One Round Away

From Stuck to 68: How a 70-Year-Old Rediscovered His Best Golf Without Touching the Range

• Bo and Shannon • Season 1 • Episode 6

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 20:33

John Norvell was stuck in the mid-to-high eighties. He'd tried YouTube, training aids, everything most golfers try. Nothing moved the needle. He was frustrated enough to stop keeping score.

Then he stopped training his swing and started training the six inches between his ears.

In month one — with almost zero physical practice due to graduate school — he averaged 80, including a 73. Month two his average dropped to 75. At ten weeks he shot a lifetime low 71 at age 70. Since recording, he has shot 68 at age 71.

In this episode you'll hear directly from John about what changed, what the release routine did for him in the middle of that 71 round, why his language transformed completely, and what he means when he says "every shot belongs to me."

You'll also hear why getting his childhood love for the game back meant more to John than any score — and what he would tell any golfer still on the fence.

Bo closes by teasing what's coming next — signal lights, the internal thermostat, and the behavior shifts that break through the score ceiling holding your game back.

Your ceiling may be higher than you think. Your breakthrough may be closer than you realize.

Resources mentioned:

🎧 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts — Listen Here Spotify — Listen Here

🧠 Free Mental Game Assessment Find out exactly what's holding your game back — takes 5 minutes and it's completely free. → https://inthezonesecrets.com/assessment

📖 Get the Book In the Zone Secrets: How to Get in the Zone at the Flip of a Switch — just cover shipping and it's yours. → https://inthezonesecrets.com/

👥 Join the Caveman Golf Winner's Circle Our free community for golfers who are serious about playing their best. Come join the tribe. → https://inthezonesecrets.com/winners-circle-checkout

📞 Free Coaching Call If you're ready to close the gap between the golfer you are and the golfer you know you can be — let's talk. → https://inthezonesecrets.com/freecall

SPEAKER_00

What if I told you a golfer stuck in the mid to high eighties with almost no time to physically practice could drop his average score to 75 in just eight weeks? What if I told you he shot a new lifetime low round of 71 at the age of 70? And the biggest thing that he got back wasn't just lower scores, it was his love for the game.

SPEAKER_02

Because that's the part most golfers never hear about. They hear about swing changes. Yeah, they hear that all the time. They hear about doing drills, they hear about putting aids, training tools, and more things to add. But what if the real breakthrough comes when you stop piling things on and finally learn how to train the six inches between your ears? I'm Bo Watson.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, I'm Shannon Chusky. And this is the One Round Away podcast where our mission is simple to help 100,000 golfers shoot a new lifetime low round, not just once by accident, but to actually become the kind of golfer who knows how to perform when it matters most.

SPEAKER_02

A golfer that plays with freedom, a golfer who knows how to recover from bad shots or even recover from good shots. We don't even think about that because there's an emotional attachment that happens when we are actually playing real good, and then all of a sudden we're mentally sabotaging our own game and falling into a spiral of bogies, right? And a golfer who stops sabotaging themselves and starts trusting what's already in there.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. And Shannon, that's why we call this caveman golf. Or cavegirl golf, which is sea target, sea ball, and hit ball. Simple, instinctive, free. That's how your best golf has always happened. It's not when you are drowning in swing thoughts, it's not when you're trying to steer, it's not when you're trying to be perfect. It was because you were literally reacting and just being an athlete out on the course.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, today's episode is a case study on what can happen when everyday golfer applies this system. You're about to hear from John Norville from Northern Michigan. John was frustrated, he was stuck, and like most golfers, you probably can relate to that as well, doing everything he knew to do without really getting any better. Then he started training differently, and what happened next was incredible. So here's John.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, my name's John, and I'm from Northern Michigan. And we've been up here for a long time. And I'm one of those guys that, like many golfers, has been struggling for years and years and enjoying the game most of the time, but just not getting any better.

SPEAKER_00

Can you walk us through what were some of the problems that you were facing back in the very beginning before you and I even met each other?

SPEAKER_01

Sure. After golfing as a kid, I didn't golf for a few decades because of work. And once I started again, rapidly got to a point where I'm a bogey golfer. Remember mid eighties most of the time, maybe worse, a little worse than that. Maybe high eighties a lot. And uh really didn't matter what I was doing. I just wasn't getting any better. And uh struggling with thinking that I should be able to do better. I always thought I was a decent athlete. But uh golf was just really telling me it's the unbeatable game for sure, and I'm not just not making progress. And like most golfers, I've getting frustrated to the point where you wonder, is it even worth going out anymore? Because you're not seeing improvement. I think that's where I was at the point. Enjoying the game, enjoying being able to get out. And certainly frustrated by a lack of improvement in my game.

SPEAKER_00

What was the result of implementing our program?

SPEAKER_01

This has been a really interesting journey, so I guess I've been with you a couple months now. And uh before I started, it was at the point where I wouldn't even keep scoring my game anymore. I know I was shooting roughly mid eighties, probably. And uh a month into the program, and I went back and looked at my statistics, over the first month I averaged an eighty. That was my that was my average score. I took all my scores up, added them up, divided by a certain number, it was eighty. And that included uh 73 that I had shot late in the month. At the end of the second month, my average was 75. Now the extraordinary thing about that is because of the fact that I'm working in graduate school and some other commitments, I really didn't have a time to do any physical practice. If I did it was only a few minutes at a time, and that was only a couple of occasions. So for the most part, I had no physical practice during that parade. But I was spending some dedicated time to visualization and to implementing the program that I was going through in the zone.

SPEAKER_00

It's really at the core of what we teach inside a program, which is psychoneuruscular trading. And that's exciting because that's one of the big things that kind of separates us apart from every program out there. There's the fact that you can still improve your games without actually fiscally practicing. And man, for you to go in two months' time, you said from mid-80s to now you have an average score of 75. And then you just recently, I think you said you shot your new lifetime low round, if I'm not mistaken. What was that score?

SPEAKER_01

Part of the course shot a 71 here about 10 days ago, I guess it was. And uh that was with that was uh bogeying the first hole and finding a picking up a birdie along the way and even lipping out a couple putts along the way. But that was a pretty exciting that was a pretty exciting day for me.

SPEAKER_00

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_01

Uh I'll be 70 in January.

SPEAKER_00

I think for many people, they're probably bombarded with like emails. They see so many different programs out there. There are so many options, right? People could go and get drivers, they could go buy clubs, they could go buy training dates, they could go duties online, I don't know, membership programs, things like that. Why did you choose us specifically over the many other options out there that somebody could potentially choose?

SPEAKER_01

First of all, probably I'm guessing probably like a lot of your students, I did go the former way. I watched a lot of YouTube and I and uh bought a lot of training needs. And uh for the most part nothing changed. I know from experience that things like imagination and visualization are important in success in so many different fields. And so when I saw when I got the email from you advertising this, I was intrigued. I'm a I'm a single plane golfer and I remember Mo Norman talking about visualization and imagination. And I thought if it's good for one of the best ball strikers on the planet, maybe it'd be worth a try. And so I was looking forward to it, and I think I came in with a pretty pretty positive uh attitude about it, especially based on stories that uh you made in your presentation. I was particularly struck by other professional athletes that use visualization and especially struck by a uh Viet by a Vietnam veteran uh who was in prison and we played around at I think it was like Pebble Beach every day while he was in prison and came out and shot as good golf as he did before he went in.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's a story that is uh so mind-boggling, but man, it is. That's an incredible story. That's pretty amazing. I'm curious, as a result of implementing the program, what would you say how has it changed your life as going through it?

SPEAKER_01

The amazing part is that I have the same enjoyment going on playing goal that I did the first time I stepped on the course when I was a third grader. I don't care what it looks like, I'm just enjoying it. If I happen to hit a shot that isn't a good shot, it's still something I learned from. And because of the training I received, I can release it right away. It's just okay, let's go to the next one, let's see how the next one's gonna go. That just frees you up so much in the course. We've all seen the golf jokes of uh guys throwing their eggs in the lake and then coming back sheepishly and digging them out and pulling out their car keys and throwing the bag back in the water. This is universal for golfers, right? But I enjoy being out there. I I enjoy every shot that I hit now, every shot is a shot that belongs to me. And if it isn't as good as I want, it's okay. I release it. And when I get to the next one, I picture it going better and it has a rule down.

SPEAKER_00

Man, that's so huge. What you just stated is so critical because a lot of people they get so caught up on hitting the bad shot that it just sticks with them and it'll just compound on each other, and it's just bad shot after bad shot. And then before you know it, the train completely falls off the tracks. I remember you saying like that was a huge turning point for you, especially when you shot your 71. You started with a bogey, but you were able to put it past you and move on and still do very well for the rest of the round. So that's exciting.

SPEAKER_02

During our training sessions that we've had, I've noticed too, like, especially after the first month working with you, your language totally changed.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Totally changed to I'm curious now when you when let's say because golf is the game of not perfect, and that shot comes up. What is your approach now with that difficult shot that's coming up next? How do you uh approach that now versus with the way you did before?

SPEAKER_01

The round that we just talked about, I bogeyed the first hole. I hit a wonderful tee shot and my second shot towards the green was off a side hill lie. And uh I thought I'd played her my must now because it ended up on on the T on the next hole. Right. I really got into it. So I'm left with I'm left with a difficult shot underneath a tree and across the sand trap, and I'm like, I can do this. I just have to think about what I'm what my approach is. Instead of walking up and going, Oh man, this is another double or triple bogey. Instead it was a challenge. It's the game. And I'm not competing against the score, I'm just playing the game. You know, what hate what happens is gonna happen. So I really didn't even feel bad about the shot, the second shot, which was not a good shot, but I didn't feel bad about it because I made good contact on it. I thought, ooh, this is really nice. Crazy about where it landed, but hey, it gives me an opportunity to play a s a shot I haven't played in a while. And I think that's the way it is all the time. Instead of looking at a shot and going, you know, oh, that's a horrible shot, or looking at a good shot and going, hey, every broken clock's right twice a day, I'm like, Yes, that was a good shot. You really celebrate those good shots. And uh thanks to you guys, there's more and more of those these days.

SPEAKER_00

Uh if there is anybody that's watching right now and they're on offense and they're still like contemplating whether they should work with us or not, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01

Again, I'm an example of your average golfer that just wasn't improving. My experience and from others who I've talked to in your program is just consistent. We do this, we imagine it, we find a love for the game again, and all of a sudden the things that were holding us back mentally, and that is what hold that that's what holds golfers back. It's not the physical part, it's the mental part that holds you back. Once you get a handle on that, all of a sudden the game becomes a game to you again, a game that you enjoy, and not a challenge that you regret every time you face a difficult shot. You'll regain your childhood love for playing, and it's just totally worth it. What else can I say?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I don't know how to capture that any better than what you just stated. John, what you just said right there, it was the very reason why I came back and did this again full time. Like I had a very similar story. Golf wasn't fun. Those of you that may not know my story, I stepped away from this game six years ago, was done with it forever. And then just meeting Shannon and how he changed my life and my game. It's so sweet and joyful to get a response like you just stated, especially now that you're able to enjoy the game again. Because that's our heart, that's our mission. Yes, we want people to improve their scores. We want to do those kind of things, have fun, but really what it's all about at the end of the day is people are having fun, they're enjoying the game. And more importantly, it's all about the relationships for us. John, thanks so much for taking time out and spending time with us today to share your side of the story.

SPEAKER_01

I want to thank you and Shannon for restoring my love for the game again. And the best part of it is, like I said, this is the mental part. I have work on the physical part. I know my scores are just gonna go lower now, and it's thanks to you guys. So Goodles.

SPEAKER_00

We know it's gonna be a continued effect of that. We can't wait to see when you actually do shoot your age and possibly even below that.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm planning on it.

SPEAKER_00

Hey guys, is that not amazing? Like John's story is such a powerful reminder of what is actually possible. Not someday, not after a perfect swing build, not after years and years of grinding, but like when you actually finally start training the part of the game that most golfers completely overlook. And that's what makes this so exciting because John just didn't lower his scores. Like he changed the way that he actually experiences the game. Like he changed the way that he responds to bad shots, he changed the way that he sees difficult situations on the golf course, and he got back something that a lot of golfers lose without even realizing it. That's why he was able to go from being stuck in the mid to high 80s to averaging 80 in literally four weeks, to then averaging 75 in eight weeks, and then shooting his lifetime low round at that time in 10 weeks. And the neat part is since then he has actually shot his new lifetime low round of 68 at the age of 71. And that right there should tell every single one of you that's listening, your ceiling may be a lot higher than you think, and your breakthrough is probably a lot closer than you think. What do you think, Shann?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, 100%. But we talk about training aids and getting all this stuff done. And you've heard us mention this on the podcast that you know, all the top coaches in the world and even players in the world, they'll say that golf is the number one mental sport in the world, 90% mental and 10% physical. And we actually showed him how to fix that 90%, because let's face it, most of us are spending 100% of the time and only 10% of the game. But it wasn't just that. He it was his behaviors that was he was changing, it was modifying his behaviors because he understood that, for example, when there's a study that came out of Harvard that when we speak positive, that it actually has a 10% more likely of a chance some way, somehow, to affect you, and not just you, but the people around you. But however, if you think or even if it's even worse, if you say something negative, then it has it's 40 to 70 times worse to affect you somehow, somehow. So then when you step up that up to that shot and you think don't hit it in the buck or don't hit it in the water, or anything like that negative aspect totally affects your muscle sequencing going into and hurts you, and that's why we're not able to make those shots. Have you ever noticed when you think don't do this, or when you start thinking those negative thoughts, that the golf ball seems to be like a magnet to that area which you said don't hit it in. And that's why it's because it's affecting you somehow, somehow, and then it is calling you lack of coordination in the body. And you're when you're in that state, you only have 5% chance of more likely hit a good shot. Now that's insane. 5% is extremely low. So John literally walked step by step in this system and shifted his behaviors and started getting the mental reps in away from the course instead of spending hours and hours at the driving range, which he couldn't do. He spent just time in his chair or walking and doing getting the mental imagery, reframing his brain to be able to work to the best when it mattered the most.

SPEAKER_00

They're only able to get out there and maybe squeeze a round in on the weekends. Because of that, it leads to embarrassment for many of them because they want to go out there and perform. In the past, a lot of these people were ex-college athletes, had a very competitive background, and so they're playing this game that, as you just said, is the hardest sport in the world. It's almost a definition of insanity. Something's got to give. The only way that you're going to actually make any type of change that's going to be meaningful is you're going to have to change the way that you prepare and practice. And that's exactly what John did. And that's amazing because his story is like so many of our countless clients that we work with. It can be you too, if you really go all in on this system and what we're teaching. And what we're going to also share over the next few episodes, because one of the things that John did an amazing job was attacking the internal thermostat. That's going to be in another episode we're going to be teaching on here soon, along with the signal lights and being able to manage behaviors that Shannon was talking about. And it's all about this game of recognizing what state are you in, how do we get back to a green light state, but more importantly, walking in your new identity so we break through that score ceiling that is currently on your game. If you've ever experienced like going out and playing the front nine really well and then blow up on the back nine, but it's vice versa, or you play terrible in the front, you play amazing on the back, or it's just like you have these random blow up holes that just find its way to the surface scattered throughout the round on your scorecard. And it's like no matter what you do, you always end up in the same scoring range. That's your thermostat in your game. And so we got to change that, reset it, and uh that's exactly what we're gonna be teaching and sharing over these next few episodes. Shannon, you got anything else you want to share on that?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, actually, system is the you guys will find out about me, and Bo's getting ready to laugh. And because I am a guy of acronyms, I love acronyms, and the word system, here's the acronym for you save yourself time, energy, and money. Save yourself time, energy, and money. The reason why I say that is because what we're doing, it's almost like a shortcut. It's like a cheat sheet, right? If you remember when I was sharing in the very beginning of how I came across this system, I couldn't do a start to save my life. But however, when I put shoes on, I was beating everybody, my background being speed skating, I was beating everybody. And getting my mental reps in, it was a shortcut, almost like a cheat sheet. And then literally within one month, I was when it starts, and in a month and a half, I was when it starts at me under pressure. And look, guys, this is the only system on the planet that you can trigger your body to get in the zone on demand, and that's why we came out with our book.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, if you guys want to get a book, you can if you're in the US, you just go to endazone secrets.com, you can purchase the book through us. It's $9.95, you just pay for shipping and handling. And then if you're outside the US for our international golfers, you just go on Amazon, you can order through that. Next thing is we have a free resource. If you have not yet taken the free quiz or the free assessment, you just go to endazonesecrets.com slash assessment, and what that will do, it'll tell you your actual score killer. There's a really cool customized blueprint that you'll get at the end of that. And then the last thing is if you're like, well, this really resonates, and Bosch Gan, I really want to work with you guys because I want to experience the same kind of success that John did, then I would like to invite you to jump on a free strategy call with myself or my team. And the way that you do that, it'll be posted in the show notes. You just go to endazonesecrets.com/slash free call, and then that'll be posted there as well. So, guys, I really hope you enjoyed this episode. More than anything, it opens your eyes to see what's possible when you try a different route than what the traditional way of improving your games. One thing I just want to say up front, again, I know we have a lot of PGA coaches, and I know we have a lot of amazing experts in the game that are following and listening to this podcast. Please understand, I'm not saying that the technical game is not important. Shannon is not saying that either. There are multiple studies that have proven that you need to have both mental and physical, but what's happening too often and what's been ultimately the crutch, so to speak, for the last 30, 50 years is that golfers have spent too much of their time on just technical and they have not addressed the mental. And that is a major hurdle for improvement. And to make the improvement happen faster, this is the shortcut. And that being said, we really appreciate you guys. Go out there and be a caveman golfer or cavegirl golfer this week. And remember, you're just one round away.