Community Highlights: Meet James Morrison of Perform Better Golf

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Morrison.

Hi James, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story began in North Carolina, where I was born and raised (Born in Charlotte and raised in Lincolnton). I had a middle-class upbringing, and my family was Catholic, so we attended Sunday Mass every week and were very active in the church community and school events. Growing up, I played various sports, from baseball to golf, cross country, football, and basketball, and even had a stint in the marching band.

I was a curious kid and wanted to experience all the different kinds of sports. This curiosity was a good thing in academics and athletics, but eventually, around the 7th and 8th grades, my curious nature led me down a dark path. I became involved in several small local gangs around town during the summer break between my 7th and 8th-grade years. We were engaged in minor juvenile activities such as vandalism and breaking into the local high school. At the time, it seemed harmless, but you can imagine the concern as a police officer showed up at my parent’s front door one afternoon looking for me.

This was a shock for my parents and for me as well. Repercussions followed, and I spent much of the next year in and out of counseling and court hearings. It wasn’t a fun time for my family, and I felt I had let them down. Everything went well for the next couple of years at school and in sports until the 11th grade in high school, when I fell into another crowd who wasn’t on the right path. This time it was substance abuse, and by my senior year in high school, I was in a tailspin going nowhere fast. I managed to get into a local community college after graduating high school. Despite my ‘extracurricular’ activities, I still graduated with decent grades. But community college for an 18-year-old, in my state of mind, wasn’t the answer. I was barely in class and flunked out after the first semester.

Around the same time, a buddy and I were pulled over one night on our way to a football game at NC State University and were ticketed for possession of marijuana. We each had to pay multiple court fines and complete community service. My life was an apparent mess, and my parents were lost as to what to do. Not to mention I wasn’t providing a perfect example to my younger brother or other younger family members. My parents gave me an ultimatum: I was to get a job, move out of the house or join the military. At the urging of one of my best friends, I dropped everything and joined the Navy.

I could barely get through the drug screening that was a part of MEPS (military entrance processing station) because my system had been so contaminated over the last year and a half. Still, I made it through and into Navy boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. This was a shock to my otherwise previously pampered position in life. I was no longer under the umbrella of my parent’s home. Nobody was coming to save me. It was just me and my shipmates, and our Navy RDCs.

Navy boot camp was and is one of the best things ever. It taught me structure, discipline, teamwork, and the value of showing up to serve in everyday life. I graduated boot camp and went to Aviation electronic technician school in Pensacola, FL, to become a certified aviation electronic technician. After completion of ‘A’ school, I was assigned to the USS Enterprise in Norfolk, VA, and served there for 3 1/2 years until I was honorably discharged from the Navy in September 2011. I then left VA to move to California to attend National University. Before I was discharged from the Navy, I considered what I wanted to do after completing my military service. I knew I wanted to be in the golf industry because I had loved playing as a kid, and it was one of the only activities that kept me out of trouble. I decided to attend National University and enroll in their Sport Psychology program. A Golf Academy was also attached to the program, allowing me to learn as much about the game as I wanted.

With my sport psychology classes and learning all about the technical aspect of the golf swing, I began tearing apart my swing and rebuilding it. This was a painful process, and I labored for a couple of years before I could say that I had anything close to a golf swing to play with. Even after the swing rebuild, I didn’t feel like I owned my swing, and my head was constantly filled with self-conscious swing thoughts of not being good enough.

When I graduated from National, I began to study psychology partly because I wanted to become a better golfer and human. I began to realize that my high scores on the golf course weren’t so much a reflection of my golf swing but more so a reflection of me. I began to play professional golf on the mini-tours in Southern California while working multiple jobs as an assistant pro at several golf courses. I also bar-tended, caddied, and trained people in the gym. This went on for about 2 and a half years before I ran out of money and took a commercial insurance job.

I worked in the insurance industry for another 2 years before becoming increasingly uncomfortable as an underwriter. My insurance job was in Carlsbad, CA, but our company moved locations during the height of the Covid – 19 pandemic, and I moved with them out to Phoenix, AZ, where I purchased my first home. The money and pay were great, but I missed golf and everything about it. I decided to leave my job in September 2022 and focus full-time on teaching and coaching golf. I’m teaching and coaching from Dobson Ranch Golf Course in Mesa and started my own LLC – Perform Better Golf, in November of 2021.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, not at all. Whoever designed life designed it to be challenging. Life is a training ground to learn more about ourselves and connect. It is a spiritual journey.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I started to Perform Better Golf in November of 2021 with the intent of simply helping golfers perform better on and off the golf course. Golf is a holistic, mind and body activity that requires patience, fortitude, and a willingness to accept failure and learn from it. I coach the game of golf but do my best to incorporate all of the necessary aspects of the game—the technical, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I am most proud of my personal experience playing this great game and starting a business. It’s been a wild ride, but I continue to meet great people. As I said, life was designed to be challenging. We should all be proud of who we are and how far we’ve come.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Yes, my view on risk-taking is to gather as much relevant information as you can and then make a decision to act upon. The decision will either be the right one or the wrong one. Either way, you’re going to learn something valuable. I’m not saying one should be reckless in their decision-making. But there is an infinite amount of knowledge that a person can try and gather before they make a decision, and they will never make it. The irony is by not making a decision; you’re making a decision. It’s just a weak one. I’ve been there a hundred times before. I’ve taken a couple of big risks. The first was to join the military. For me, that was huge and, in hindsight, a lifesaver. The second was to move to California to pursue my golf dreams. Looking back, this was a struggle but a beautiful one. I went broke more than once but learned a lot about being a good human. Another was to leave my high-paying job in insurance to follow my passion for coaching and teaching. This process is never-ending because there is much to learn about the game and people. People are fascinating, and bonding and connecting are beautiful challenges.

Pricing:

• $75 – 1-hour range session
• $325 – 5 pack 1- hr range session
• $1,750 – 8-week performance coaching experience
• $180 – 9-hole playing lesson

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mojorisinperformance.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perform_better_golf/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/performbettergolf
• Youtube: @Jimboslice381

Image Credits
Nick Hamilton Photography