In an industry built on relationships, you never know where or when you’ll meet others who will have the greatest impact on your career. My relationship with David Leadbetter dates back to 2009, when I assumed the role of Director of Golf Performance at the David Leadbetter Academy, located at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
We had 180 academy golfers at the time, for whom I was responsible for the physical training, screening and assessments and program creation. It was important that I stayed abreast of their tournament schedules to maximize their less active periods and ensure they were fully prepared for competition, including pre-round routines and recovery afterwards. I saw players with some of the most beautiful swings in the world struggle to break 90, and witnessed others with some very unorthodox swings excel in competition. I realized back then that it wasn’t about what the swing looked like, but what was actually happening when it meant the most, at impact, under pressure, after a long day of competition.
I understood that if I could improve the athleticism of our golfers, I could improve their performance on the golf course. Through data attained from hundreds and hundreds of assessments, I was able to draw very specific correlations between those assessment results and how the golfers would perform on the course. For instance, students with the longest broad jump also had the highest clubhead speed, which told me that if I could get our golfers to jump farther, I could increase their clubhead speed.
I created GOLFleticism to bridge the gap between golf instruction and physical conditioning to achieve these goals with our golfing students. Because I had so many golfers, I had a great opportunity to determine the best methods to apply based on each individual’s body type and the athleticism they brought to the table. After all, the golf swing is one of the most athletic moves in all of sports because it’s the only movement where you're standing in one place but still transferring a vast amount of energy that results in the golf ball traveling a significant distance.
Today, I help clients and students understand these multi-sport training concepts and train golfers to develop speed, power and coordination to produce an effective and efficient golf swing, improve golf biomechanics and enhance overall athletic movement. You must apply a full-body experience to gain power, speed, control and consistency. With this methodology, I can deliver to the golf instructor an athlete who is more equipped to do the things necessary to help improve their game.
At Golfzon Leadbetter Academies across the globe, we implement these concepts with our professional golfers, high-end amateurs, competitive juniors and our academy guests who attend retreats and clinics to help attain their goals in golf. It’s a fully holistic experience through movement, athleticism, motion, strength and conditioning. We tailor those facets of the curriculum with the highest level of golf instruction to provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
We are creating a virtual channel to disseminate these lessons and training online and are building a certification process through which golf and fitness professionals can learn these concepts and implement them to get their golfers BETTER EVERY DAY.
Trevor Anderson, a 2024 and 2025 Golf Fitness Association of America (GFAA) Industry Leaders Award winner, is the founder of Better Every Day and the Director of Performance at the Golfzon Leadbetter Academy in Orlando, Florida.