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.
Cheryl Anderson, PGA,Director of Instruction,The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes,Longwood, Florida
Collaboration between golf and fitness professionals has proven to be an effective and successful means of promoting health and wellness in golf, bringing attention to the game as a sport among athletes, rather than the antiquated stereotypes of the past. It is beneficial to the client, as well.
I have been collaborating with Scott Shepard of Driven Golf Fitness and Sports Performance for several years to help golfers work on the physical aspects of the swing that they’re unable to attain. On the fitness side, golfers gain mobility, flexibility, strength and stamina so they can attain better golf swings, lower scores and increased enjoyment from the game. The fitness side addresses speed training and has been implemented into our six-week Junior Champions Program, teaching proper warm-up, activation, stretching, balance and mobility exercises and fitness drills on the range.
We recently presented to an audience of 50 LPGA Professionals and women in the industry at the inaugural LPGA We Are the Women in Golf Summit. The presentation, entitled “The Characteristics of the Ideal Swing,” broke down the golf swing into four facets and highlighted the technique within each characteristic from the golf coach’s point of view. We then discussed how to train most effectively for these positions and what actions to take in the gym.
As coaches, it is vital to share the how and why of what makes you a better golfer, helping golfers understand the big picture rather than just offering little snippets that don’t fully explain the purpose of an action or task. We showed them a lot of different tools and equipment that we use to get the desired results. There were exercise bands, medicine balls and water bags, which we called our charcuterie board of training. We answered many great questions at the conclusion of the presentation, which helped the professionals better understand their role in the player development process. We fielded several questions about tendonitis and, more generally, about getting stronger within several parts of the body that support the technical parts of the swing, and emphasized to the group that this is not easy and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Randy Chang, PGA,Director of Instruction,The Journey at Pechanga,Temecula, California
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.