I'm not saying those initial 3 questions posed are pointless... BUT, it's crucial that you understand where they fall on the priority list. They're towards the bottom. Very rarely are answers in this training world yes or no, this or that, 100% or never. If you see a coach swearing by one form of training (CrossFit, HIIT, Powerlifting, Olympic lifting, etc.), you're probably in the wrong spot. If a coach says, "You need to be doing 5x5 if strength is the goal." Or, "HIIT trai

Talk about POWER! This exercise will truly challenge your ability to create and absorb large amounts of power in the frontal plane as well as simultaneously working to lift your golf game! WHAT IS A SKATER BROAD JUMP? A skater broad jump is like a skater jump, but better. It's a plyometric jumping exercise that will help you develop athletic qualities like velocity, power, and force production/absorption. It will help teach you how to absorb large amounts of force, as well as

"Assess don't guess." Is a very common tag line by golf professionals. And, I don't like it. Let's dive in. . . . What is a Physical Assessment? A physical assessment is a routine of exercises and movements that a practitioner will put you through, and write down your results - results practitioners say are objective, but are often far from it. They will then compare those results to subjective standards to see whether you pass or, the dreaded, FAIL. If you can sense from my

The way practitioners use the word "stability" drives me almost as crazy as when they use the term "imbalance." If you've been following for awhile, you know how I feel about imbalances... What I am referring to as Stability... To me, stability plays two different roles in our movement. First, at the joint level, we need to look at the stability of the joint. Is the joint capable of achieving all ranges of motion in a controlled, stable manner? This would fall under the "core

Welcome in SCRATCH Athletes! FIRST ON THE TEE I've begun revamping the Pre-Golf Warm-Up's Program within the app. The goal is to have 18 GOLF WARM UPS ready to go by March. I have 9 in their now. Ranging from 3 minutes to 20 minutes. Some using just your bodyweight designed to be completed at the course. Some using bands that you pack along in your bag! ;) Some designed to be completed as almost a pre-golf primer workout at home before leaving for the course. Point is, there

In general, we should treat joints the same. We should move them. We should load them. We should stabilize them. We should strengthen them. We should apply stress to them and give them the opportunity to adapt. Depending on the anatomy of the joint as well as it's role in sporting movement, we may alter this approach slightly. But in general, if the goal is to build a resilient, high performing joint.. these are the keys. Therefore, let's apply this logic to the shoulder. STR

Hello, hello! Guess I woke in a fighting mood today... It's not even 7 am. I've had three cups of coffee, and I am ready to go off on some bosu ball garbage I saw online by someone the golf industry considers to be an "expert trainer." Love it when you find the perfect GIF. . . . Context Matters I acknowledge the fact that context matters, and often times social media lacks this context. It's not fair to judge a coach off of one post or one exercise. Every athlete is differen

Humans are adaptable. Meaning, we adapt to the stressors that our body absorbs. And this includes even the most experienced of athletes. Here's the highlights of the article if you're low on time today... If you golf, you're an athlete. You should be training like one no matter your age. If you're a human, you adapt to stress, therefore we need to apply some! BUT, there are a few things we should be doing if you are an aging athlete. Bunch of exercises YOU SHOULD BE DOING no

This golf exercise is one that you will find in almost all of our programming at SCRATCH. I like to throw it in almost weekly, maybe every few weeks. I know what you might be thinking... "But that's not very functional" Or maybe, "I have heard those are bad for your back." . . . Nope, and false. Not functional??? Our spine is built to move. It moves a ton in your golf swing. This is why I HATE the saying "Rotate around your spine." What do you mean? My spine is quite literall

Static stretching is very different than dynamic mobility. At SCRATCH, we will make use of both within our golf fitness programming. Very rarely in this world are things simply one or the other, as is the case here. That being said, in my opinion, a golfers training should focus much more on the DYNAMIC MOBILITY end of this spectrum, as compared to the static stretching end. This article is not written with the purpose of disparaging all static stretching. I simply want to cl

First, what is a "training aid"? It's something that helps you improve your golf game. And EVERYBODY wants that. But here is the thing with most "aids" you find on the internet. They don't help. You either misuse it, or it leads to an uncomfortable swing, or it creates more confusion that you started with. And, maybe the worst part, you use it for a month in the spring and then tuck it away for a lifetime. So here's the deal... THE BEST GOLF TRAINING AID THAT EXISTS IS... You

What's up SCRATCH ATHLETES! IN-SEASON PROGRAMMING COMING SOON! I've started building out the in-season programming, and I think you're going to love it. To make this your best season yet, we will be offering various training resources, including: [1.] Golf In-Season 12 Week Program. I understand when the golf season is here, golf is priority number 1, as it should be! Because of this, the program will be 3 days per week and include shorter workouts (~30 minutes) that can be c

These 4 things may be some of the "easier" things you can do right now to improve your golf performance and longevity, without having to step foot into a weight room or touch a golf club. I put "easier" in quotes because, depending on the person and context of their life, these things may genuinely not be that easy to undertake. And that's okay. Habits start somewhere... why not today? Let's Start from the Top... SLEEP I won't go too deep into this because I think everybody k

Have you ever heard of the term Posterior Chain? It's a common one that gets thrown around in the training and fitness world, and sometimes I wonder if individuals truly understand what it means. If not, let's explain. It's a fancy terms for the muscles of your backside. Low back. Glutes. Hamstrings. I often will lump the lats and calves into there too as the chain doesn't just randomly end at the bottom of the hamstrings or the top of the low back. Our body is a connected un

️The season is coming. *** Said like the Game of Thrones dude. I've never watched it but I've seen the clip where he goes "Winter is Coming." Hopefully you get the reference... It's already February. That final off-season push is here. A few months from now (maybe less if we're lucky) you'll be standing on that practice green, counting down the minutes until you get to step on the tee box. It's time to go. It's time to get into golf shape. It's like that old saying: The best

Seems like everybody is talking about ground reaction forces and how you are using your lower body to hit bombs on the golf course... The upper body needs a little love to. It's a crucial piece to the puzzle! LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE this article! Social icons can be found below the post. Appreciate your support! Why the upper body is important to your swing? First, it creates force. Our muscles pull on bones to create force. When they work synergistically to complete an acti

BANDS, BANDS, BANDS! Bands are an awesome tool. They're portable. They're effective. They're inexpensive. If you don't have any... go buy some > resistancebandtraining.com Quick Summary of the article so you can skip around: [1.] Why Bands? Portable Effective "Joint Friendly" Inexpensive [2.] 9 Band Golf Exercises Why bands? Before diving in, it's important to realize that a band is simply one tool. It's one training tool of many. I could sit here and write about the benefits

Broad Jumps are one we all should have in our exercise toolbox. . . . They promote greater levels of power - specifically lower body power. They can help teach us how to produce as well as absorb massive ground reaction forces, very important to your golf swing! They allow us to explore many different force producing and absorbing positions. Read more about GRFs, how to build them and why they're important, HERE . . . Check out the video below of a few of my athletes.... noti

Muscles Stressed: Lats Posterior shoulder complex Biceps Obliques/Transverse Abdominus How will it help you become a better golfer? Well, it won't... specifically. It will help you build resilience in your upper body, strengthening important muscles for your swing. The upper body is a critical piece of developing clubhead speed. That old phrase, "it's all in the hips," isn't all that true. Who would have guessed... Read the article below for more on the role that the upper bo

This is a thought-provoking quote I read the other day in the book The Lost Art of Playing Golf by Gary Nichol and Karl Morris. I'll probably be sharing more thoughts as I complete the book because it is a game changer! At the time of writing this, I am only a quarter of the way through it, and I think I've worn out two highlighters. *** Update, I have finished the book and I officially went through 3 highlighters and a blue pen. Go get the book. . . . For today, the question