Golfers,

I am snowed in with 30 inches and not much to do. I’m still working hard on my neck rehab, so this will take me longer than I would like, but I have some fun ideas to share for your 2010 golf plan.

First off, let me thank an ex-student. I met him last fall and worked with him for about 6 months. He was an accomplished amateur who had a really bad back injury. He hits 15 greens a round and has a swing that most of you would love to have, but the engine didn’t match the paint and he is working his way back into it. Anyway, he didn’t share with me initially, but he was a secret shopper -I mean another blogger. Last week he thanked me on his website and it means a lot so I wanted to share. If you want to read what he said, here you go. Golf’s Not Hard

On to the fun stuff and the reason for the title of the article. By the way, I realize that our blog has become more of a weekly newsletter type service, but stay with us, my neck is getting better and my time at the computer is improving. 2010 will be a good year for the GFG’s.

During my last trip to California I read a jewel of a book, “What Happy People Know” by Dan Baker. It was given to me by Bobby Foster, a sports psychologist that I have a lot of respect for, and knew it would be a good read. It is a book about the science of fear, how the brain is hardwired to be afraid, and most importantly what you can do about it. Dr. Baker brings up an interesting point on the underlying assumption of the current health care system and it got my wheels turning.

Think about this, the current health care model is built on the assumption that if you remove disease, then what you will have left is health. Similarly, the current psychology model is built on the assumption that if you remove negative thoughts, positive thoughts will remain. But, is the absence of disease, mental or physical, optimal health? The alternative medicine model is built on the assumption that if you chase optimal health, the disease will not have an environment to survive and the new science of happy psychology is built on the premise that if you focus on happy thoughts then the unhappy depressing thoughts won’t have a chance to exist either. I’m not here to tell you that I believe in the more holistic alternative approach to focusing on optimizing health, but I am going to challenge you to look at your golf swing in a different way.

The current model of golf instruction is built on the assumption that if you remove the swing faults then you will have a good swing. The first thing a golf instructor does when they look at a swing is video tape to look at swing plane. But here’s an interesting thought for you, if you look on video and see a player that doesn’t sway, doesn’t early extend, doesn’t come over the top, doesn’t reverse spine angle or pivot, doesn’t scoop or chicken wing and swings on plane then do you really have a good swing?

Here’s the problem, I have worked with at number of golfers who demonstrate the above and yet complain that their swings don’t hit the ball where they want or as far as they want. So what would the alternative or positive psychology model of the golf swing be?

3D Analysis is the new paradigm! It allows you to look at your efficiency, which is your swing’s health or “happiness.” If your swing is not efficient, then you can see where the inefficiencies exist. These inefficiencies allow a skilled instructor to see where potential injuries could develop – it’s like knowing if a person has a history of heart disease. Swing efficiency is just as important as swing plane. I know this is hard to hear Mr. Hogan, but it’s true and I hope you can eventually accept it. Swing plane is important, but I would trade a slightly imperfect swing plane for a happy swing.

But here is the more exciting thing. If you chase an efficient swing, generally your swing plane will improve and your swing faults will go away. Most of them, but maybe not all. While the converse, if you chase a perfect swing plane, in no way guarantees an improvement in efficiency. An efficient swing comes from swinging in proper sequence (lower body, core, upper body, arms/hands,) with the dominant force being rotational. If your goal is proper sequencing and efficiency then you will build a swing that holds up under pressure and provides you with as much success as your short game will allow. If you end up with a few swing faults at the end, so what? You’ll probably be a successful single digit golfer and we can worry about fine tuning then.

But the big picture here is are you running away from disease or are you pursuing optimal health? Are you running away from sadness or pursuing happiness? And are you fighting away swing faults or working towards an efficient swing?

Enjoy the blizzard D.C. – mull this over while shoveling.

Hello valued reader!

Again we aplogize for the look of the blog and our infrequent posts, we are going thru some changes and we are excited about them!

1. Tyler is moving to Scottsdale, AZ to live and work with Advanced Motion Performance which is what we will be doing in Vail at Red Sky Ranch all summer.
2. We are speaking at the Denver Golf Expo on Feb 12-14th at 2pm friday and saturday on “power equals distance.” We will also be doing 3D motion capture demos at the Mcgetrick Golf academy booth.
3. The weekend of the 19-21st we are doing a weekend of 3D motion captures for anyone interested in taking their game to a whole new level!
4. and Tyler will be going back and forth to San diego to see the awesome Janet Alexander at the CHEK Institute to get his head and neck better.

So please stay tuned as our goal hasn’t changed, to provide you with the best golf fitness, nutrition and game related info we can!

Happy New Years Golfers!

Tyler here again, recovering from a recent relapse with my neck that limited my computer time. My new years resolution is to learn how to regain my health quicker (it’s unrealistic to wish for perfect health all the time) and to blog more frequently, and yes I will also try to do more video blogging this year. On to my anniversary

One year ago today I got the first symptom related to my neck. I had a hard time swallowing a piece of tomato in a salad. I felt like I was choking from something so small that it couldn’t possibly had been the issue. From this, a cascade began that left me bed ridden for two weeks and then spending the majority of the year bouncing from PT to Chiro to ENT to you name it. The bad news with this year is that I hardly remember what it’s like to sweat from working out, I’ve lost 10 lbs (mostly muscle) and I only played golf 5 times. The good news with this year is that it pushed me in a different direction in learning to analyze the body as it relates to the golf swing and I’ve been able to invest a significant amount of time in reading, which had I stayed healthy I would have been unable to do.

In my year, I had three big lessons: the powers of gluten, the mystery of the atlas, and the reality of the adrenals. I already explained how gluten affected me this year, let me explain the mystery of the atlas.

The atlas is your top vertebrae. Just like in Greek Mythology, Atlas held the world on his shoulders. In your body, your atlas acts like a funnel for your brain to become your spinal cord. This bone can get knocked out of place, and when it does you better watch out. It can cause all kinds of weird symptoms when it goes out. For me, I would have blurry vision and when I read the words would jump around the page. I had a twitch in my movement when I would go to move my head, I would have trouble thinking of the right word and often would transpose the first letter in words. Things like “fatten blackswing” instead of “flatten backswing” would happen much more frequently. These weird symptoms would consume me when they were occurring at a regular rate. It also seemed to contribute to my jaw popping and dizzy spells. How I learned about this was a fun experience.

Being involved in the TPI world, you hear about some of the brightest and best trainers and what they have going on in their worlds. At a conference, 3 different people suggested that I try a NUCCA chiropractor. I was skeptical because I had tried 2 different brands of chiropractors (one regular and one chiropractic neurologist who did applied kinesiology) a this time, so what would be so special about a NUCCA? Out of faith, I tried it the next time I was in California for a conference. I walked in and the first thing the doctor did was take X-Rays. Ok, he had my attention at this point. He gave the normal, “oh, very interesting” as he looked at my scans and then we went to a room where he turned off the lights and had me march in place for a minute. This was supposedly confirmation to the X-Ray. Afterwords, he had me lay on a table with my body in a precise position and he pushed on my atlas repeatedly for about 30-60 seconds. Then he had me lay there for 2 minutes and let it “settle in”. He warned me that when I sat up I was going to get dizzy. He was right. I sat up and the room spun around for a minute before he let me stand. As we were walking to the room to retake the X-Rays I felt every muscle in my neck relax. It was euphoric. After having my Jaw pop daily for a few months, I felt a smooth glide that lasted for about 4 days. I was convinced that we were on to things. I have had some treatments which have helped, but this first NUCCA adjustment was unparalleled.

The downside to this is that there isn’t anyone listed on the NUCCA website in the DC area. The nearest one was in Delaware. So even if you think that this might help you, unfortunately it might be a day trip to get it done. You will know in a matter of seconds if it helps and if it helps it will be life changing.

I’m sure that you’re wondering how this helps the golf thing? Maybe you don’t have crazy symptoms because your muscles are ok with you being out of alignment. Or maybe they are more like subtle annoyances than debilitating conditions but what about your golf swing. A majority of your balance and proprioception comes from this atlas relationship and the CHEK institute has seen a strong correlation between atlas position and head movements in the golf swing. One example would be a forward lunge – a total body shift towards the target at transition. This could easily be a result of a golfer’s atlas being rotated and the lunge a way to find a stable balance point before they can rotate. You could spend thousands of dollars on lessons to hear a golf pro tell you to start the swing with your lower body, but it could be fighting a losing battle if your neck is out.

If you are in an area where you can find a NUCCA and are curious, go check it out. If it is your problem, you will be amazed at the results.

As Dee indicated, I am going to be moving out west in a matter of weeks for two purposes: to pursue a great opportunity for me professionally and to continue healing my neck. They have NUCCA’s where I’m going. I’m willing to move across the country in order to be healthy, think about that the next time you feel to tired to drive down the street to the gym.

Good luck with those New Year’s resolutions golfers.

Hello all!

Tyler and I want to thank you for being regular readers of Golf Fitness Guys, and also thanks for your patience as we strive to make our blog better!

We look forward to putting out the best information re: golf fitness in 2010 and the best part is, is that Tyler and I will be together all summer long as Red Sky Ranch in Vail Colorado working with Advance Motion Peformance!

So we will be pumping out videos and crazy posts!

Stay tuned and we hope you have a blessed new year!

Dear Tiger-

I felt like I needed to write this letter to tell you how I feel and I imagine many millions of your fans as well.

You’ve disappointed us.

You’ve let us down.

You’ve crushed us.

Like Lance Armstrong’s book’s title says, “It’s Not About the Bike.” For us Tiger, your book should be titled, “It’s Not About Golf.”

For me, I saw you as more than just a great golfer, you were a great role model for kids and adults in an otherwise society that is STARVING for strong role models!

I saw you more than the average fan did, and I watched you. I watched how you acted and how you talked. Because I am a golf fitness professional who trains PGA tour players and who has met you on multiple occasions, I have been able to form a personal opinion of you that was one that is positive.

You have not only been the best at your sport, but you have single handedly been one of the few sports professionals to do the most to help kids by being a strong, positive role model for them all across this world, especially those you’ve affected through your foundation.

Unfortunately, your actions have knocked you off your pedestal of being the world’s greatest golfer and possibly athlete.

For now, and maybe it’s temporary, you are no better than any other athlete or person who has cheated on his wife and kids!

Like all the rest…your credibility, integrity and character are damaged, and the only way to “un-damage” them is to come clean, repent and become even more of the person that you were before.

Because you, Tiger, are at a cross roads in your life and career. You can either give up on your family, fans and God, or you can rise to the occasion, take the heat (and it’s going to get REALLY hot!) and make even a bigger difference than you did before!

If you choose the latter, and we hope you do, you must do three things:

First, you MUST restore yourself to God,
Second you MUST restore yourself to your wife, and
Third, you MUST restore yourself to your fans (especially the kids).

Now some may “poo-poo” the importance of the first choice, but for me and millions of other fans, I believe the only way the you can regain the public’s trust and admiration (especially of the kids and fans), is to come clean before God with a repentant heart and allow him to “re-shape” you in His image.

Because, you see, you’ve blown it. You were in charge of your life, and you couldn’t do it.

We all thought you had it together, but now we know that what we saw was really a sham!

Honestly, I don’t care that you are as great an athlete that you are! You can play golf better than anyone in the world, ever! BUT WHO CARES!

Now you have an obligation to show your family and the world what kind of person you REALLY are! Are you going to take the many lessons and strengths that you’ve developed by becoming the worlds greatest and apply them to your LIFE now?

We all know you are the best at coming from behind in a tournament, or recovering from a mistake on the course, but now what?

Really, Tiger, WHAT KIND OF A MAN ARE YOU?

This is a test of your manhood, and I think your world has crashed in around you…so that you have to hit rock bottom so you can “find yourself.”

This is your chance to show your wife and kids, the world, and most importantly God, that you are a man that rises to the occasion in LIFE, not just in golf!

So Tiger, I pray for you and your family.

I pray that you see how much you have created pain, not just in your wife’s heart, your kids’s hearts and the public’s hearts, but most importantly in God’s heart.

But, maybe unlike with your wife and the public, Jesus Christ still loves you. He knew this was your path. He knew before you were even born that this would happen to you!

The other great thing is that all he wants of you is to come to him, ask for forgiveness, recognize that he is your Lord and Savior and repent. THAT’S IT!

You see if you don’t get right with God, you’ll never get right in life! And as one who has lived the way the world celebrates, it got me nothing but pain and suffering!

Now though, I am blessed, happy and unlike you at this point Tiger, my integrity, honesty, and character are stronger than ever! Not to mention my heart and mind are pure and restored!

BUT, it doesn’t mean that I am perfect! Far from it! Very far from it!

These days, a person who walks the line of one who follows Jesus, is hard. We are ridiculed, and made fun of. We are labeled by the world (especially the media) as ignorant, xeno-phobic, homo-phobic, stupid, close-minded, hypocrites and everything else in the book!

But what they don’t know is the freedom. The freedom of our hearts and minds to live a life that is pure, honorable, and character filled!

Do the right thing Tiger. Now’s the chance to turn the world on its head!

Come out, share your weaknesses, ask for forgiveness and repent. Not only will God celebrate, but the world will have compassion on you instead of the contempt, disappointment and anger like we do now.

Tiger, you need to make it right for the children…they need to see how real men deal with adversity and mistakes in life.

What they don’t need to see is another sad athlete act as if he is better than everyone else. They also don’t need to see another athlete act as if he is above the law and his inherent responsibility to be a good role model to the youth of this world.

They just can’t take it.

Now’s your chance Tiger, we pray you make the right choice.

Greetings golfers. Tyler here with the first in a series about the different things that I have gone through this year in trying to get back to competition level.

First, for those of you who don’t know me personally, let me give you a brief background of what I battled this year. At the beginning of the year I had a “neck” injury. It built slowly over a few weeks until one day I did one of those, “use my fist as a lever on my jaw to crack my own neck” and BAM! The room started spinning, I had trouble breathing and for the next few hours I felt very uncoordinated. For a 27 year old, this is some scary stuff. I went to a neurologist, a chiropractor, an ENT, a physical therapist, another chiropractor, another physical therapist and finally a CHEK practitioner. While this was going on, I was consulting with some of my TPI super nerds about people to see and questions to ask. I tried lots of different treatments from pills to lifestyle changes to exercise to diet to you name it. But it wasn’t really until I met the CHEK practitioner who sent me to a NUCCA chiropractor and recommended a complete evaluation from a CHEK level 3 that I made big strides (feeling ok for more than a day in a row). Over the next few posts, I’m going to share with you the lessons that I learned and why you might want to give them a try as well. I’m certain that not everyone had a bad car accident, subluxed a shoulder, and ate like crap for 20 years resulting in this kind of skeletal muscle dysfunction, but I’m sure there are things going on that are quite easy to fix if you knew what to look for.

Anyway, after battling this thing for almost a year I am really just now starting to feel somewhat in control of these “weird” symptoms. Things ranging from trouble thinking of the right words, a grinding sensation in my neck when rotating, dizziness, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, and vision blurriness just to name some of the more annoying. Going from a pretty severe case to somewhat normal has made me even more hyper sensitive to my body’s changes and given me some insight into the nagging issues facing your everyday life. You don’t have to be tired and in pain if you don’t want to be. And on that note, let me share my first lesson.

Gluten free has worked for me!

If you don’t know someone who is avoiding gluten then you soon will. I see it more and more on websites. I hear it every now and then on TV. It’s only a matter of time. Why am I putting this first as far as things to consider? Well, it’s relatively the easiest change that I have made. There really is no need to visit a doctor or practitioner on this one. All you do is try cutting out certain foods and monitor if you feel better. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it really could be life changing – so let the experiment begin!

A little background on Gluten

Gluten is a protein found in many grains (wheat, oats, spelt, barley, and rye). The major one that you have to avoid is wheat because it is hidden in lots of things other than bread and pasta. Read the labels and become familiar with how much you are eating because if you’re like me, you may surprise yourself.

If you asked people around me, they would have said that I lived a very healthy lifestyle and ate very healthy meals. but I did consume a lot of whole grains (mostly wheat). I must admit, it took a bit of planning and was a little tricky giving up gluten at first but it resulted in one major difference for me. Within 3 weeks of giving up gluten my lower abs were flatter and more active than they had ever been in my life. As a skinny person, few would believe, but I always had a little level of abdominal distention. After a few weeks of giving up gluten that was gone and my lower stomach was flat. In addition, when I’d do my abdominal exercises they became much more effective and I finally felt the lower portion. If you do lots of exercise and have trouble getting your lower abs to flex and flatten, gluten may be a big contributor. How does this help the golf swing?

Well, without having a strong and stable pelvis I had developed what we call a hip trigger. When I went to take the club away, my hips would move first and then my arms and shoulders. Now 3 months on no gluten and I can finally stabilize my lower body which has helped my wedges and short game tremendously. I was stunned with how easy it was to keep my lower body quiet on short shots after my lower abs developed as a result of getting off the G.

If you’re skeptical as I was, here was my confirmation. I slipped up one night and had a breaded cutlet at a Japanese steak house. For almost a week following, I had great difficulty doing the basic lower ab drills that have become part of my nightly routine. I had to use my upper abs and hold my breath to get the same level of control in my pelvis. This was all the confirmation that I needed that cutting out gluten was the key to my golf improvements this year.

For what it costs to make this change, I highly recommend giving it a try. Now here is the kicker. If you are going to try it, you have to completely cut it out for at least a month before you will see benefit. That is how long it takes for your intestinal wall to replenish the Gluten damaged cells with new ones and you won’t see a big change until you have new cells processing nutrients more effectively. When I say Gluten free, I mean free. As little as 1/8th of a teaspoon could cause an inflammatory response in gluten sensitive individuals. So this isn’t one of those, “you can cheat once a week” programs. If you’re going to do it, do it right.

I highly recommend giving this a try and if your improvements are half as dramatic as mine you will definitely thank me. Stay tuned for more info on life changing topics that may make great New Year’s resolutions for 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for your continued support of Golf Fitness Guys, we are honored you choose us for your source for the best in golf fitness. We promise to continue to provide you with the best info that will help make you a great athlete and golfer too!

Turkey Day Workout!

Warm up and stretch till you feel prepared to workout. (If you don’t usually exercise regularly, please be careful and smart about your participation in this program, and only do this if you have your doctor’s permission!)

Now perform 2-4 sets of the following workout (2 for the beginner, 3 for intermediate, and 4 for advanced), with no rest in between each exercise until the end, when you will rest for 2 minutes and start over at the beginning.

All exercises should be performed at 10-15 reps depending on your ability and capacity…please be smart! If anything is painful, stop immediately!

Here we go!
In a station or circuit format…

1. Squats holding a dumb bell- right under the Adam’s apple- keep the chest up, belly button in while bending at the hips and ankles and your knees going forward.

2. Pushups- floor or on a bench- keep your trunk perfectly still and flat…don’t let your body sag!

3. Exercise ball hamstring curls- Lay on your back on the floor, put your feet on the ball, lift your butt to the ceiling, and while maintaining a straight body, pull your heels to your butt, then back to straight again- repeat

4. Bent over dumb bell rows- bend forward at the hips with the dumb bells hanging freely, using your butt and abs to hold you in this position- now pull the dumb bells up so they almost touch your ribcage by pulling your shoulder blades together.

5. Side lunge (or back lunge if you can’t do a side lunge)- with your chest up and upper body stationary, step sideways so the inside leg to where you started goes straight and the outside knee bends as your butt goes back…think of a squat position, butt with one leg out to the side and a almost straight knee.

6. Exercise ball dumb bell presses for chest (or use bench if you can’t balance on a ball)- lay back on the ball so your shoulders and head lay flat to the ceiling with your hips parallel to the floor- start with the dumb bells in your hands and your upper arms resting on the ball, abs braced and glues tight- push the weights toward the ceiling till they almost come together, return to start and repeat

7. Front and side raises for shoulders- with good standing posture (knees soft, chest up, abs braced) lift one dumb bell to the front and one dumb bell to the side so that the two make a 90 degree angle, then lower them and switch, the other to the front and the other to the side- keep repeating

8. Bicep curls- any kind

9. Tricep kickbacks- bend forward and keep upper arms parallel with the body angle you are standing at, then, by hinging at the elbow, straighten your arms so your entire arm is now straight, then hinge at the elbow again and repeat

10. Forward ball rolls- kneel on the floor with your forearms on an exercise ball, with a flat spine, abs braced, slowly roll arms out in front of you while your hips move as if your elbows and hip bones have a string attached to them. If this was true, when you moved your elbows forward, it would pull your hips forward as well. Now do the opposite to get back to start position, which is pull the hips back first which would pull the elbows back as well, repeat.

Now rest 2 minutes and repeat 1-2 more times!

For those of you who do this…do me a favor and make a comment of how you did!

God Bless and have a great Thanksgiving!

Today, it’s all about portions.

First, some tough love.

My sister responded to my post yesterday and said, “I thought it was a day to indulge!”

OK, valid question, BUT she trains everyday and works hard on her nutritional choices. So for her (or you if you are in the same scenario) I say go for it!

But for everyone else who don’t train everyday and make solid nutritional choices…listen up!

Here’s what you need to focus on- what to eat and what not to eat…

Drink water! Start when you get up with 8 oz’s (which you should anyway), then have 8 oz’s every hour up to the point you eat. You will be less likely to overeat if you do this.
Only have a “palm full” of hors d’oeuvres- and make them veggies or a protein snack
If you are going to drink alcohol, then make sure you have a protein or a fat snack with your drink so you don’t “over sugar” yourself which is what alcohol is…pure sugar!
Ok- at the Thanksgiving meal, here’s how your plate should look…

Split the plate into thirds- 1/3 protein- turkey/ham, 1/3 carbs- mashed taters/dressing and 1/3 vegies.

I am a believer in fats, good fats, so use some gravy on your turkey and stuffing, JUST DON’T OVER DO IT! That’s when you get into trouble!

Next, make sure those portions of each of the foods are about the size of your palm and , just like I said yesterday, only eat till you are satisfied!

Now…seconds?

Yes you can, but you have to wait for three hours! The difference is, this time you can’t eat it past 8 pm, and it has to be half the size of your original meal.

So try these simple tricks and it will help you be successful on Thanksgiving!

See you tomorrow!

Dee here to help you with some tips till thanksgiving that will keep you from gaining the holiday 10!

Can you believe Thanksgiving and the holidays are already here? Sheesh! Time flies!

So…are you?

Are you going to be 10 pounds heavier come 2010?

Well, each day this week, I will provide you with some tips to help you NOT hop on the train to “fatterville!”

Today, Monday the 23rd, it’s all about the mindset by commiting to yourself.

I want you to start preparing for Thursday in your mind. Wherever you are going, whomever you are seeing, whatever you are eating, I want you to visualize yourself being successful with the choices you WANT to make.

So what choices do you WANT to make on Thanksgiving day?

Really…get out a sheet of paper and write down what you WANT to do, not what you don’t want to, I call it your “personal covenant with yourself!”

For me, this is what I WANT to (and WILL do) on Thanksgiving…”my personal covenant”…

I will drink plenty of water all day long, especially during Hors D’oeurves
I am either not going to drink alcohol, or only have one glass of wine with dinner.
I am going to eat till being satisfied, not full
I will not succomb to “peer/family pressure” to “eat up”
I WILL START MY DAY WITH A WORKOUT!
There.

That is my “personal covenant” to myself, and NOTHING will get me to waiver from it!

How about you?

What’s yours?

If you want support, make a comment and post yours up and I/we will be sure to help you “stay on track,” and to stay off the train to “fatterville!”

See you tommorrow!

Dee here!

What? What do I mean Mtn Biking and Golf?

Simple, the fine motor skills, visual acuity, feel for the land, being prepared for “what’s around the bend,” body posture, maintaining a relaxed mind-set, and hand-eye coordination are very similar.

You see, I used to race down-hill mountain bikes as a semi-pro and am still a mountain biker at heart. On my ride the other day, I was comparing the skills that were similar with golf and came up with the aforementioned list.

Now guess what? All of those attributes you do learn out on course or on the trail, but the fundamentals of those requirements can be created, re-produced and fine tuned in the gym!

So get your butt in the gym, since for a majority of us in the US it is “off season” and during this time it is ideal to be in the gym working on your body, AND regularly seeing your golf instructor to be working out the “glitches” in your game that you struggled with this last year.

The idea, of course, is to be prepared physically and game wise to play good golf! What a concept, eh?

Of course, if you have any questions, we’re here for you!