Link: The Hardest Worker in Golf
Click on the above link for a good interview with Padraig Harrington. Padraig talks about how he is willing to try new things to keep improving and I think that is what separates him from the other players. He has an open mind and when he combines that with his desire, insane work ethic, mad short game, and being physically fit and you can see why he was POY and why I think he will have a huge 2009.
If you are looking for last minute holiday gifts, why not get some new power tools?
It was a pleasure to meet Lynn Marriott, one of the co-founders of Vision 54.
I’ll will be talking about Vision 54 and their book in upcoming blogs.
Check out the following link: (you will need to log in to view)
http://www.mytpi.com/mytpi05/Fitness/article.asp?id=705
Getting a golf workout in the main room.
I’ve just returned from Disneyland! Well, I was a half wedge away from Disneyland, but I was like a kid at a theme park when I attended the World Golf Fitness Summit held recently in Anaheim. The WGFS is put on by the Titleist Performance Institute – see www.mytpi.com and is held annually (I think they’re moving to every other year). It is held to bring together the top minds in Golf & Fitness and share knowledge on how golfers can hit the ball farther, biomechanics, injury prevention, junior programs, etc…the list goes on and on. I was fortunate enough to be invited as a speaker and Tour Tempo also had a booth at the trade show.
Day 1
Thursday was my day. I presented that afternoon, so I was very busy preparing for that. I got there around 10 am just in time to catch Thomas Plummer, who specializes in helping fitness pro’s with their businesses. His message was simple, “kill your niche”. In other words, be a specialist in something. That way, you’ll be known for your specialty and people will beat down your door for that specialty item. For me, that niche is tempo, speed, & power.
After lunch was Mike Boyle. Mike is one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the nation. His message fit the Speedball model: it’s not whether or not adult golfers should train for power, THEY SHOULD, it’s how to do it safely. That’s the whole point of the Speedball, train for power, swing at full speed and don’t hurt yourself like you might with other types of swing training for power.
Now it was my turn, I discussed the discovery of Tour Tempo, the tones, and how it helps all types of golers. I added that the stretch/shorten cycle is improved with Tour Tempo. (the stretch/shorten was mentioned nearly every day at the summit in one way or another) and then we brought a pro up on stage to try the tones. Within 4 swings he had it down and he was looking good! After the presentation our booth was packed with fitness pro’s, golf pro’s and even MD’s wanting more info. It was a huge success and we were only on day 1!
Day 2
Well, the pressure was off, so I attended one of the early morning workouts given by Mark Smith, phd. Mark has a product called the x-iser (seehttp://www.xiser.com/ ) and has a tough workout routine to go with it. Mark is firm believer that golfers need intense training and this is also good for fat loss as well. I made it thru the 15-20 minute workout, and I had such a sweat worked up, I had to go back and shower…..back to the Summit, the main speaker in the morning was Alwyn Cosgrove and his message was similar to what Mark believed, you need interval training combined with a semi-restricted carbohydrate diet for fat loss and overall health. He did not like the Atkins type diet, but basically wanted you to get off of bread, pasta, etc…eat more fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Next up was renowned physical therapist Gray Cook to discuss functional movements…….
Gray Cook was next and he discussed what we can learn from primitive movement patterns. Watch a 2 year old pick up a heavy object or squat and you’ll see perfect form. Watch a 42 year old try to do the same squat move and it’s not so pretty. So why are we having golfer’s squat when they can’t do it? We must find out why they can’t squat properly first, then give them the correction for it. After Gray was Mike Leahy, the creator of ART. I personally go to an ART specialist in Lawrence, KS and it’s been huge for me to have someone that can help me when I have issues with my body. I then ventured over to watch Phil Cheetham see www.amm3d.com discuss “why the pro’s hit it further than you”. It’s all in the Kinematic Sequence and I’ll discuss the Sequence in an upcoming blog.
Saturday
Mark Verstegen was the main speaker Saturday morning and spoke of the importance of the glutes in all sports. He also gave a cool example of the stretch/shorten cycle which I’ll describe in an upcoming blog. After that was Greg Roskopf, the creator of MAT or Muscle Activation Technique. Very complex, but boils down leveraging the theory of reciprocal inhibition.
The afternoon breakout sessions were excellent as well. Dave Phillips and Lance Gill led off with “Swing Styles and their Physical attributes”. The believe there is no one way to swing a club, but an efficient way based on your body. Want to swing “stack and tilt”? well, you body better be able to perform some certain movements or you’re on your way to injury/bad play. Think you’re a “1 planer”? Well, you need mobility in your T-Spine or you won’t be able to do it. This presentation really hit home the need to know what your body can/can’t do and how it will affect your swing.
Sunday
Sunday was junior day. The 2 main themes I drew from Sunday were: let your junior golfer hit it as hard as possible and keep their clubs as light as possible. Dr. Liam Hennessy led off with studies on junior golfers. Unbelievable presentation on how important it is for juniors to learn to swing hard! Also, it’s great for them to play other sports, especially those using an implement such as tennis racquet or a baseball bat. Once you learn to hit hard at an early age, it’s like riding a bike, you never forget it. That might have something to do with the success of Canadians (growing up playing hockey) at the REMAX WLDC every year. Simon Webb had a great presentation on even starting off your 2-3 year old with hitting balloons with light objects. If the object is heavy, it will teach the young golfer bad technique and they’ll swing too slow.
Well, that was the Cliff notes version, I’ll try to expand more on this in my new Video Blog that starts later this month…..
This is a great presentation from Dr. Robert Grober, Professor at Yale and founder of Sonic Golf.
Texas Wedge by Tour Tempo
