Here is a brief summary of my week long trip to the World Golf Fitness Summit and TPI Level 3 Medical

 

I just got back from a week-long trip to Oceanside and Carlsbad California. It was all golf, although no golf shots were hit. While there, I completed my Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Medical Professional Level 3 certification and learned from the best in the golf industry at the World Golf Fitness Summit. Medical Professional Level 3 is the highest certification you can get from TPI.

The World Golf Summit was the 5^th biennial summit, and the second one I have attended. There were over 700 people in attendance, and from all aspects of the golf industry. Golf teaching professionals, such as Rick Smith were in attendance, and the best in golf fitness and medical professionals.

Around 55 lectures were given over the 3 days, with headlining speakers such as multiple Super Bowl Coach Dick Vermeil, Martin Hall (from the Golf Channel’s School of Golf), TPI’s founders Greg Rose and Dave Phillips, pitching coach legend Tom House, Pro Golfers Brad Faxon and Tom Pernice Jr and World Series Winning Strength Coach Mike Boyle.

 

Here’s a reflection on some of the things I learned from this weekend.

 

Dick Vermeil

• Make people know you care
• Be a great example
• Create a positive environment
• Sometimes the results don’t always show up. It’s the process that matters.
• Credibility is easier to lose than to gain

 

Dave Phillips

• Technology should help what you do, not replace what you do
• Technology should be functional, factual and feasible

 

Lance Gill

• Have to be willing and prepared to be fired
• Accept our failures and learn to succeed
• Let clients/patients be involved in their plan

 

Jason Glass

• You can have all the power in the world, if you don’t know how to attach an airplane engine to the wing and the wing to the body, you have no power
• Rotary slings, have to be anchored to a stable base, but that stable base has to also be dynamic.

 

Liam Mucklow

• Power can be taught, even in older golfers
• You can teach a powerful non-golfer to hit a golf ball far
• Stick to the 1 thing that will help your golfer hit it further

 

Tom House

• Cross specific training
• Work on speed, not mechanics to help a golfer hit it further
• Head moving during golf swing, is power lost

 

Greg Rose

• Greg had a really powerful message, I will expand more in a future blog
• There are more golfers playing now. There are more injuries but the percentage hasn’t changed much
• There are more injuries in golf for a few reasons
  1. The number 1 cause of injury in golfers is early specialization
     • “Early to ripe is early to rot.”
     • Only 2 of the US Kids Golf Champions have won on the professional tour. They were both girls.
     • Fitness is not causing injuries. It is keeping them playing longer. Look at Gary Player.
  2. There is no off-season. What other sport has 30 days off, played 6 days a week for 50+ weeks per year.
  3. Modern golf swing. The quest to hit the ball as far as possible can damage the body if done for long periods of time, and with poor mechanics.

 

Brad Faxon

• Get to know your student/client
• The Harmons are well known and good at what they do because they teach people, not just teach the golf swing
• Know when to keep your mouth shut
• If you want to perform well, do other things than just golf. All the greats also had something they enjoyed, and were good at.

David Seaman

• As we age we biochemically mutate into an inflamed and painful state
• We are all sugar crack-heads
• Eating sugar stimulates the pleasure part of the brain, the same area and process as addictions
• Joint degeneration from dietary trauma, not just physical trauma. This shows that DJD (osteoarthritis) is not wear and tear like is still widely believed. It is more like wear and repair.
• A sign of full body inflammation is when you physically eat and are full, but your brain still signals that you are hungry. This happens in the hypothalamus.
• Know your normal markers to see how you should alter the amount of inflammation you eat
• Keep the dietary crack out of the house. Don’t tempt yourself. Everything is fine in moderation

 

Ben Langdown

• Static stretching decreases power output. And it lasts for 24 hours after
• Dynamic warmup and resistance band warm-ups are both good

 

These are just a few of the pearls which were worth noting. TPI is posting some of the speeches on their Youtube channel. Keep checking it periodically for more videos.

 

Overall it was a great weekend! It’s always a good time meeting new people, making new connections and connecting with old friends.