A Note From The Head Pro

Eldorado Country Club Head Golf Pro - Scott McClinton was kind enough to teach my juniors for a session while I was away at the TPI seminars. He wanted me to share this note with you:

"Coach Chad has spent the last few days in San Diego attending the Titleist TPI training, getting some great knowledge about the golf swing, golf fitness, and just being a better instructor.  Good for him!  While he was away, I got the opportunity to substitute coach for one of his academy classes.  I just want to say to the parents and to Coach Chad how impressed I was with the academy players.  Their attitudes were some of the best I have seen out of any junior golfers I have coached;  Very positive, very driven, very respectful, and very polite.  It was an awesome experience that was both fun, and rewarding for me.  Great job to those juniors; keep it up, I see LOTS of promise, and great job to Coach Chad for helping mold some great young men and women.  (Tori, Maddie, Jordan, Ryan, Kevin, and Logan – great job gang!)"

Thanks Scott!

TPI Experience - Golf Fitness

This past weekend, I attended a TPI seminar. TPI stands for Titleist Performance Institute and is a way to look at the golf swing that is not normally done. I normally look at a golf swing by recognizing ball flight flaws then looking at the body and how it works to determine what to do to fix that flaw. TPI does this process but almost exactly backwards. 

Each player is taken through a physical assessment that will give the instructor knowledge of how their body is limited in the ability to swing into certain positions in the golf swing. From the results of this test, we can determine how those limitations will effect your swing and cause swing faults that will affect the ball flight. I learned techniques to identify these limitations and also how to help fix them so the player can make more efficient swings. The process is called a screening, and it takes a player through every necessary motion the body has to be put in if they want to have a perfectly efficient swing. Very few people can pass the entire screening, but it acts as a baseline for possible fitness work and a platform for me to know how to teach that individual.

I also learned many techniques that I can use with my students as a warm-up each day so that they are prepared to swing and play their best. Stretching and warming up properly is under-rated by golfers these days. Making sure your body is ready to handle a 80-100 mile per hour swing is very important and will help prevent future injury. 

For my adult students, this will help me assess motions and positions in your swing that you are just not physically capable of hitting, and allow me to prescribe workouts to fix that imbalance or work around it as an instructor. There is nothing wrong with having a limitation in your body, but the best results will come when I know about them and can then work around them. 

For my junior students, academy and summer camps, I have learned the value of having a body that can handle a golf swing and all its essential positions. I will be including more athletic activities as well as a warm-up program for all my juniors. Junior camps (Spring Break and Summer) will be VERY fun and full of exercises designed to develop the entire body (coordination, flexibility and strength) as well as learn great golf fundamentals and skills. 

I am excited to use the new information I have learned this past week I can definitely see the benefits in my own game as well as my students. My quest for new knowledge about the golf swing never stops, and this was a great step into the fitness and body movement characteristics of the golf swing.

The philosophy for TPI is: "We don't believe there is one way to swing a club; we believe there are an infinite number of ways to swing a club. But we do believe there is one efficient way for everyone to swing a club and it is based on what they can physically do."

If you are interested in getting a screening (testing your body for proper golf positions) please let me know!

Finding YOUR Instructor

Dr. Bob Rotella’s five keys to finding the right instructor.

1. Find an instructor who has had success teaching golfers of your ability, age, sex and commitment level. Some teachers prefer (and are at their best) working with really good players, high-handicappers, men, women, kids or seniors. Ask potential teachers what type of golfers they regularly teach and even talk to a few students if you can.

2. Select a teacher who is close to where you live or work and has the time and energy to give you the attention you want. If you have to drive a long way to take your lesson, you might not stay with it. Also, you want to avoid teachers who are overbooked and might rush through a lesson with you.

3. Look for someone who you enjoy spending time with. You might have to take a couple of lessons to find out. Another way is to offer to pay a teacher for half an hour to ask some questions and get better acquainted. You need to find out if you connect.

4. Go for credibility. You can't learn if you don't trust the message. Unlike kids, adults tend to approach lessons with skepticism and question the instruction they receive. Kids are better at trusting what the teacher tells them. Adults could learn from that. If you don't believe in what the teacher is telling you, you're wasting your time.

5. Decide if you want a teacher who is technical and analytical or one who teaches based on feel and visualization. Both methods/philosophies work. But some golfers respond better to one or the other. Discuss your preference with any potential teacher.

All this said, keep in mind that the best instructor in the world might not be the best instructor for YOU. Find an instructor who is successful and you can communicate with and you will have great success!