?”

Jeff Ritter, a golf coach, author and motivational speaker, has developed the “Make the Turn Performance” program that merges all of the necessary aspects to improve your game under one roof. Through student assessments, corporate retreats academies, private coaching and two-day golf schools, the programs tackle four main pillars:

• Performance
• Mindset
• Fitness
• Nutrition

As part of the performance pillar, Ritter uses a formula called I.S.C., or Impact Speed Control, which is a systematic approach to player development that he says delivers “real, lasting results.”

The MTT team that teaches these pillars is made up of experts in each field, giving golfers opportunities to better themselves both on and off the course. Recently, I had a chance to talk to Ritter about his philosophies, the pillars, I.S.C. and how golf instruction is more than just Trackman numbers and working on your swing plane.

1. If a player only has the time to use one or two pillars of your program, can they be successful? How much will this limit their overall improvement rate?

When you look at peak performers in any athletic pursuit, it’s fairly certain they’re looking closely at the quality of their performance state related to all of our MTT pillars. Everyone plays the game for different reasons and I never look at any of our curriculum as mandatory. Instead I look at our program as a system of “upgrades” that provides players with more opportunities to better express their game. It’s seldom an “all-at-once” engagement. Some players begin with I.S.C. (Impact Speed Control) and after experiencing an exciting result become interested in exploring other performance pillars as well. What we’re looking for is activation and excitement toward what a person’s true potential might be. Life is a game of momentum. When you see big results in one area it’s natural to consider what else you can achieve.

2. What are the checks and balances for your Systematic Achievement platform that someone can use while not with you on the lesson tee?

Awareness: Who Are You Now?

All personal growth comes through the ability to consistently develop more awareness of our true behaviors. Everything we do is a behavior. How we think, what we eat, how we care for or neglect our bodies and of course how we swing the golf club.

Collectively these behaviors make up who we are both on and off the course. I really like to hammer home with people that no behavior is good or bad. In fact, they’re all perfect for the results they produce. It’s up to them to decide if they’d like life to be different. If so, we need to consider what different “alternatives” in behavior exist. I like to say, “In order to become different from what you are, you must first have an awareness of what you are.” This is where every MTT journey begins.

Awareness for most people is developed through working with a coach via the lesson process or engaging in personal exercises that help determine the current performance state.

A great mental exercise anyone can try to evaluate their playing mindset is to stuff a handful of paper clips into their front pocket and head to the first tee. Focus on developing an awareness of your thoughts throughout the round. Every time you have a negative thought related to anything, transfer a paper clip from your front pocket into your back pocket. At the end of your round, remove the paper clips from your back pocket and count them. That number is how many times you potentially sabotaged your performance due to the thoughts you produce. Negative thoughts create negative emotional states, which in turn adversely affect our ability to have access to our best stuff… in this case our best golf swings. Over time the goal is to reduce the negativity. We can only do this if we’re aware of when and how much of it exists to begin with.

Education: What’s The Alternative?

Once you define the way things are now, you can then consider what they could be. This is where reasonable alternatives are presented to produce a different result. The important thing here is helping a student raise THEIR performance IQ, NOT increasing their knowledge of all things golf or other.

Let’s say for example a player is slicing the ball. Once they understand what elements make a ball curve and the actions specific to them to most easily shift behavior, they all of the sudden have options to curve it more, less or in the opposite direction.

Information directed in a “purposeful” manner relative to specific goals is the ultimate form of empowerment. The more I coach, the more thoughtful I’ve become about what I say, when I say and how I say things relative to the learning process. My philosophy is “all steps forward.” Nobody wants to be confused, overwhelmed or feel like they need to go backward before they can experience an inspired, exciting result relative to development on or off the course.

Adjustment: Dare To Be Different

Adjustment is all about willing to be different and letting go of common ideologies related to outcomes. It’s the most challenging part of the growth process as you really need to shift your mindset to get the most out of the learning process.

The most common hurdle for most people is feeling uncomfortable stepping into a new behavior. To get past the comfort hump you simply need to surrender to the process of being “different.” This isn’t a battle of what you want versus what I want. If you want a different result you simply need to do something different. I remind every student that their swing is absolutely perfect for what it’s giving them, which usually gets a good laugh. I then ask them how they would like their ball flight to be different. Based on their answer I offer up the most efficient alternatives or differences to consider achieve that result. With this approach the student becomes a more active participant in the process. They become willing to adjust and experiment versus feeling like something uncomfortable is happening to them. If the ball flight doesn’t change enough, I remind them it’s because what they’re doing still isn’t different enough. The idea of discomfort is lost because they’re embracing the process transforming into something new versus being emotionally attached to who they used to be.

Perseverance: The Black Belt Mentality

There’s a great Zen story about a young boy who enters a karate dojo and asks his master, “How long until I will be a black belt?” To his dismay, his master replies, “You will never be a black belt, for anyone who would ask this question does not have the patience required to become a black belt.”

The lesson of course is that many people lack the discipline required to be great at something. I believe that any golfer, with the proper blueprint, can improve immediately. But it takes patience, will and discipline to be deserving of the “black belt” in golf. I often get this same type of question when someone for the first time engages in lessons. “When will I be able to break 100? 90? 80?” My answer: “When you deserve to.” Not what most people want to hear, but it’s the only answer I can give.

For those who struggle with the idea of a challenge, I try to instill in them what is known as the “Black Belt Mentality.” It’s a lesson adapted from the story above and is a useful way to get people to set the stage for their aims and ambitions. In martial arts, every student begins their journey as a white belt. This is something most people are aware of. What’s not common knowledge is that the term black belt was born from the fact the white belt became black from the hours, months and years of continual training. The “black belt mentality” is to understand the training never ends and the practice never ends. There will never be a day when you say, “I have it” and you can stop practicing and learning.

Many assume the black belt is the highest level of martial arts, when, in fact, the true black belt continues their training eventually turning the belt back to white. How does it become white? The fibers tear and fray and the white inner cloth is once again exposed. The white belt returns the black belt to the beginner’s mind which is always fresh and open to learn, embracing the journey and the opportunity for improvement.

For those who love the game, the pursuit of playing better golf will never end. In order to stick with it and love it you have to be able to find joy within the struggle. The secret to finding enjoyment and fulfillment within the process is to embrace the challenge for what it is and always will be. The true black belt, rises each day saying, “Show me something new to learn, show me a way I can achieve greater understanding and success.” Let this be your mantra, too.

3. Can you expand on ISC and why you feel it’s the best way for the average player to improve?

I’ve been coaching golf a long time and I’ve seen and tried almost every method. By the way, they all have merit. Each method is comprised of specific parts designed to fit together in order to create the most efficient representation of that methodology. The more methods you experience the more you appreciate how effective each can be. All methods, however, aren’t appropriate for all players.

In golf it’s so easy for us to become enamored with what we deem to be aesthetically pleasing golf swings. Back in the day, I loved having a library of great looking tour swings. I’d often compare students with top players that exhibited perfect posture, a beautiful swing shape or other. At the same time, I’d summarily dismiss all of the more unique swings that wouldn’t see the light of day. The big problem was back then my idea of beauty was rooted in appearance rather than performance. As I developed as a coach, I became more enamored with what the true commonalities were between top players and found that very few had anything to do what what I used to view as fundamentals. My previous list of fundamentals became variables and the true fundamentals became listed as I.S.C. or Impact — Speed — Control. In this way of thinking about performance, “Impact” is simply the ability to consistently strike the turf in a consistent spot with a reasonable angle of attack. “Speed” is the ability to produce enough speed to challenge the course or other competitors. “Control” is the ability to produce a consistent height and curve that best suits your style of play. All top players accomplish these three things with a variety of different variables.

I believe that amateurs or anyone who has been playing for some time will improve faster, have more fun and shoot lower scores if they spend less time trying to fit into a model and more time learning to evaluate and upgrade elements unique to them associated with I.S.C. I really have no idea what I’m going to tell someone before they show up. It’s what I like to call coaching “What Is.” It’s not about doing it one way, but getting more out of your way. Show me what you have. Let’s determine what elements of I.S.C. are out of reason. Then we’ll develop a plan unique to you that most easily delivers the best result. It’s an approach that has made my coaching more creative and fun while allowing me to help more people in the process.

For more information on Ritter and his programs, check out the MTT Performance website.