Thinking Outside The (Orange) Box

Jeff Isler’s JumpStart Skills Program accelerates player development with automated TrackMan practice.

“When young, aspiring players employ an additional 10-20 hours of practice on top of their weekly lessons, the success of that invested time is primarily dictated by how well they adhere to the instructions prescribed by their coach.”

How do coaches ensure their teaching instructions not only stick with their young players but that they also ‘practice as prescribed’ without constant supervision?

Jeff Isler, owner of Jeff Isler Golf in Southlake, TX, has found an answer to this question. In a self-administered practice environment, players follow a customized training plan, where personalized drills and tests are performed in front of a TrackMan. By doing so, students follow a predefined path of learning while their performance (data) is captured for review and analysis after the session.

Resulting from a shift in his coaching philosophy towards emphasizing skill over style and technique, Isler created the Jumpstart program.

“Technique still has a place in our coaching approach, but skill drives score and JumpStart is specifically geared toward accelerating skill development. Using TrackMan not only as a diagnostic tool but also as a stand-alone training tool, the program offers accelerated skill development through structured practice sessions for a lower price than traditional one-on-one golf lessons.”

After an initial player evaluation, Isler and his team of coaches then build a weekly training program for the players. Once a student arrives at the facility, he or she signs into the TrackMan Performance Studio software and performs the predefined, personalized training session autonomously. Once completed, the player hands in the completed assignment and based on the outcome, the coach adjusts the training plan for subsequent weeks.

The only requirement for students participating in the JumpStart program is that they are mature enough to do the required work on their own. A small, initial TrackMan introduction is therefore often necessary. “They need a little training, but it’s not hard. We basically set up everything in advance, so they walk over and start working.”

Jumpstart is not meant to be a stand-alone program but serves as an addendum to the players overall training curriculum. “It’s a way of accelerating a player’s development through a predefined curriculum and, at the same time, ensuring that they stay on track with their overall training goals.”

At the same time, Isler sees a big advantage in teaching his juniors self-sufficiency early on: “Our job is to guide the process, but not to the point where the player can’t practice without us, because they also have to play the game without us.”

“Like most industries, the business models in the golf industry are evolving and will be changing over the years.”

As a former business executive, Isler has a good understanding of how to align business offerings with market demands. In 2005, six months after relocating to Southlake Texas from Los Angeles to run the consolidation of the private equity firm he was working for at that time, the deal fell apart. Driven by the thriving progress of his own daughter who was playing for TCU, and the knowledge and experience with junior golf from the travels he undertook accompanying her to tournaments, Isler decided to turn his garage into a golf academy.

“Like most industries, the business models in the golf industry are evolving and will be changing over the years.”

As a new coach, Isler’s business was under scrutiny right from the beginning, not only by competition but also by his own wife, who, back then, considered his ambitions a crazy idea. Twelve years later, Isler is the owner of two facilities equipped with advanced technology including four TrackMans. His team of five golf coaches teaches over one hundred juniors and more than thirty adult members.

Using technology, Isler has found an alternative to the conventional hourly fee business model and the challenges it brings for coaches, such as the struggle of finding time for a vacation or building up a retirement fund.

Besides the business advantages of partial automation of the practice facility, Isler also sees the players naturally gravitating towards such business models. “The TrackMan practice that we offer for a fraction of the price of a lesson is a perfect supplement in between face-to-face lessons because it keeps players on track and moves them forward. They are also better prepared for the next lesson with their coach.” Overall, Isler sees the entire golf industry getting more and more business savvy, which is why he thinks it is just a matter of time before other business models will be developed.

Right from the beginning, Isler’s teaching was highly influenced by technology. Initially lacking an official education as a golf instructor, Isler set out to educate himself and improve his skills as a coach. Whether it was the TrackMan workshops, TrackMan University or the TrackMan blog, Isler consumed all the information provided. For him, TrackMan ended up being a twofold resource: The information the product was producing and the education TrackMan provided.

“He didn’t like the fact that we exposed all his weaknesses, but a measuring tool is a measuring tool.”

The Jumpstart program has been running for about a year, and every week, 15 – 20 junior golfers along with a handful of adults are practicing with TrackMan technologies – each with their prescribed weekly training plan, customized by Isler and his team. The reactions of his young players are positive without exception: “The kids love it, and they are very comfortable with the technology.” Most of them, however, go through a process in which they first have to accept their weaknesses before they can start working on them. The results are evident.

In the interview with TrackMan, Isler describes a typical case of a promising young golfer who recently entered Isler’s training facilities after years of frustration and lack of improvement. After one month in the Jumpstart program, that very same player increased his ball speed by 20mph, carrying a 7-iron 170 yards, as opposed to 130 yards when he started. “So here is this kid who spent two years making no progress.

He walks in the door completely discouraged, but after just one month that very same player improved significantly. A critical part of the turnaround was when I showed him how much his performance had improved in just a few short months. Today he is a big fan of Jumpstart, and he’s using it every week in addition to his lessons. ”

When asked whether he thinks technology and automation will make the coach obsolete, Isler sees no risk that this will ever be the case: “It is pretty clear that the best players in the world don’t self-coach.” According to Isler, Jumpstart is a great skill development program, but it will never be able to provide the guidance and reinforcement coaches give their players. “It’s really just about confidence and all the intangibles associated with performing under pressure. Automation is never going to provide that. It requires a human touch.”