Playing in the Junior Ryder Cup with Rory Mcilroy - Zach Gould’s Story

Zach welcome to my podcast behind golf with me um great opportunity to speak to people like yourself in the game of golf in the golf industry who are very hands on with it mhm obviously player yourself to the previous life should we say you got an amazing story of which I was really Keen to have the opportunity to speak with you today and run people through kind of your story because we always hear about the Rory maroy and the Danny Willets and what they go through but yours took a bit of a Twist on its own in its own little world just give us a bit of an insight into who who you are Zach gold yeah no first of all thanks for having me on excited to uh to come on and share share my story like you said really there's lots of success stories that we see out there but there's there's so many other stories that not other people have the platform to share on and there's so many learning I suppose opportunities for young golfers or old golfers trying to improve really so um no happy to come on and share but no I've I've um I suppose my whole DNA is golf I still see myself from an identity perspective as a golfer um although I've gone on to do Fitness and various other things in the business world now as core my DNA is I'm a golfer yeah um started golf at age six um I was very introverted as a young person um I think when I reflect on why did I sort of gravitate towards golf I think was one of the only Sports you can go for hours and hours play on your own you don't necessarily have to speak to people those types of things um I think that was the thing that sort of brought me into the sport initially um but I just I was fascinated with just trying to get better and improve and as we all know you'll never Master this game but I think as a young kid um you feel like you're going to and you can um and I think that's what really sort of hooked me in um so I started playing J 86 um with one of my dad's friends that's kind of how I got into golf my parents don't play and I'm not from a golf background or anything it was just something I kind of seen and I wanted to give a go and I was I suppose fairly gifted hitting the ball initially which was which is recognized by my Dad's friend and then he it kind of um accelerated from there really you're from you're from you're Welsh y um your golf club was the veil Morgan the veil Resort that we're at today filming this and and playing on the golf course today yeah is this your Club is this where it all kind of started for you no so um I started a golf club which is in in the Welsh valleys they don't exist anymore in fact I went back there uh last weekend this turned into like a Gruffalo Trail now so I went back with my two girls yeah I know loved it got some pictures on some of the you know the holes I remember and stuff so um that course don't exist anymore but it was a a golf club in in Wales oh in The Valleys in Wales um I ended up most of my playing career at the Veil um there was some great coaches here Peter Johnson being kind of director of golf and his son was a successful golfer played on a PJ tour and and won um he actually won the OD on the nike.com tour back when when it was called the cor fairy now cor fairy now yeah he used to be called the the nike.com tour so he had I suppose he was one of the coaches in the area that had the experience there was just so many good golfers um at this golf club Paul docky Jack docky Kenneth Mills David Price all all players who played for their country so it was a it was a hub really of international golfers um and as you've seen from the golf courses you know it's an unbelievable setup um so it's it's no surprise where we all gravitated here and I played pretty much all of my amateur play playing Creer out with this golf club so it has a big I suppose personal um feeling to to me here and I love coming back here and as as you've seen I've you know seen all the members and and good to see all faces and stuff so it has I suppose a spot in my heart this yeah you can you can get a sense of it it's a bit like when I go back to my my club which is where I'm based now which is great you get to see all the old faces that you grew up playing golf with who supported you yeah through all the ups and downs should we say of golf yeah it's just it's a great facility it's got great feel to it obviously link to the uh Welsh rugby as well y they're based here is that right yeah so w you a base here they've been here for for quite a while uh as you can see you know the facilities in terms of the rugby pitches when you come in you and a scor but behind the driving range they've got an indoor Barn um where they do all the indoor training where it's got altitude training and um and all those different things so for rugby yeah um then car of City come here well as football come here at some point so it's had a real pedigree of well sport here um so it's very well known in in the area but not just for golf obviously for other sports as well and you you started playing for Wales at quite a young age didn't you yes I I was the youngest um um I was the youngest person to play in the boys home Internationals which is England Island Scotland Wales yeah um and you all play against each other in in in various countries where they kind of rotates so I played five boy Internationals so technically I was playing five years above my age if that makes sense U admittedly Wales are not the strongest at boys level okay but I went unbeaten in the whole five years in the singles so even in my first year where I was playing against players 5 years older than me I didn't I didn't lose a match and that continued 5 years so yes I you know it is a little bit easier let's say to get into the Welsh team but I was playing at that level at a at a very young age so do do you remember my brother did you play in were you playing in when he was playing for Wales was you around in that same s set up yeah same time so um Paul we've going back on in terms of the year so I played I remember actually in 2004 and five we were drawn in loads of events together yeah um and Paul was we were both in the same Squad where we went out to to Portugal and those types of things so I've played I've played a lot with your brother over the years yeah um I was going to I was going to mention today but he um I was The Annoying Little Junior at that point and I think I got his nerves um but no I played I played loads of golf with with with Paul so yeah good good memories but but when did golf because I think there's always like a Tipping Point in golf where especially for people that either turn pro or are looking to go down as a career within the game when did golf get serious for you like when did you really think this is what I want to do this is this is my future this is all I know this is what I want to get involved with it I think I think um I suppose more moments really obviously playing for Wales is a moment do you know I mean where you know you sign post is one of the best in your country and I'm playing with boys who were definitely different in terms of stature you I mean they were men and I was I was still a boy um but there's a couple of moments there definitely that as a moment there's um I remember playing for my County for the first time and I was 10 years of age yeah I thinking to myself I'm playing with players a lot older than me here they must see I must have some ability to play this game um I think that the real the real Pinnacle moment really is when I play Junior Rider Cup in 2004 and you go out to the rider cup and you um you know see the best players in the world I think that was probably the moment I thought right this is the career that I want to do and how old were you in 2004 16 15 16 at 156 you were kind of thinking this is where I this is this is my future yeah this is where this is getting serious now and I want to be taking this on a more serious level yeah yeah um and you know there's there's loads of things I never really played many other sports so you could arguably say well from the moment I picked up a club it was it it was it jer mean um you know Mass being a Welshman massively passionate about rugby and W football and and those types of things but I only ever played golf so there's something in at where I didn't really take to any of the sports and that's kind of what I stuck with I think about that I think about you know somebody asked me a question when did I start taking it seriously but something jumped up with what you were saying there was you know you played for your county so at some stage you would have played for your Club you then play for the county and then you get picked to play for your country did you ever think about and this is something I thought about when I was certainly coming up through the ranks of playing for my club then playing for the men's team of the club and then playing for the counter you you you bang through these ceilings so you may have felt like a little bit of anxiousness or nervousness let's say playing for your first junior team and then for the first time you play for the men's team and then into the county team and then into the country and then getting even further a feel from that for the junior R cup do you ever remember that does that something that really ever or did you just take it all in your stride do you think it's it's a funny one is it cuz um I was definitely taking in my stride definitely cuzz I never felt phased at any point during those years and I I was a bad loser I'll admit that you I mean and as as a young so when I reflect like even in sports day if I lost I'd be really upset so I was I was just so competitive um and I just think when when you look at golf as a sport it's probably one of the only Sports where I don't stop you technically playing good if we were playing tennis together there's a certain strategy I could adopt I would stop if I was playing rugby against you I could build muscle be faster stronger whever it might be but in golf I technically no one stops you it's it's it's it's your ability to get around the golf course I think just with my sort of competitive nature um I I I really my Approach is I really want to go out there one and win and I want to show people how good I am and that's how I approached I suppose every small Milestone um I never ever really felt my depth until I started playing badly okay and that's when I suppose my mindset and certain things started to shift the reason I asked that question is because I was the opposite so I felt phased at every level I went through but what happened with me is that when I let's say played for the first time I ever played I remember playing for the men's um County team for the first team and I remember then going back down and playing for the junior team or my club team and I remember thinking like this is no problem anymore like the those nerves are gone because I'd already gone to another level and then after that it didn't really but but I remember at every level I went to even then going out to America for college golf you know I remember my first tournament just being a little bit anxious about it and going through and having to almost like bust through ceilings but yeah I I'm always interested to find out from those players that that are more Elite should we say that that strive Beyond how do they take it and I think from you've answered that question quite ice the fact that you just you took it all in your stride it was also like it was meant to happen like that it was meant to be I was meant to being here you didn't have that like impostor syndrome that maybe some people have but something jumped out to me as well when I was um when I was helping manage the Devon County team um manage the the the second team the development team I went up to England golf wow Spar and the one of the coaches said or one of the it might have actually been Nigel Edwards at the time actually was was wellsh is now works for England I think he still works for golf or certainly GB and I he did the Olympic Olympics um who you know would know very well I think he said something along the lines it's really important to put speed bumps in the way of these kids so as they go through their you kind of want to see them succeed but you need to see them fail you need to see them fall because you need to see how they react to that and know that golf is not just one route up and then it fall can fall off the edge of a cliff for some players so it's really important to see them succeed but also see them stumble a little bit on the same same way yeah and you talked about there that when your golf let's say started to go a little bit let's say South you struggled to to deal with that at that point would you say that that's a good process for coaching now developing on I think I suppose there's two things obviously just reflecting back a little bit in terms of like the the perception so like you mentioned you sometimes felt anxious at those newer levels gos yeah I don't want to be naive and and I suppose uh mislead I still had feelings of nervousness there excitement is how I interpreted it I weren't I weren going there fearful I was going there excited still nervous I'm excited to show you how good I am yeah so I think it's it's the way in which I interpreted it and then on on your second point in terms of speed bumps being very transparent you when it started to go wrong in golf that's the first time I'd ever experience any failure and I did not handle it now looking at you know what I went on to achieve from an academic perspective going on PhD and setting up business and you know the ups and downs I've had of a business and people say people now describe me how mentally resilient I am if you had asked me that question at 19 I would have perceived that as I'm actually mentally weak because of that experience I've channeled all a positive way and I've applied it to other areas in my life so to to I suppose answer the question failure one is inevitable and it's so important it's a massive path of success yeah and you know I supp getting too deep I'm going to in terms of my parenting Styles I don't want my girls to be afraid of failure yeah it's part of life and actually the true Champions and the successful people are the best learning from it overcoming it and putting the right action in place to go on to achieve the next goal whatever Arena that's in so I don't think we need to be afraid of failure it's not the end of us yeah it's horrible and it's painful but they're the things that I suppose stop us and kick us on really so 100% it's going to happen um and I think especially in golf if you go through these real tough times when you get through them yeah the mental resilience you're going to have is probably what it takes to win on the DP World Tour PJ tours Majors yeah they've all been through it they've all been through it and and just to put some context into so kind of where we're going with this podcast and what we're talking about because and we're talking about failure and success and all those things is that you know you were on a track playing with some of the best you know the people that we see on TV now you were on track playing alongside those guys not only playing alongside them but beating them from time to time you on track to becoming a a professional golfer who was going to become a touring professional golfer whether you'd be on the DP World Tour whether you'd be on the PJ tour or whether you'd have moved into live you were on that track to to become uh the next generation of professional golfers but for you it didn't quite unfold that way in the same way it did for Rory maroy or Danny Willet and those people that you played in the junior Rider cup with or what not just just just give me that go to that Junior Rider cup moment just tell me who are those players that you would have played with mhm and against so yeah 2004 was was a junior R Cup team um it was I suppose again to that team this understanding a bit first uh six man team and six girls going go are selected to go and play against America um to qualify you got to be it's a little bit different now it's an order Merit but you got to be in the top four of a single event called the European young masters okay then there's two wild card picks okay um I was fortunate enough I went and won that event so it's arguably which was in um in Austria in mof where theyve they've played challenge tour and and and um a lot of Senior Tour golf now um so I won that event Rory maroy was second or third so I kind of qualified by my own right it's it's it's a bit of a shootout you got one week to get in that team and then if you don't make it you're relying on Wild Card picks bit like tors scool little bit like tors school yeah so um I went and won it um I played in it three times though I finished third fourth and FD wow and to shoot what would you have had to shot shot score-wise to win it numbers were you posting back then then well I I shot two under six under one over at 15 years of age on you know Championship golf course yeah um and I I managed to win um then you get you know shortlisted and and take through to the rider C and that was one of the best experien of my life you I mean tigerwood massive hero of mine first time I got a good chance to watch him up close you know behind the ropes see you know all the shots he hits and the ball flight he hits it on and how powerful he was at that point um The Experience incredible so you play against America um like I mentioned Roy Mao was in that team Oliver Fischer who was a really talented young golfer one he was England's he was England's number one at the time he was he was again projected to be another fer wasn't he F in fact took him under wing yeah he part of Team all those bits him and Nick Dey yeah um and he was incredible um you know 59 59 on the DP World Tour and and in Portugal I think yeah a few years back um and I I actually hit I was selected to hit the opening t-shirt because it was away and obviously Europe hit the opening t-shir and I pegged up against Mr Tony Fina um who was unbelievable I'm sure everyone seen the Netflix but he got you know a massive following big family I remember looking down the first hole there must have been 500 people and I think 3 400 people were there for Tony like and they were all his family it was big huge family man um so no that you know that was an incredible experience where was it played um the actual Rider cup was played at Oakland Hills where Colin Montgomery held the wi in P okay yeah Luke Donald was in that Team all the guys you see now kind of um being captains and different things the actual R the Junior rer Cup then was played at Westfield Ohio which was just outside now they actually play on the same course oh do they so yeah and they get to they play Just four in the practice days and then they stay for the rider cup and so it's a little bit different but it's it's it's like for like yeah so no just incredible really to be around some of those players at the time you don't know what they're going to go on and Achieve super talented you I mean it's easy to say he was obvious what Roy was going to do super talented one loads of am stuff we don't know he's going to go on to be one of the best golfers in the world you know no no but he seemed like he had that I want to say that Cockiness to him did he did he I remember Paul was saying to me he used to go to like National events and things and he'd be the little kid bouncing literally bouncing around the place and with a Cockiness an arrogance a you know watch me type attitude you know yeah incredible self-belief and there is a moment that I specifically remember so considering the year um Tiger Woods was just so far ahead of anywh 2004 like he had this he had this Aura like nobody could beat him was that slam era he did win four but yeah around something like that he had him in 2000 he I think he was being coached by Haney at the time maybe he had he had a lot of anyway the mindset of of of tiger and people playing against him and I remember asking Rory clear to this day I said how good you generally think you're going to be yeah um and he just said to me his straight face he just said um in the next five years I think I'm going to be world number one and then I went to inter intervene he said no if not world number one well on my way to being world number one but he said it to me as if he knew that was going to happen and it w long after five years later yeah five six years that he played in the rer cup yeah so he wasn't that far off but he had this mindset and this belief that he was going to do it yes it could come across arrogant cocky but it was it was cold and it was straight he knew where he was going and that's something I really sticks with me and we were close friends at that point amazing amazing mindset of how that so track that on them from there you finish your your Junior Rider cup an amazing experience um you're starting to take golf a little bit more serious because you're hanging around with the players like Rory Ma you becoming friends with play players like Rory maroy what happens from there on so um I suppose my my my decision from that point was right I'm going to make a career out of golf so um finished gc's and so on so I left school school give up education yeah um I thought about going to uh America on on a scholarship we got offers got quite a few offers I went to visit Augusta State um Arkansas in fact me and Rory without using Rory too much we both flew out to East Tennessee State to to to go there there's lots of Welsh and Irish and and and British based players um who were there um didn't really back myself academically wasn't wasn't really in there which is was hard to believe when I went on done a PhD but do you do you did you feel confident at that time of university did University kind of whereas golf didn't necessarily scare you did University life of of opening books up and studying and a little a little I was only going there to play golf yeah you I mean that would that would have been my mindset cuz I didn't really apply myself in school so I didn't think I had the ability whereas when I started to apply myself I was like well I can actually do this and then went on to the different route but um that was kind of the moment so school at 16 I was 5'4 which what I understand now is is a massive moment really I was I was a leate developer um I got a picture on on on the beach of my um around my mom and she's 5' five and I'm just shorter than her and then are you now I'm six foot So within two years had a huge growth spurt okay and then these are kind of some of the the moments now that I reflect on um because between 16 and 18 I didn't have any technical intervention no golf lesson I was playing down in Australia South Africa I played for Europe again against Asia for Pacific down in New Zealand how are you representing your country knowing the process of which I what I know of County coaching like i' I've developed off County coaching over the years and then going into National coaching over what Paul got you know yeah how on Earth do you slip through the not slip through the net but how do you get through going through all the coaching processes of Portugal and all those sorts of things that you'd have gone off with your national team how do you not have a golf lesson yeah I I think did they just leave you alone or I think there was an element of fear a little bit from them potentially when I talk about them I mean coaches and the people that run the unions or the or the the national teams or whatever like that so potentially but the programs are very different then I mean they're very much I wouldn't I wouldn't describe them as development programs I would say they were get together highly competitive you know really test your game and your skills and I probably think the the real coaching come outside of that whether I was your personal coach or or whatnot yeah um and I kind of just I went on things on my own and and I always come back now any young golfers that are kind of I suppos I'm sharing a story with I'm like you've got to get the right people around you honest people people that keep you on track obviously highly skilled in terms of their technical knowledge and so on because as good as it was at 16 if the right foundations are not put in the right areas it will regress this game will get you um so the program was very much play and compete which is very good but the the the basics need to still be there in place um like you mentioned a really good friend of mine still good friends to this day Nigel Edwards was performance director of Wales golf he said look something needs to change now your here at 18 your PE have kicked on Rory went and got his card at dun Hill in in seven events finished second there o was on European tour Danny Willet was world number one amateur off in America and he's like you're not at that level so I was frustrated this was Nigel Edwards this is Nigel pul pulled me under you know to one side and we were really good mates we traveled and stuff together but enough was enough I was he was still competing at the time yeah against and with me really um because he was still playing Walker cup and different things um but I think he stood there and watched me not fulfilling my potential and he realized certain things needed to change okay and he just pulled me and then I just he said we need some intervention so then I just I flipped it then and I just went down this highly technical route and really got lost on the wrong information and I was on that Journey for like two years trying to make swing changes that I couldn't make yeah playing in high competitive environment on the toughest course in the world remember as an amateur you're playing burkdale you're playing liyam you're playing s say Andrews you're playing you know Open championship cses trying to make massive swing changes hardly keeping it on the golf course I don't care how mentally resilient you are there's going to become a point where you're going to break um so I got to 20 and I just couldn't take it anymore had a decent season um you know still playing for Wales at that point um I finished second in the brabs and down in travos um you know had a decent season but I just wasn't filling my potential and I just couldn't make these changes and I didn't have control of the ball and I just said like I need to take a break yeah um and i' and I never went back which is which is mad I never went back I it was it was a it was an um October it was a Friday afternoon in October and a mentor of mine he still helps me to this day um I when I spoke to him I said look I don't know what to do I need to take a break from golf I don't really have any academic sort of background I was going to go and apply for a job in House of frasa which is a big retail store in Cardiff in the diesel shop I love Diesel jeans so I was like right you get free Diesel jeans and I go and apply for a job in there that was that was what I was that's how lost I was so I went and you know he got huge experience in business and Sport and different things so he said no he said what are you going to do now he said you go back to school he said you're going to tell the story what's happened and you're going to be amazed who's going to help you so bear in mind I'm 20 turning 21 yeah it was a Friday afternoon then when I I drove down to my old high school they were delivering PE on the field I called over over sir I need to have a chat with you he said come back at I 3 told him a story I said I need some direction said get into class you're going to do your A Levels so I'm bear in mind I'm 20 turning 21 I've got all this life experience I traveled the world you know I'm a man at that point and I went and sat in a class with 16y olds okay and there's no disrespect to them but they're still kids and the weekends they're playing XBox and and video games and those types of things whereas I've had all this life experience and so it was it was a massive sort of moment really and people even say to me how you had the mindset to go back and do that I was like I had no choice really I I didn't know where I was going to go so I got my head down and I started studying and I started understanding more about Sport Science and then there psychological aspects it was physiological and I really just started to relate to a lot of the materials yeah got into fitness cuz I was really fit really as a golfer and I seen it as a massive vehicle to improve where back then it probably wasn't viewed as that now I think it is from you know all the best players in the world showing the benefits it had and I just I suppose I I took this ambition of being the best golfer in the world and I just repositioned it into being the best strength and conditioning coach in the world and I never wanted to get any role any client any exposure based on my playing background I want to earn it and that was all I was fascinated on for about 8 nine years um well it was so that was 2008 and I graduated from my PhD in 2017 and I just give it everything in terms of Academia yeah um and luckily for me golf and fitness become more mainstream people wanted to say right okay what are the best training methods what are the best testing methods so that was the journey I was on and I started getting lots of exposure then and lots of the golfers want to come and see me and I suppose my my business and my sort of profile and identity shifted a bit then uh into more Zach the go Fitness person on the the golf where I used to play in a junior Rider cup and I'm still struggling to come to terms with that but that's kind of how the the evolution really my identity has has shifted did you lose the Love of the Game because even just sat there in your in your classroom you know going through this process going through the years of education um was there was there times where you were still thinking about like that must have been tough times in the classroom where you were like oh I'm just not getting this or you know for me personally I used to look out the window a lot you know but you know so was there times where you were like ah just you know all the you know this event on at the moment and wouldn't it be nice to be playing that or then seeing Rory maroy move on and and Danny Willet move on and all these players that you've played against and did you ever then did you reflect back did you lose the love of it cuz you didn't go back so no I think um or were you so dedicated to what you were trying to do because I see that mindset with you once you're in it yeah you're committed to it and and that's your that's your journey for that point did that is that kind of what happened with go is it just like okay I'm just going to bench this and to focus what I'm doing here and then eventually I might come back to golf and I might fall in love with it again but was the Love Gone no no I've always watched it I've always been around it you could see when we played I just love hitting the shots it's never it's never gone it still hasn't I'm still as passionate about it now as I was then yeah don't get me wrong I you know watching it and and even now I still feel like I got that ability me you definitely got that ability it's that's the tough bit you I mean sort of in my mind processing that I'm not I'm not in the slightest I suppose envious I'm a massive supporter of these players and I know toughest game is so I watch it with joy and pride I'm like really rooting them all on yeah so I haven't got that mindset I want it for myself but I also want them to have it um but I think reflecting back on it and I'm very much like this as a person I think I benched it and I and I and I blocked it and I probably didn't really this is going to sound weird but I probably didn't grieve it that long I put it on the shelf and I just put all of that energy into studying yeah and I think then when when I finished studying it was probably a bit of a moment but I've put all that energy now into business yeah and in a weird way since it's only since October I've started playing again this year so I've only been back out less than a year I'm just like I'm just so passionate now about showing really the world what I can do yeah and by the way I can help your body achieve these things so I'm I'm kind of just in that that phase now um but never lost love for it um I think I I parked it didn't grieve it for long enough but just put all of my energy into being the best fitness coach in the world you talked to me about earlier you talked to me about the coaching element and we're not going to name names but you felt somewhat uh not not let down but maybe the coaching the Avenue that you went down with coaching mhm didn't really assist you didn't really help you um from the type of player you are or were to then going very much down the technical side of it does it still great on you that bit does yeah I think I'm very good at calling BS now when I see it from a coaching perspective yeah KN where I know about the body knowing my experience like like you know I'm not a PJ qualified Pro but I understand what the swing should be doing to perform if I if I'm working with players I'll never I never tell players who they need to be coached by but if I hear information that is just ridiculous yeah I will be the first to say that's wrong you need to go and find the right answers but I tell you that's not right yeah so I'm very good at at um processing and giving that information understanding that um my advice would be you don't need to always go for the most famous coaches in the world they're not necessarily the best yeah um and two wrongs make a right in golf and that's what I was stuck between someone's trying to fix something that would never match my pattern yeah and in a million years no matter what I do that those that model would not have worked for me whether that was from their bias their model whatever it might be that would never ever work for me and I know that purely because I got to a point where I couldn't hit a ball yeah and when you see me hit now I got I have got control over that ball and that's just through the Journey I've been on of right let's put it back the way it was let's build on the things I was good at um so I think people who are kind of St to think about golf coaching from top level players to you know don't like I said don't always chase the name make sure it's the right information for you um and two wrongs do make a right in golf and it's all about model matching for me go back to Young Zach go back now to um 18 19 years old pretty much in your Prime let's say just about on the verge of really kind of considering probably a professional Avenue what would you tell young Zach now from what you know now and and who do they put around them what team do they have to put in place to help them succeed to to go that next step from there yeah I think I think the first bear if I was literally having a conversation with myself always feels weird yeah um I'd say everything's going to be okay don't panic yeah cuz there is there is there is a moment where you you're panicking cuz you're like what am I going to do but there's life after the golf that's that's the first thing I think that just lowers your you know your perceptions and your stress levels of it because you do you P you put the whole world into this yeah and you do start to scramble and panic but I think for anyone listening out there it's okay there is life after golf you will be okay whether it's on the European tour or as a golf coach or whatever it's okay so I think it just helps lower the stress levels on that side um in terms in terms of you know team I'm you know I'm a massive advocate of putting the development blocks in place it's it's it's it's not being reactive it's being proactive you I mean like if someone wants to hit the board a long way it's really simple you got have the right technology you got have an efficient golf swing and you got to be fit and strong yeah in in in my world you come and have a session with me I cannot make you strong in one session but what I can do is get you to understand your body what things you need to be doing and then put the right principles in place so you can consistently do that over time yeah that's what I describe as a program and I think we need that from a fitness perspective a swing perspective a mindset perspective and then there's this whole bit that on top it's it's understanding the social demands the travel demands you know the stress the encour demand it's it's it's kind of then this Fourth Avenue of of all the rest of it you know what I mean so and and that's the way in which I very much see all of the game who you put in those places is is over to you because there's there's so many variables there's someone who with really high technical knowledge but might not get the softer skills with Incredible soft skills that really get you to buy in and take you on the journey with maybe another right technical knowledge it's not for me to say who those people are yeah but I think it's it's putting that program in place and it's a developmental program not a reactive program yeah don't wait till the house is on fire to get the hose out yeah do you I mean build a house that's not going to catch on fire basically so um that's that's kind of how I see it now so when when I do start working with players I do try and understand that as much as I can yeah while I feel like I'm quite good that is Bridging the Gap between the strands really yeah physical Technical and a bit of mindset another I'm a psychologist or anything but I feel like I've been there with people when they're struggling and when it's been good but it's fine I've thought these things you will come through yeah we need the right people now to help you put that in place the game of golf has become more physical than it's ever been isn't it right right now you know the objective for to play on the PJ tour and is to be successful is to be long enough to to really eat up those par fives and be four under par before you even kind of get going so having strength in the right way is really important but also for longevity because we've watched the likes of you you woozies and your F even though F was quite fit Fitness driven but let's say sam Torrance or you know Ian wam coming up through they weren't necessarily big gym gym goers but their game wasn't necessarily the power game that we have now that you have to have in order to compete at the highest level Fitness for you is that something you focus on with lots of players as well or not even just players but let's take players out of the equation you know people that come to you because they're golfers and they want to you know they want to be physically fitter or be able to you know continue almost like stop getting any injuries along the way yeah I no it's it's it's both sides of the coin is it like it's easy to turn on Netflix and see what the guys are doing in the gym and they're hitting 330 yards through the a yeah um that's happened in all sports you I mean and that's because from a sport Science perspective we just know more you what I mean it's like we know that getting strong in your lower body is going to increase swing speed we know that if you become more mobile you're going to move and turn better in your golf swing it just sometimes takes a Tiger Woods to make the world realize that yeah we've seen in other sports when rugby went professional you I mean you've seen a shift in terms of strength and conditioning the All Blacks hook it up another notch the rest of the world yeah same in Golf Tiger Woods did it um and then you know the the the output for that as you've seen the Shambo doing it and Dustin Johnson 10 years later Joe means because we've watched the best players in the world do it the the the benefit is is that by getting stronger more robust more durable it's going to keep us playing the game longer yeah so you you know you've got you you've got your tour on professionals and you you only got to look at the you know the seniors tour the Legends tour with Langer and all those players they're all super fit and they're going to keep going really but then you've got your your Club golfer who let's say they're getting closer to retirement 60 years of age they get out of bed one day and they absolutely love golf but their back's gone and they they can't play golf anymore so well my job is really is to help educate and Inspire and make sure people got the right information so they all they're doing is putting a building blocks in place keeping their body fit Strong mobile so we lower the risk risk of these niggles serious injuries occurring let's be honest later in life cuz that's when you're more exposed to that so you can keep playing this game like we can we speaking someone on the putting green earlier who was in the B beond he's 80 years of age we can play this game forever yeah but if our body breaks down we can't yeah and and at the end of the day physical fitness now and golf go very much hand in hand don't they yeah I think you know we've had the opportunity to meet through through Under Armour yeah you know through us both being involved in under AR one shape you know one way shape of form my my thing with under ARA for this year certainly was all about the shoes and I wanted the story I wanted to see how I could use the development of of shoes how does that story look to be able to generate use the ground forces a little bit more how important is is clothing and shoe Footwear and things like that how important is that for in your game as well in your world it's huge is it like I suppose you just look reflect on under as a brand they're there to make athletes better yeah I mean that's their that's their ethos that's their philosophy that's my personal philosophy I'm there to make golfers better and I see Fitness as a huge vehicle to do that yeah um and it's it's you know it is the big building blocks we got to be strong we got to be powerful we got to have the you know the foundation to be able to do it but we have to have the right Tech you know and I've like yourself I've been massively invested in the shoe um you know I personally use it I know the science that's behind it um all my PhD researchers you know within Force application how that transfers through the body and in in my view is you know it's like a set of golf clubs I can make you big and strong for but you've got the wrong clubs you're going to be losing power how much or or speed how much we you know we don't know we could you know test and retest um and I see like the shoes and other areas of the game there's so much research and Tech that's been invested into it and it's just helping making golfers better and if we can get it further it's easier let's be honest um so no I suppose on the shoe side I was you know I love I love the whole project you mean and testing and myself and you know the different um compartments in the shoe and the way in which the lace performed and the you know design of the spike all of that was just right up my street and you know I love being a part of the brand and and finding out what you know more and how we're building on that you know it's fascinating I have found it abs absolutely fascinating to go through that process with those guys and and actually just like little tiny little light bulb moments even for me you know from as being a coach as well um I found it absolutely fascinating this year working with them and going through some stuff with them it's been it's been great to see how it's developed and where it's come from and where it's going yeah that's the exciting bit that's the exciting bit isn't it um well I've really enjoyed this chat because there is like you said there is life Beyond Golf you know you got a fantastic ftic family you got a great business you know things are moving in the right direction for you you've learned a lot along your journey to this even just to this point and I think you know people don't get to hear these stories but what happens is you get to grab that experience that you've got and put it back into the game of golf in some way shape or form and and I know over a period of time you're going to help so many so many people whether they're young Juniors developing up through the system or or allowing people to continue playing this amazing game that we chose to play um you're going to put so much back into the game which is just fantastic to hear from your story yeah know exactly and that's why I'm very honest you me it is my reflection is how I see it yeah but it's easy to sit there and I suppose be a little bit jealous and blame other people which I supp is argument of that but you know I take full responsibility all I want to do now is share everything I've learned and everything I know in the most honest and respectful way I can to inspire others to ask better questions and hopefully improve their game or whatever level that is and that's how I see it now and that's that's the quest I'm on and you know coming on your platform and building my own platform that is the driver yeah you me to share that story in our message well it's a fantastic Story one of which I'm so glad we've had the opportunity to sit down here and and talk about it and had the opportunity to get out of the golf course and and play with you and watch it watch your game unfold again I hope your Love of the Game continues because you've got so much to offer like I've already said and um yeah thank you very much for your time andk you for all those listening or watching this video uh go and check you out Zach gold yeah yeah absolutely mate thank you very much for your time cheers thank you nice one to