The Man Who Changed Golf Without Winning a Single Tournament | Rick Shiels (E389)
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.6 • 4.8K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rick Shiels is one of the most influential figures in modern golf media, and a creator who helped redefine what high performance looks like in the digital age. From a small YouTube channel to hundreds of millions of views, Rick has built a career by questioning the traditional pathways to success and proving that creators can perform at the very highest level.
In this episode, Rick sits down with Jake and Damian to explore authenticity, ambition, and the reality behind online growth. He explains why his breakthrough came when he stopped trying to be polished and professional, and instead showed the bad shots, kept first takes, and asked questions he genuinely wanted answered. From testing illegal golf equipment to facing tour pros like Tommy Fleetwood with a 10-shot head start, Rick reveals the simple idea behind his most successful formats.
Rick also opens up about the mental health cost of social media, why stepping away from comments transformed his mood and family life, and how collaboration, even with potential rivals, helped him grow.
This episode is a thoughtful, modern conversation about creativity, balance, and performance in a world where anyone with a phone can become a broadcaster.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We were the only people on the internet making this content. |
| 0:04.1 | It banged. |
| 0:05.3 | Every video banged because the intrigue was there. |
| 0:09.6 | Most of the conversations with Liv came from me directly. |
| 0:12.2 | In one hand, this is an unbelievable opportunity. |
| 0:15.2 | On the other hand, it's like, what's that going to do as a brand? |
| 0:18.1 | How can someone even type that to wish somebody would get a life-threatening illness? |
| 0:24.3 | I'm stunned. |
| 0:24.9 | It's like, what? |
| 0:28.9 | You're listening to High Performance. |
| 0:31.0 | Thanks to everyone who's already subscribed. |
| 0:32.9 | If you've not, right now is the time, |
| 0:35.3 | because you'll get new episodes the moment they drop, |
| 0:37.5 | and your support helps us bring more world-class guests onto the show. |
| 0:42.1 | Tap subscribe right now and keep growing with high performance. |
| 0:49.5 | Rick, welcome to high performance. |
| 0:51.5 | Thank you for having me. |
| 0:52.5 | Honestly, I am a huge fan of this podcast. So should I tell you about the conversation that you won't know happened behind the scenes at High Performance about getting you on? I'd love to know. They were like, we've run out a guest. We need to ask Rick. So final record day of the year, three people pulled out at the last minute. No, all of it not true. Now, the reason why we were really |
| 1:12.3 | keen to have you sit in this chair is because I think that the world needs to understand that |
| 1:16.4 | high performers look different in 2025, 2025, 2026, 27 than they did in 95, 96 and 97. Back then |
| 1:24.6 | it was about being the world number one. Back then, it was about being part of |
| 1:28.6 | something mainstream. There was no opportunity then to create something yourself that could be even |
... |
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