Golf fitness and golf performance go hand in hand. The days of working on hitting golf balls with occasional lessons are in the past. This is what the founders of the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) discovered 10 years ago. There is an acute and substantial connection between the potential of the physical body and the efficiency of the golf swing , or lack of potential and lack of proper swing mechanics.
The golf swing is a vastly complicated motion. It requires motion, strength, proprioception and balance. The founders of TPI , Greg Rose and Dave Philips realized that there were physical limitations of the body that lead to poor swing mechanics. They developed a screening tool based on some the most common swing faults that all golfers share, no matter their skill level. For example, “over the top” early extension, sliding, and casting” With the use of the screening tool, these faults can be “teased” out and a proper exercise program can be developed to work with the ones specific to the screened golfer. This is a very specialized program fitted to each individual. It is not a program in which the golfer joins a gym, and decides to work out, in the hopes it will improve his or her game. In fact a random program can make the golfer swing and game worse.
The screen itself access’s separating the ability of the player to separate the lower body from the upper body, the ability to move the hips independently from the upper body. The player’s skill at balancing on one leg with the eyes closed, is important (tour professionals do this on average for 25seconds!!!). The player’s core strength, hip mobility, spine mobility, and calf mobility can all be assessed with the “golden standard test” deep squatting. There are other tests for range of motion and mobility, but the important thing to remember here is that we are looking for the failings of the screens, and developing exercise programs based upon those failings. After a screening and without ever seeing the player swing or hit a shot, I will know what his/her swing fault is and begin to work on correcting the physical aspects of those faults. This does not mean that lessons are not to be taken. It means that your lesson will be more effective, because now your professional teacher will have more success because your body is better fit to deal with your common swing fault.
Another advantage to Titleist’s work in this area is that they have kept empirical data on all the professional and amateurs they’ve screened. We have normative values that the player should strive to achieve, making re-screening an important tool in determining how effective your exercise and lessons really are. This is the part I like because, if these are successful, your player will come in for training sessions and tell of their lower scores, longer drives, more greens hit and over-all more enjoyment of the game.
As a physical therapist and trainer I have been involved in both the rehabilitation and training of golfers for over 15 years and have found the structure and empirical model of the Titliest Performance Center to be the best program there is. As one of their highest trained consultants, I believe that if you are an injured player that wants to play again, or a frustrated player that has tried every new piece of equipment but hasn’t succeeded, put some faith in your body, it will serve you well.
Peter Stathas, PT, CPI 
