To help PGA Magazine readers learn more about the ways they can bring golf together with health and wellness, we’ve added this recurring department that will include best practices information from the Golf Fitness Association of America (GFAA).
The GFAA was started by the publishers of PGA Magazine in 2020 and is led by an advisory board of PGA of America Golf Coaches and highly regarded golf fitness experts, including GFAA President Dr. Steven Lorick. We hope you find this department beneficial and encourage you to learn more about the GFAA at golf.fitness.com.
Tessa Teachman, PGA,Assistant Professional,Aronimink Golf Club,Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
In my third year at Aronimink Golf Club, I have facilitated more than two dozen programs that range from Beginner 101 classes to advanced golf schools. Some of my favorite clinics focus on a well-rounded approach to golf: mental strength, TPI assessments, Yoga for Golf, Breakfast Club (morning golf clinics followed by mimosas), Operation 36, group-specific clinics and Sharp Shooters for short game work.
Focusing on the fitness and warmup aspects of my coaching, I have implemented yoga classes during the winter months in our performance center and am YT-200-certified in the discipline. On the lesson tee, I start every clinic with a brief warmup that goes from the feet to the top of the head. I help everyone get through it comfortably and in a non-intimidating manner. Some members start to roll their eyes after years of simply walking to the tee and swinging away, but the more I emphasize the importance of these actions, the more they realize they should not neglect them. It’s literally a couple of minutes, and the benefits are so much greater.
Through these actions, we’ve taken great strides to prevent injuries and continue to set our members up for success on the golf course. I can only hope my influence has carried over to their private practice sessions, as well. With another one of our assistant professionals also being TPI-certified, we’ve done various summer power schools and several six-week winter speed training sessions with TPI assessments built in. It’s a great bonus for our members that we are trained to provide this holistic approach to game improvement and health and wellness. Whether they can’t externally rotate their shoulder or create a good backswing, we can go beyond just golf to the true source of the problem – their body’s limitations – and do something proactive to remedy the situation.
Wesley Buntenbach,PGA Associate,Lead Player Development Professional,Medina (Minnesota) Golf & Country Club
I recently opened an indoor golf facility and have partnered with Dr. John Thomas — a doctor of physical therapy, orthopedic clinical specialist and fitness professional for several years. Together, we strive to bring attention to body awareness in golf through our indoor studio and TPI-certified PGA of America Golf Professionals, Doctors of Physical Therapy and Physical Trainers. We get many of our Complete Golf Performance clients through our partner entities, and many of those individuals are older golfers who have been playing golf for decades. As they age, they are en countering ailments and injuries that are hindering their progress and enjoyment in golf, and they have to change their swings to conform to their bodies’ reduced capabilities. This is a market we didn’t anticipate.
When first diving into the fitness aspect of game improvement, we also considered the importance of training young kids, budding college players and serious players. We are, of course, also attracting clients from this latter market through our long-running PGA Jr. League golfers and actually have a 13u team formed from within our indoor business. We train them as if they were playing other sports through the ADM model that is widely promoted through the PGA of America.
With the new GFAA-TPI partnership just an nounced, PGA of America Golf Professionals and fitness professionals across the country will better understand our roles in the collaboration be tween golf and fitness. We used to strive to “stay in our own lane” when first putting golf and fitness together, but now the boundaries of those lanes are blurring and we’re all benefiting from the cross-training and teamwork.