From Quitting to One Under: Jack's Story (Injured 4 Months, Came Back a Different Golfer)

What do you do when a back injury takes you off the course for four months? If you're Jack Forstine, you do mental reps every single day -- and come back hitting 300-yard drives and shooting one under.

Last fall, Jack was averaging 42-45 on nine holes, losing his love for the game, and seriously considering walking away. When his back gave out, it looked like the end. Instead, it became the turning point.

In this episode, Bo and Shannon sit down with Jack to hear his story firsthand -- how mental imagery kept him "playing" through injury, how CPR and his trigger transformed him from a self-described hothead into a player who stays present, and how the same process the world's top athletes use gave a high school golfer the motivation to trust the system when the results weren't there yet.

You'll also hear Bo and Shannon share stories of golfers in their 80s still making massive gains -- because this system removes every excuse, whether you're 17 or 87.

If you're stuck, injured, or on the verge of giving up -- this one is for you.

Pick up your copy of In The Zone Secrets at InTheZoneSecrets.com or on Amazon internationally. 

Ready to take the next step? Book your free Consistent Golf Strategy Call at InTheZoneSecrets.com/freecall.

You're just one round away.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Last week we gave you the ultimate preround routine. And today we're going to show you what it looks like to take everything that we have talked about on this podcast, have it come full circle, and see finally the kind of gains that we've been preaching and talking about this entire time. Today we're going to do is we're going to take everything we've talked about and we're going to show you a real life example. One of our clients, a high school golfer, who last fall, when he was playing nine holes, he was averaging around 42 to 45. And he had rounds where he also had the wheels completely falling off. We've all been there. The interesting thing is he's like many of you are right now. He was not enjoying the game. He was on the verge of actually walking away completely, especially when he hurt his back and couldn't play for three to four months. But here's what changed everything. What was so cool is he felt like he was still playing, even though he hadn't even touched the club. And then when he came back, get this. He shot his lifetime low on nine holes with one under, and then had two rounds in the 30s, which he hadn't really done before. Not only that, his driving distance went from in the low 260s to then hitting it over 300 yards. And he's been more consistent than he's ever been in his entire career playing this game. But the number I keep coming back to, and this is the most important thing, it's not the scorecard. It's something that Jack says today that honestly stopped me on tracks. He said, hearing that the top athletes in the world are going through this exact same process gave him the motivation to keep trusting it. And for that, Jack, if you're listening to this, man, your story is going to be such an inspiration to everybody that's going to be listening to this.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

I just want to clarify this. So if you're if you have an injury or something like that, I want to say this. You either choose to see it as a threat or you see it as an opportunity. And you can do exactly like Jack did and see it as an opportunity. What I want you to hear in this conversation that we have with Jack is not the scores and the driving distance necessarily. Listen to how Jack describes what change in the way he responds to bad shots, because that shift from a hothead who, after every mistake, would spiral into a ruined round. And we know because we talked about complaining, what complaining does, and that it actually reinforces bad habits, and then you get in a habit loop and stuff like that. He went from all that to being a player that stays present and moves to the next shot and enjoys his game so much more because of that. And that is this system working exactly the way we've designed it to work. And literally how the Lord put it together step by step. And this is what caveman golf looks like in a high school player who almost was done with his game. And it's kind of like this you have an injury, you could see it as a threat or an opportunity. What does a pig do? A pig wallers in that. Stop wallering the suffering with the back and what was going on the golf course with the hot head. And he shifted that and he became a caveman golfer. And this is what it looks like for a high school player. But here's the beautiful thing is it doesn't just have to stop with high school, it can go with numerous ages.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

What if your best golf wasn't yours away? What if you were just one round away? Welcome to the One Round Away podcast, where our mission is simple to help a hundred thousand golfers just like you shoot their new lifetime low round. Not just once by accident, but to become the kind of golfer who knows how to perform when it matters most. Hey, I'm Bo Watson.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

I'm Shannon Shusky, and look, it's about being in freedom and stepping forward with the systems that we've done. It's that clear.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

It's called Caveman Golf, C Target, C Ball, Hip Ball. And that's what we're going to show everybody today with this incredible story about Jack Fortstein. And man, you guys are in for a treat.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

But with that being said, here's Jack.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

All right, Jack. So you did something pretty cool recently. Walk us through like what have you accomplished over the last couple weeks?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

So the last couple of weeks in my high school tournaments, I have gone one under, two over, two over, which is definitely one of the it's I think all three of those scores are my best high school golf scores over the last two years. So a lot of big personal achievements the last couple of weeks and the last couple of matches. And it's it's been nice to see after a pretty rough start to the season. So there's a lot of promise and hope going forward.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

I know you've won at least one match.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

When you contrast to the player you are now to compare to like where you were last fall, walk us through like what was like your scoring average. What were some of the scores that you shot last fall?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So last fall I was in like around the 42-ish range. I think I only broke 40 once for high school, which was for me that was still pretty good. Like I I would dictate that, but I also had a lot of really bad rounds, a lot of really bad, like just not played well, just all over the place rounds. I was struggling a lot with just honestly my game as a whole. I was not happy with myself and started to not really enjoy the game again.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah, because I remember when we talked like last fall, I think you were like on the verge of contemplating like even continuing to play or even really taking it seriously, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

I know we saw you a couple weeks ago in person. I think one of the other cool things that you've accomplished is I remember your driving distance that was about 264. And now, like, how far are you getting the ball?

SPEAKER_01 5:54

So over my last three rounds, my driving average is around 298, 295 to 300 range. And I played one of the 18 whole rounds I played, and my average driving distance was 305. And normally when I add distance, the ball goes over all over the place, but I've been able to I say I I've kept the ball in play more than I've ever done before. So even with the increase in yardage, I'm becoming even more consistent.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

You just said that you've basically increased your yardage, say 30 yards, and you're now cranking out 300s, right? Yeah. Um, but the biggest thing was you had a lot of things that were going against you when you first started with us. Number one, you were injured. You couldn't hit the ball nowhere near where you are now, right? And honestly, I think this was a blessing in disguise, so to speak, because you were able to focus more on the mental part and it shifted you in everything. Talk about that a little bit, about coming from injury, but then not just injury, because it wasn't just it shifted because the biggest thing that we noticed too is your attitude, your approach, everything like that. Kind of talk about that for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yeah. So towards the end of the fall, I ended up hurting my back pretty bad. So I wasn't able to really play golf for a good solid three months, maybe four months. Through doing the mental reps and all the extra work off the course and while not doing physical practice, I always felt like I was still playing just because I kept doing reps of me on the course, me practicing, just a bit of everything. And I constantly felt like when I was doing that, I was still playing golf, still playing the game that I enjoy now. And I had a pretty similar injury injury a couple years ago just in my ankle, and I couldn't play tennis for a while. And so why I picked golf back up again. But I stopped playing tennis because since I injured myself, I kind of just let go of tennis. I didn't really have a purpose for it. And I kind of went back to golf and I was a little nervous that the same thing would happen again, but with the mental imagery, with the whole process within itself, I I always felt it never felt like I was taking a break. And honestly, it kept me motivated through my recovery process, and it helped honestly speed up my recovery as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Jack, you got a bright future ahead of you, man. You've done some amazing work. I think the biggest thing that I love about your transformation is you as a person, but also as a player on the course, how you've gone from a place where I know you said it before, you've been in the past a hothead, and you know, a lot of times the bad shots, bad holes would get to you. Now that you've taken the right approach, choosing the right response, you still hit bad shots. You still have bad holes. But one of the things I love about you is you're moving into that champion's mindset and you're behaving and acting like a champion, and it's no wonder you're seeing the results that you're seeing, and you got a bright future ahead of you. So that attitude change has been a game changer for you, and it's been fun to watch.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yeah, it has been. And I just want to kind of speak into that too, because before you were very critical about your performance. Now you're critical about your learning from your performance. That's a big shift. Talk about that too.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

I've always been a big hot head on the golf course. Even when I was young, I I would let every minor mistake gets me, and I'll never be able to just let go of it. And it would always be the back of my mind, and it would just affect me for my whole round. Through all the work I've done, and especially with the CPR and trigger part on the course, I've been able to stay more present in the shot and my next shot. I haven't really focused on my last shot, no matter how good or bad it was. I've been able to just keep going and continue to just focus on what's next. I can definitely see the impacts that it has when I do that versus when I don't do it, because there are times where I still can't get a shot out of my head and it just kind of messes me up. But when I've gotten so much better, my attitude on the course has been way better. I I'm actually enjoying playing again, um playing better because I'm able to stay more present and I'm able to just think about the next shot instead of focusing on what happened before.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Now let me ask you this because when you compare the player you are now and what you're becoming, you're walking in your future identity and you're starting to see some of the big changes that we've made over the past a few weeks. What would you say to anybody that might be on the fence? They're kind of like where you were in the beginning. Like when we just talked about last fall, I know you were looking at changing swing coach, you were looking at all the different options to get better. Walk us through for anybody that's watching this right now, they might be exactly where you were in November. Okay. And they're looking at all the different ways to get better. What would you tell that person if they're looking at this program?

SPEAKER_01 10:47

One of the things that this program has really done a lot for me is understanding the process and that this team is not easy. A lot of the things I've learned it's one thing is you hear that from a coach, but from the videos that I've watched that professional athletes like the top at the top are also dealing these going through this process and are also working on the same things that I'm working on. It's given me a little extra motivation to continue to go with the process and continue just trusting the steps you guys have laid out in the program. And you see these guys performing at the highest level, they're the best athletes in the world, and they're working on the same stuff you are. It's honestly it definitely keeps keeps me more motivated. And not only have I seen changes in my golf game through the process, I've also just seen changes as me as a person. I've been able to apply a lot of these concepts to my academics, my social life, just everything outside of golf. And it's helped me become more a confident person. And I have a lot more trust and belief in myself when it comes to just not only golf, but uh in my academics as well. So I've seen a lot of improvement through this process, just in my life in general.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, I think that besides the performance part and seeing the lower scores, I think what I love hearing the most from what you just shared right there is that you enjoy the game again. And that to us is a huge win. So great job, man. Keep up the great work. You got a bright future ahead of you. Sharon, that's so incredible to see the transformation in real time with his game. Because man, I remember meeting him for the first time with his dad. It was so refreshing to see because at the time, if we're gonna be honest, he was definitely not in a good place. He actually reminded me a lot about my younger self. And I remember sharing that with him. I was so excited, and I couldn't just jump the gun, so to speak, and get ahead of myself. But it was one of the scenes where I knew that if we were to work together, we were gonna see some real changes. Not only that, but also to see him start having fun with the game, and now he's doing that. It's been so refreshing to see where he has come from and where he's at today. It's just so cool to not only see that he's thriving not only in his game, but he's also seeing the changes in his academics as well, and in his life, too. And that to me means just about more than what we've seen on the course. What do you think?

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yeah, 100%. To see the transformation that he did, because here's the thing it reminds me of a story of a man that was at Niagara Falls. It was a tightrope walker, walking across, and he walked across Niagara Falls on the typerope like four or five times. And then he started getting things walking. One of the things that he got was a wheelbarrow. And he said, Hey, how many of you believe that I can walk across the Niagara Falls on in a wheelbarrow? And everybody started screaming, yeah, you can do it, you can do it. And so he walks across with the wheelbarrow and he goes, All right, man, I'm gonna throw some rocks in here. How many of y'all believe that I can walk across this tightrope with these rocks in this wheelbarrow? And everybody starts screaming, yeah, yeah. And so he does it and he comes back, he's getting a great applause and all that. And he goes, All right, so how many of y'all believe that I can actually take one of you guys across this and you can sit in the wheelbarrow and you can come with me? And everybody's yeah, all right, so who wants to do it? Crickets. That's all you heard was crickets. See, there's a difference between being mentally going in and then being all in. And that's what Jack did. He actually went all in on our system, and Jack spent four months unable to play because of his back. He did mental reps every single day. He came back hitting 305-yard drives with more consistency than before the injury. That's being all in. He got in the wheelbarrow. The same mechanism, but different circumstances with an identical principle. What do you mean? What are you talking about, Shannon? Because, see, when you're getting mental reps in, the motor sensory of the brain cannot tell the difference of what's going on with mental imagery and then even power talk is actually accelerating your body to heal, and your nervous system does not have to take a break. If you're injured right now, if you're recovering from something and you cannot get to the course, this is your sign. Take 10 minutes, 20 minutes, get some mental reps in every single day. Keep making deposits in your brain account, so then you can be like Jack when it comes time, you could make those withdrawals because without that, it's going to say insufficient funds, right? Your brain account's gonna say insufficient funds. The account will be full when you come back, and you'll be able to take those withdrawals. Jack was also using Power Talk during his mental rep sessions, and because of that, it shifted. He was preloading decisions that automated good choices, and he shifted from being the hot head to being Mr. Cool, right? And then to a player who stays present and moves to the next shot, and he's staying in his own shoes. And you've heard us say it, he's literally walking in the word when, and that's how he won. When is that acronym when what's important now? And he was doing that, being present with every shot. This is the system that is working exactly the way it was designed. Here's the thing about Jack's story: it removes the excuses of being too young, being too early in development. We've worked with numerous clients that are 60, 70 plus year old with the same stories, shoulder injuries and the coming back and hitting it further, hitting it more accurate on the golf course. And that story also removes the excuses of anyone that says, look, you're never too old to get better and to do this. Your best golf is ahead of you.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

My goodness, we want to talk about some of the oldest clients we've worked with. Look at Lauren Matthews, 80 some years old, and shoots 69 for the first time since he was a kid at 16 years old. I'll never forget that phone call and voicemail I got from him. It was so funny, and I still have it saved. You look at someone like Charlie, for example, this guy is 87 years old, and he not only gained 20 more yards on his drives, but he's been very consistently in a high 70s. And then just last week, Shannon, you and I got a text from one of our clients that came and saw us. He's 85, just had his 85th birthday, was up in the mountains, and he's shot 79. It's so cool to see some of these stories and to see some of these transformations, and more importantly, things that if you look at it from the traditional standpoint, it doesn't make sense, right? But yet that's the point of our system, and that's the point of what we teach, is that it is not the traditional way to get better. And in fact, it is what the world's best and the hall of fame athletes have always used to separate themselves from everybody else. That's the system that we've been giving you over the last few episodes, and now you got to hear from Jack in real time from a high school age how he's applying it. And we got numerous case studies like Jack's. And so I really hope that you guys have been able to see what can happen when you actually apply these kinds of things.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Look, I'm gonna be honest, it's the only system on the planet that can get you in the zone at the flip of a switch, right? That's why we wrote a book, and the proof is in the pudding. And hopefully, with this story, we'll inspire you to go back and start from episode one, two, three, and go through those episodes and start applying it. Be like Jack and get all in the wheelbarrow and be totally moved and let's go together because we do, we want uh a hundred thousand golfers shoot their new lifetime low round, and we want you to be in that list.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

So, that being said, again, there's two ways you guys can work with us. One, you can get our book if you're in the U.S., it's AmazonSecrets.com, or you can get it on Amazon if you're international. And then two, if you're the type of person that maybe you're a tournament golfer, or if you're a tour player, or you're just a player that's you know what, I know I got more in me, and I just can't seem to get out of my own way, or I got too many swing faults, I can't get my game to transfer from the range of the course, and for whatever reason, you're still stuck. Those are the type of players that we specialize in helping day in, day out, and we see the biggest gains and the biggest wins in a very short time span. So if you're the type of person that's, hey, I don't have a whole lot of time to really go search and look down the YouTube rabbit hole. I just want the hand holding experience, I want the accountability, and I want the guarantee that's going to ultimately get me to the next level. You found us. That's what we specialize in, that's what we do. If you'd like to explore how we can help, it's pretty simple. Just go to end zone secrets.com slash free call, get that scheduled, and you and I will jump on a call, dive deep into your game, see what's working, what's not. And then more importantly, if we can't help you, we'll point you in the right direction. I got a lot of contacts within the industry, and so a lot of them are friends of mine, and I'll point you in the right direction. But if it's something that we can help you with, we'll show you a few ways that we can help you get to that next level. And man, I really hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. And just remember, you're just one round away. Just go out there and be that caveman or cave girl golfer.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Yeah, I want to say this real quick. So if you don't think you can get better, let us prove you wrong.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

I like that one, Shan, because that's the same that's the same thing I said to you that night at dinner. I'm gonna prove you wrong. And clearly, I was the one that was wrong in the end. So yeah, if you want the if you want that challenge, yeah, jump on that call. Oh man. Guys, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And that being said, remember you're just wandering on the way.