Ritchie Smith

This episode of the PGA Professional Podcast features Ritchie Smith, one of Australia’s leading high-performance coaches. Ritchie shares how his career was driven less by technique and more by connection—building trust, consistent messaging, and a strong team environment that supported players like Minjee Lee, Min Woo Lee and Hannah Green. He also speaks candidly about imposter syndrome, the realities of tour coaching, and the importance of values and buy-in when making swing changes.

Key takeaways from the conversation with Ritchie are:

• Great coaching is relationship-first: trust, care and connection drive performance.
• Consistency builds programs and players—show up, deliver the same message, every time.
• Strong systems beat solo coaching: aligned support teams with no ego accelerate growth.
• Tour coaching is hard work (travel, fatigue, family trade-offs), not just glamour.
• Swing change starts with buy-in: diagnose → educate → commit → then drill.
• Values alignment matters—players leave when needs aren’t met, not because they’re “stolen.”

🎧 ACE Credits Available

PGA Members can claim ACE Credits for listening to this episode.

Complete the ACE Audio Application Form and submit a short reflection on your key learnings.

Previous episodes are also eligible for ACE Credit applications.