Wow, it's been a while since I posted. I have been pretty busy with the studio (Five Iron Fitness) and my main podcast (The Strength Coach Podcast) so posting has been tough. I plan on being a little more active now that the season is upon us.
This past weekend I attended the TPI Level 1 Certification class to review the material, see what changes have been made since I took my Level 1 two years ago and to help out Dave Phillips and Greg Rose in any way I could.
What a great weekend, I'm really glad I went. Although I drink the TPI Kool-Aid already, it really reinforced some of the principles and ideas that I am trying to get across in the blog, in the podcast and to golfers interested in training at my studio.
Basically it comes down to:
- Looking at the demands of the golf swing
- Looking at the needs of the individual golfer to meet those demands
- Prioritizing those needs to help fix what is broken
Pretty simple if you think about it.
The best way to do this is with an integrated approach of golf instruction, fitness training, mental coaching and club fitting.
I have found it hard to get people on board with getting their clubs fitted properly (especially in this economy) and getting some mental coaching (even if it means just reading some of the good books out there).
What I have had more success with is working with teaching pros since a lot of golfers will take lessons. In it's simplest form:
- The teaching pro looks at the swing and decides what the biggest 1 or 2 problems in the swing are.
- They communicate with the me (the trainer) about what those problems are. I look at the body and try to find imbalances, weaknesses or asymmetries that are potentially causing those problems or swing faults
- Together, we look for solutions, and decide the best approach to fixing those problems.
The golf fitness trainer's job is to take direction about the priorities of the student from the teaching pro.
For example, if the teaching pro tells me that the student is swaying, or moving laterally with their hips away from the target in the backswing, then I will try to find the physical limitations that are causing the Sway.
My exercise programming will be based off of those results. Those imbalances, etc. are what we will attack first.
Like I said, it's a pretty simple approach and it makes sense.
Although I love that people are embracing fitness with programs like P90X, if you are not addressing the physical limitations in your body that can cause swing faults, then you are not training for golf, you are just training.
If you think that's good enough and it's working for you, then keep doing what you're doing.
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