As our valued readers, Tyler and I would like to know what you want to know the most about regarding your game?
We are in the initial stages of creating our first product on how to increase your distance with your driver.
We’d like to know what you struggle with and what questions you have?
Not only will we answer them for you and provide you with solutions, but it may shape what products we create next for you!
Please submit your questions by adding a comment.
Thanks!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 21st, 2009. 1 Comment. 
Greetings golfers! Tyler here responding to one of your questions, “Which golf books do we recommend?” As always, thanks for the question, and I will give it my best.
I have read a lot of books on golf, and a lot of non golf books that have helped me tremendously. But in the spirit of the internet and the way information is currently requested, here is my TOP TEN list of books for golfers! The order of these books is really dependent on what you need to work on.
*Brief Disclaimer: I am composing this list on the road and away from my library and I am sure a book or two is being left out. It may become a top 12 or 13 when I get back home.
1. Every Shot Must Have a Purpose – Pia Nielson and Lynn Marriott – The two teachers with the best golf school in the country launched their golf54 and vision 54 systems back in 2005. This book highlights the system that they created to help Annika get to the best golfer in the history of Women’s Golf. This book details how to PLAY golf, not hot to swing a golf club. This book covers everything needed to build a proper pre-shot routine and get in the right state of mind for every shot. It also gives you a system for analyzing your game to see if technical range practice is really what will help you score better now. Definitely a must read on the mental game!
2. Zen Golf – Joseph Parent. This was one of the first Buddhist books that I read and one of the best that I have read to this date. The book lays out practical exercises and colorful imagery both designed to help you stay in the moment of the shot. This skill is paramount to high level golf and in my opinion where Tiger seems to really be better than anyone else in the world.
3. The Impact Zone – Bobby Clampett and Andy Brumer. I figured I needed to have a highly technical golf swing book in the top 3 and this is one of the best. I’ve always thought that if I read a book and took away one thing from it that I use almost everyday then it was well worth it. The Impact Zone will give you a couple. The best part, is it focuses on the one moment that really matters – IMPACT. I see way too many golfers focusing on extraneous things before getting a really solid impact position. In my opinion, a solid impact position is the number one position that a golfer needs to understand. From doing 5 years of 3D analysis I can tell you that just getting a player to a really good top of back swing position will not make a player have a great downswing. I might even be able to argue that it could make it worse if a player can’t picture in their mind what the body needs to do from through impact. This book will help you understand how to picture impact!
4. Putting Prescription – Dr. Craig Farnsworth. Dr. Farsworth, AKA the Putt Doctor, has worked with lots and lots of tour pros including recent PGA Champion and Tiger tamer, Y.E. Yang. This book lays out a lot of the key points from his clinics on reading greens and stroke mechanics. This book might be the most valuable on the list if you are a struggling putter.
5. Core Performance for Golfers – Mark Verstegen. Until The Golf Fitness Guys have a book an training program, this is the best one size fits all book on golf fitness training. It is always best to have someone look at you to get a customized plan that targets your needs, and there are probably some exercises that he would have now put in the book, but if you are new to “working out” for golf, this is a great place to start. I highly recommend the foam roller, stick, and tennis ball recommendations for recovery. It will do more for you than the 19th hole any day!
6. Getting Up and Down – Tom Watson. This is a great book covering all aspects of the short game and a real insight from one of the best wedge players in history. I highly recommend the section on chipping for some great images and metaphors.
7. Overcoming Underearning – Barbara Stanny. Alright, here’s my first real curve ball. Barbara has a great story about falling from success and having to relearn the keys to getting what you want. There are some great reflective sections that will help you pin point thoughts that are limiting you in development of any kind. The number one lesson is that successful people are willing to feel uncomfortable. This holds true for golfers as well. If you want to improve your game you are going to have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable first. Want tips on how to do it? Read this book.
8. NLP: The New Technology of Achievement by NLP Comprehensive – Steve Andreas, and Charles Faulkner – Want to learn how to train your brain to think better, overcome phobias, or deal with failurre? That is what NLP teaches. How to use mental images to shape how you look at a situation. If you have trouble getting scared over certain shots, you need to do some of the exercise in this book!
9. The Now Habit – Niel Fiore – Why would a book on overcoming procrastination make my top ten? Most golfers are terribly unorganized and only wish to get better without any real plan. Anytime a client of mine answers the question, “Well, if you knew what to do, why didn’t you do it?” with the answer, “I don’t know, just lazy I guess…” I refer them to this book. Laziness is a trait. Traits are not selective. You cannot be lazy with one part of your life and not be lazy other times. It just doesn’t work that way. What you can be is unorganized so you failed to prepare for a predictable situation and thus responded in a less than optimal way. Lack of organization for how to get something often can be confused for laziness, read this book to learn how to start correcting it.
10. Tour Tempo – John Novosel – I have to end this list with another golf related book. Tour Tempo points out an interesting phenomena relating to the golf swing. There is a pattern for how fast a player swings the club back and through and I have news for you, it’s not as slow as you think. Great book with scientific backing that I have seen help lots of different swings.
Here’s my list for now. I hope you enjoyed it. But let me briefly explain why some books didn’t make the cut. If the book was a technical book that advocated one specific method then it only helps those people who need to incorporate more of that method into their game. I was going for books that I think would have the biggest impact on anyone’s game. Books like “The Plane Truth,” The “8-Step Golf Swing,” and “4 Cornerstones of Wining Golf” are great method books, but they are still method books. If you want to make it on my list, you need to be able to help the masses.
Happy reading, and let me know what you think!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 11th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Tyler here with an attempt to motivate you golfers out there to start planning what you are going to work on with your off season training now.
This thought evolved over the last 24 hours, but the catalyst was from a Paul Chek video I was watching about abdominal training. The question posed to Paul was if you should train athletes and non-athletes differently. His answer made me pause the DVD and reflect. I’ll paraphrase what I took from it, but basically he said that we have evolved over the last 4 million years and all of us survived because we are athletic. Or the way I like to phrase it, all human beings are athletic until conditioned otherwise.
When interviewing clients I usually ask them if they were good at sports. Almost without fail, those that were good at sports played sports, and those who were not good at sports did other activities. Sticking with Paul’s thought, these people are unathletic because they did not play sports, they did not avoid sports because they were unathletic. This would be akin to taking a child who is struggling with reading and telling them just to focus on math.
So this brings me back to my original statement. Was Tiger Woods the one because he was destined, or was he perfectly bread and it was fated that he would change the way golf was played? I’m in the middle – sorry Paul. Tiger had some genetic advantages, (6′ whatever, lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, etc.) but he became Tiger through his conditioning. He got to watch his dad watch golf balls and was captivated. He was never forced to play golf, his dad basically made him beg to play. He was given instruction and time to practice at a young age and his instructor told him very little about the golf swing other than, “do this” and “hit it as far as you can”. He learned to meditate and focus at a very young age. He asked his dad to make him tough during a talk about how he could beat the older kids. His dad taught him the value of physical fitness and he made that his lifes mantra.
Now I’m confused. Let me try and work it out in my head.
Maybe some of it was genetic, or maybe a lot of it was learned. Good players know how to practice correctly, maybe that was passed down. Tiger’s mom knew how to meditate and focus, maybe that was passed down. His dad was a military guy with discipline and an understanding of physical fitness, maybe that was passed down. So Tiger had a good frame, but maybe Paul is on to something here. If you grew up and your parents weren’t active, then you didn’t learn an active lifestyle. It wasn’t genetic, it was learned. If you didn’t have someone to properly expose you, and you weren’t lucky enough to figure it out through exploration, then you probably missed out.
Here’s the good news, you can always work on it. Get with your golf fitness pro and lay out a plan for the winter to work on the things that you need to. Don’t accept not hitting the ball far enough or being a bad putter, and definitely don’t accept being out of shape because you have never done it before. It is in your DNA to love to move, don’t deny the athlete that you really are. Saying you are “not an athlete” is no longer an excuse that The Golf Fitness Guys will accept.
Good luck.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 3rd, 2009. Comment.
Hello valuable readers, Dee here, and I’m about to off on a rant, so if you are sensitive, don’t like to be challenged, don’t like to hear the truth and don’t like to be called out, then now would be a good time to go to facebook or something and waste some time!
Part of me is pissed and part of me is sad, so for now I’m both…”pissad” (new word for the day!).
I’m “pissad” because as I was out on my road bike today, I passed two golf courses with about four holes visable from the path I was on. And at both courses, I stopped to watch some swings, but become struck by the fact that of 32 golfers (4 holes x four foursomes on each course = 32 golfers), ALL OF THEM WERE OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE, and ALL OF THEM WERE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR GAME because of their weight.
Of course while I was thinking this, I was reminded of the newest overwt and obese numbers that came out about three weeks ago (see the blog that I posted) that stated that more people (~32%) are now obese, and (~31%) are now overweight with kids following behind at close to 25% each obese and overwieght.
As much as what I was seeing is a true representitive of our population here in the United States, I got mad at how people have just “given up” on themselves, and that’s when I got sad.
As my “thought flood” continued, I started thinking about why so many, men in particular, end up playing golf as their “sport of choice,” and I think part of the reason is that it’s easy! Seriously…if you ride a cart, there isn’t much exercise at all! So it still seems that to the public, golf is an easy sport to play and doesn’t take much fitness to play like many other sports do.
Think about how golf is viewed for the most part, especially from a “male” point of view:
1. We try to hit it as far as we can to make ourselves look better or bigger than our opponents = insecurity
2. We miss a putt and cuss and blame the putter = immaturity
3. We move the ball a little bit or change our score = cheating
4. We think our “state of the art” clubs are better than our opponents (even though they don’t equate to lower scores!) = show off
5. We blame our back pain as the reason as to why our game sucks = laziness
6. Then we get hot dogs and a soda at the turn and cocktails afterward, and then players wonder why they have a hard time with the game and life in general!
I mean how pathetic is that! But, if you think about it, those adjectives above describe alot of people and how the run their lives…and that is probably the biggest reason why I think people have just given up.
Golf is a sport of integrity, honesty, precision, patience, skill, talent, love, hate, and athleticism! These are the values we promote, and will always do our best to help you with any of those that you struggle with!
Really my friends, that is why Tyler and I created Golf Fitness Guys, and why we talk about everything in life that could play a role in being a great golfer, because in our opinion, golf just isn’t a sport, it really is a lifestyle and speak a ton about how you look at life. Our goal is to provide you with the latest, most solid- research backed information you can get on:
1. Golf Fitness
2. Body therapy
3. Muscle Activation Techniques
4. Mobility, Stability
5. Strength, Power
6. Nutrition
7. Supplementation
8. Life issues- hydration, sleep, stress reduction, disease prevention, etc.
You see, we see golf and golf fitness as a lifestyle. Our golf fitness programs we make for our clients, including our PGA Tour winners, benefit their lives first, and they get better at golf because there lives begin to change for the better! Like I always say, “Golf fitness is Life fitness!”
So PLEASE, get off your butt, get outiside or into a gym; go to Whole Foods or at least buy as much organic food as you can; and make a change for not just yourself and your game, but for your kids and legacy after them! God gave you a healthy body the day you were born, and the only thing that has made it different since you’ve been old enough to make decisions for your health and fitness is YOU!
Thanks for listening, and I hope that it has stirred some feelings in you that will make you want to make a difference in your life.
You had the power to get where you are now and ONLY YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GET OUT!
If this is you, and you are hopefully not offended, and want come coaching on how to be better, then PLEASE contact us, and we’d be happy to help you get your life and game back!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 26th, 2009. Comment.
Tyler here jumping on the bandwagon in response to the recent Time Magazine article by John Cloud titled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin?”.
A great response to this is currently featured on one of my favorite sites, fellow TPI star and nutritional super-nerd John Berardi’s blog site http://www.precisionnutrition.com
Anyway, the basics of this article is one guy has spent years working with a personal trainer and hasn’t lost weight because he hasn’t done anything to change his diet. Yes diet and exercise will help weight loss more than diet alone, but I’m going to give you a personal account of one of the most important factors to dieting – When you eat.
Most people know that they should eat healthy stuff like quality organic meats and vegetables, but I see lots of diet strategies fail because of the time of consumption. I wrote an article last fall for TPI about the lifestyle of sumo wrestlers that explains my point. Basically, they skip breakfast and eat a huge meal for lunch and dinner. They have learned over thousands of hours and this is the best way to gain weight.
So when should you eat. Eat a big breakfast then eat every 2-3 hours until you are about 80% full and drink plenty of water in between meals and you should have no problems burning those unwanted pounds.
One last point. As I mentioned I traveled last week and got a little off with my normal rhythms. Combine that with a late night Wednesday night and believe it or not, yesterday I took a nap. It was one of the few naps I take each year and it was great. But then I had trouble getting to sleep at my normal 10-11pm bed time. Here is how the cascade continued, I slept in this morning slightly and woke up in disarray. I was not hungry at all, but I know better. So what did I do? I forced myself to eat a full breakfast and drink plenty of water and I know that by tomorrow I will be back on schedule.
Remember, it’s not just WHAT you eat, it’s WHEN you eat.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 21st, 2009. Comment.
They both got putting instruction from the putt doctor, Craig Farnsworth.
Tyler here with a true blog style update. You may have noticed that I have been MIA for the last couple weeks. Let me bring you up to speed on the things I have been attending and working on.
Last Monday I attended a clinic about putting put on by Dr. Craig Farnsworth. It was one of the most impressive and well organized pieces of golf instruction that I have had the pleasure to be apart of. The clinic was about 5 hours and covered everything from set up to stroke mechanics to green reading.
In fact, you could very easily spend an entire putting lesson on: Alignment, Stroke Mechanics, Set Up, Distance Control, and Green Reading. Many players think that one lesson is all it takes to fix their putting but will take entire packages of lessons on the full swing. Doesn’t that seem backwards to you? If you don’t think putting deserves a lot of attention, then you didn’t pay attention this weekend while watching the PGA Championship. Brendon Post, my director of instruction just played in a tournament after attending some of the clinic and shot his career tournament low 63. If you’re curious about what I learned, you can check out Dr. Farnsworth’s new book. It’s a good summary of what he went over in his 5 hour clinic.
Apart from finally learning how to read a green properly, I spent the last week in San Diego taking CHEK exercise coach and learning how to better serve you golfers. Dee and I are big believers in investing in ourselves. I’m pretty much a seminar junky and haven’t made my way to rehab yet.
Anyway, I’m back and smarter than ever and about to film some more videos for the site. I’ve got a couple good requests, but if there is anything you want to hear, send me a message on facebook or contact us here.
Quick tip for you? Try to line the ball up using your dominant eye only (close the other one). You’d be surprised the difference it makes.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 18th, 2009. Comment.
Dee here…Tyler and I want to know if there is anything that you have questions about that we can answer to help improve your fitness, body, or game?
Now’s your chance for free advice!
Ask away!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 17th, 2009. Comment.
Dee here, back from another TPI certification event!
BTW…did you know that you have absolutely NO reason why you shouldn’t be on a golf fitness program?
Know why?
Because there are over 4000 TPI certified professionals in the world that are ready to help you be a better golfer! Find one in your area.
Ok, the big mistake you are probably making is…stretching random muscles cause your golf instructor or personal trainer, or yoga teacher, or because you read it in Mens Health or Golf Digest! Here’s why:
As golf fitness pro’s, Tyler and I believe in seeking to gain “Mobility” in the body, not just flexibility, which would be gained if you just stretched. The difference is in the definition of Mobility, which states that, “Mobility is a combination of joint range of motion and muscle flexibility.”
So what this means to you is that you not only need to stretch, but you need to make sure that the joint that is crossed by the muscle you are stretching is mobile, aka, “free moving.” This is why I posted the tennis ball and foam roller videos, because they help the hip joints’ range of motion AND the muscles flexibility that crosses the hip joint. The result, increase mobility of the hip (and shoulder too since there is a tennis ball therapy video as well!).
To access those videos, just scroll down the page!
So, if you are making the big mistake of just stretching without making sure the joint is being addressed, you are wasting valuable time that could be making you get better quicker!
If you have questions about Mobility and stretching, just email Tyler or I, and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions!
Now go watch those videos (don’t forget to sign up for our you tube channel) and get more mobile!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 10th, 2009. Comment.
Hi guys, Dee here…in Minneapolis that is…
For yet another Titleist Performance Institute certification…but this time I am here to re-take level one fitness!
That’s right, Tyler and I are so commited to making sure that we are on the “up and up” with our continuing eductation and the changes that are taking place in the industry, that we often re-take certifications we have already earned.
I want to make sure that we are giving you, our loyal readers, the best information you can get, so that you are ‘raving’ fans of ours!
So stay tuned, as I will be posting today, saturday and sunday on valuable tid bits of info that you can benefit from!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Aug 7th, 2009. Comment.