From Fairways to Fitness: An Origin Story (Part 5)

In my last post, I shared the story of how I ventured out on my own at Chartidge Park Golf Club. It was a challenging time in my personal life, marked by a period of ‘casual homelessness’ and sofa surfing. But as they say, the only way is up from there, right?

The First Steps as a Self-Employed Golf Pro

My start as a fully self-employed golf pro was promising. Being the first pro the club had seen in a few years meant a strong initial uptake in clients. The facility had a good atmosphere and a solid client base, but it definitely had its flaws. Coaching involved a five-minute walk with clients up the road, opening the gates to the greenkeepers’ area, and hitting off a mat onto a field. I even had to collect my own golf balls and occasionally mow the field myself!

However, the freedom of running my own business made it all worthwhile. Within a year, I was able to move out of my rented room and into a flat in Berkhamsted. Like any good bachelor, I furnished it with the essentials: a bed, a sofa, and a TV (propped up on a stack of DVDs!). It was a big step up from the previous six months.

The Need for a Second Income

The added overheads of the flat made it clear that I needed a second source of income. Coaching golf in an open, uncovered field at the top of a hill in Pednor, coupled with the seasonal nature of the sport, meant my income was feast or famine. I’d make good money during the summer months but next to nothing in the winter.

I was already incorporating biomechanics and simple physical training with some of my golf clients, so becoming a personal trainer by getting my L3 PT qualification was a natural next step. This involved a mix of remote and in-person training. I’ve always loved studying and have been fortunate to have a good memory, allowing me to fully immerse myself in the information. When it’s a subject I’m interested in, I absorb as much knowledge as I can. This contrasted with my school years, where I had no interest in the subjects and did the bare minimum. It will be interesting to see if my children, Phoenix and Ezra, follow the same pattern!

A Growing Passion for Fitness

From the first lecture, I was hooked on the fitness industry. The subject was fascinating, and the ability to facilitate positive change in people was a passion I already held. I saw it in my golf clients and could see the potential being far greater in the fitness world.

I also quickly discovered how inadequate my ‘sport-specific’ golf fitness training had been. Fifteen years ago, few golfers focused on their fitness. Many were only one step above dart players in terms of their physical condition! That wasn’t my issue, though. Mine was that I followed the supposed industry leaders when it came to golf fitness. Looking back, it was nonsense.

Sport-specific training essentially involved training the movement patterns of golf with a resistance or speed focus. The only separate work was core stability with a Swiss ball (one of the most overused pieces of kit from the 2010s!). Some people still coach sport-specific training for their sport. But let’s look at the logic. I was already spending four hours a day practicing my sport, with thousands of repetitions a week. Did my body need more repetitions of this in the gym? Definitely not! It would just exacerbate overuse injuries and imbalances and leave me weak at full range of motion and inflexible.

This became very apparent when I failed my first personal training assessment because I couldn’t perform an air squat. Yes, that’s right! To all those athletes at CrossFit Chiltern who are struggling with movements, it took a lot of work for me to get to an air squat that was passable by PT standards. And trust me, those standards are low by CrossFit standards! I just needed to squat above parallel and couldn’t do it!

From Fitness First to Financial Struggles

After a re-test, I passed the course and got a role at Fitness First Berkhamsted, a five-minute walk from my flat. It was a standard PT role where you pay a flat facility rent (at the time, I think it was £500 per month). You’re then self-employed within the gym. The benefit was the large number of leads, as every new member got two free sessions with you at the start of their membership.

This was the beginning of my lesson in recruiting fitness clients. Like most new coaches, I wasn’t good at closing initially, but I’ve definitely improved!

It may seem like all was good in my life at this point, but financially, I was struggling. Starting at Fitness First in December was an absolute lifesaver. January brought the worst winter we’d had in decades, and the golf club was snowed in for over a month. For me, this meant my income was zero! I remember having five days to make my rent payment when I signed up my first four clients. This gave me the cash to pay the rent and keep a roof over my head.

It was this experience, and how much I began to love the gym environment, that made my focus start to shift more towards the fitness scene. I started with the intention of it being a side hustle, and although it was for a couple of years, I was gravitating towards that side of my business.