"Fit to be tried, TOUR trailer helps shape careers"

Check out this recent ink from PGATour.com's Brian Wacker regarding Tour fitness and Coach Joey D:

When 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly won the British Open in July, some argued it wasn't necessarily good for the game. If some old fogey with his AARP card could nearly win one of the game's biggest tournaments, what did that say about golf as a sport? What it said, they maintained, was that golf wasn't a sport at all. It was a skill. A pastime. That it was right up there with bowling and ping pong.

Blame Ernie Els, or Fred Couples or even Watson. They make golf look about as athletic as pouring a glass of water. What most don't see is what goes into building those backswings, especially for a growing number of players on the PGA TOUR, whose time in the fitness trailer or gym equals their time on the driving range or practice green.

"What the fans don't understand is the specificity of the training, the stress that a golfer goes through," says Chris Noss, an expert in biomechanics and trainer to a number of players, including Sean O'Hair, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink and Brian Gay, among others.

That stress usually begins and ends in a pair of 18-wheelers -- one for strength and conditioning, one for physical therapy -- at every TOUR stop from January through November. They're loaded with Cybex machines, treadmills, stationary bikes, free weights, physio balls and various other apparatuses. There are also at least two physical therapists, a chiropractor and strength & conditioning coach on hand at all times.

"Nine years ago, when I started, very few utilized the trailer every day," says Scott Riehl, Strength & Conditioning Coordinator, DePuy Mitek, PGA TOUR, and lord of the two trailers. "Now, 85 percent work out daily."

Though space is tight, you'll often find as many as 10-12 players in the trailer at a time during tournament week, all working out, stretching or receiving treatment for any number of nagging injuries.

Even those who don't use the TOUR's trailers will spend countless hours fine-tuning their bodies to the rigors of pounding thousands of golf balls. Call it the Tiger Woods effect. His workouts with Keith Kleven, although fairly secretive, are equal parts legendary.

"Players started saying, 'I have to work out to catch Tiger,'" said Noss. "Then when they didn't (catch him), we had a drop off. It's leveled out now."

"Tiger made my job a lot easier," continued Noss, who added that it's taken many of his 10-plus years on TOUR to gain the sort of trust and respect he and a handful of others have with the players. "But Tiger's always been an athlete -- if you're Secretariat's trainer, all you want to do is not screw him up."

That can be tougher than it sounds. Take Jason Dufner, who works with Joey Diovisalvi (known mostly as Joey D around TOUR circles). Having been befriended by Vijay Singh, Dufner recently spent time with Singh's trainer, Gabe Lopez.

Comparing Singh to Dufner in the gym is like comparing the Mona Lisa to a finger painting. No one works out harder than Singh, and Dufner found out the hard way. "[Dufner] was sore for weeks," Diovisalvi said. "It killed his confidence."

Fortunately for Dufner, that confidence returned and the fruits of his labor paid off in the form of a half-dozen top-10s, including a tie for third at the RBC Canadian Open and a tie for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Anthony Kim had a similar experience with confidence -- or lack of it -- early in the season. Following a rash of injuries and poor practice habits, Kim, twice a winner in the previous year, admitted his confidence was now "in the toilet."

That prompted Kim to hire Darby Rich, whom he had worked with while at the University of Oklahoma. Rich was the strength and conditioning coach for the Sooners' men's basketball team and helped train Blake Griffin, who was picked No. 1 in the NBA Draft.

The wins haven't exactly piled up for Kim, but since hiring Rich, Kim does have four finishes in the top 16, including a pair of third places. He's also slimmer, eating better, practicing more and avoiding injury due to a previous lack of said practice.

"I was miserable. I wasn't having any fun," Kim said. "I just know that if I'm working on the right thing, it's going to pay off."

That right thing has paid off for others -- Pat Perez, John Rollins, Ryuji Imada and O'Hair, to name a few -- and it's fair to say that success comes from what goes on in practice sessions as much as training sessions, whether they're in the TOUR's two fitness trailers, or in a glitzy new gym like the one at Congressional Country Club, site of the AT&T National.

On a mid-week afternoon at the AT&T National, a number of players made their way into the gym at Congressional -- on weeks the TOUR travels to tournament sites with their own fitness facility, it usually employs just the physical therapy trailer.

Perez, Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Imada and O'Hair all populated the place during one particular hour and while none of them looks like Lance Armstrong, never mind LeBron James, they twisted and contorted their bodies into all sorts of pretzel-like positions, mostly through resistance training that's intense enough to bring out the puke buckets on occasion.

Pushing them are a team of trainers, therapists and biomechanics experts that walk a very fine line of keeping a player fit or injury-free and trying not to screw up their golf swing.

"If [Jason Gore's coach] Mike Abbott wants his arm in one position ..." Diovisalvi says. "...well, sooner or later, you better marry us, or else you're going to have a lot of unhappy players."

Brian Gay has always been a hard worker, on and off the course, and he can credit his two wins this year to that. "We've had battles over training, but he sees why he has to do certain things," Noss said.

Ditto similar successes for Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey and Camilo Villegas. All are workout freaks, and all have had success, at least in part, because of it. Even Cink, who isn't in their league from a physical standpoint, wants to know that he's done everything possible to succeed and that includes his workouts.

Perhaps no one's career -- except Woods' -- sums up the golf-is-a-sport argument, however, better than Singh's. Sitting on an airplane in 2000, Singh told a member of his team, "I can be the best player in the world." Four years later, he was. No one north of 40 years old has won more than Singh, either. Is there any question why?

"PGA Tour Workout: How to train like a pro"

During the AT&T National, trainers and biomechanics experts Joey Diovisalvi and Chris Noss, who help work with some of the best players on the PGA TOUR, put PGATOUR.COM's Brian Wacker through a typical workout for a TOUR player. He survived well enough to tell you about it below:

1. Start with a 5-minute warm-up on the stationary bike, pedaling between a moderate and fast rate, to get the blood pumping. This is easy enough and it gets the juices flowing.

2. Set the treadmill speed to 3.5 miles per hour and start walking ... then turn sideways, shuffling your feet side to side for 15 seconds. Then turn and face the other side and repeat. Do this for 2 minutes, switching every 15 seconds.

Having played basketball most of my life, this was a common drill, but not on, uh, moving ground. I'd suggest holding on at first since it challenges your balance.

3. Lay back on a physio ball with the ball positioned under the middle of your back and your legs at a 90-degree angle, holding a weight plate out in front of you opposite your chest. Rotate your midsection side to side, making sure not to let your hips sag or to lose your balance on the ball. Do this for 15 repetitions on each side.

After starting with a 25-pound weight that made me fall off the ball on the first rep, I switched to a 15-pound weight and still struggled, moving slowly from side to side. Joey D hops on to show me, thoroughly embarrassing my snails pace.

4. Using a resistance band, set up in your normal golf stance, holding the band as if it were a club and making sure the band is taut. From there, its a quick 1-2 motion, taking the band back just past your hips on the right (if youre right-handed), then back to start, then all the way back in a rapid-fire motion, making sure to keep your posture and your balance. Then switch sides. Do this for 15 repetitions per side.

I almost fall over the first time I return the band to the start position because theres a lot of resistance there and the momentum really challenges your balance ... not to mention the strength in your core. It will also help with the load and release of your swing.

5. Lay flat on a mat with a small physio ball postioned between your feet and your arms outstretched over your head. Squeezing the ball with the sides of your feet, raise your legs straight up, along with your arms, passing it from your feet to your hands and down. Do this for 15 repetitions.

This will make your abs burn and youll also feel it in your hips -- both of which are crucial to flexibility in the golf swing.

6. Back to the stationary bike, ride at a medium resistance for 1 minute.
This feels like a break, but it still keeps your heart and lungs pumping. No pain, no gain, or pain and more pain in this case.

7. With an ankle resistance band taut around your ankles, get in an athletic stance, knees slightly bent and feet a little more than shoulder width apart. Shuffle to one side, much the way you did on the treadmill earlier, then shuffle back, making sure to keep the band as taut as possible as you do. Youll need an area about 20-30 feet long for this. Do three times in each direction.

This is the drill Im used to from years of basketball, only its tougher with the resistance band. You feel it not only in your legs, but your hips as well, which Im quickly learning are not very flexible on me.

8. Back to the resistance band machine; get in an athletic stance with your knees slightly bent and your hands holding the band from your right. In another quick 1-2 explosion, rotate your mid-section to the left so your hands reach the middle of your chest, then back, then all the way through with your hands passing just beyond your left hip. Do 15 repetitions then switch sides.

This really works your core (again) and your back. Im starting to realize what crappy shape Im in and that working out four times a week, playing golf and managing my fantasy baseball team doesnt exactly count as being in shape.

9. Staying with the resistance machine, assume an athletic position holding one band in each hand out in front of you at chest height, making sure its taught. In a simultaneous motion, leap up and outward, with your arms going out and over your head and your hips thrusting outward before returning to the start position. Do 15 repetitions.

I'll admit it, I almost fell flat on my face the first time I did this. The momentum is so great coming back down from the jump, it pulls you forward. Youve been warned.

10. Next, do the same thing, only using a light dumbbell in each hand instead of a resistance band and without the jump. Do 15 repetitions.

At least I didn't nearly fall on my face this time.

From there, its on to some plyometrics with Chris Noss. He has me jump over a box thats about 18 inches high; front to back at first, then side to side, for about 30 seconds each of three sets. Next, standing on the floor, I jump forward at a 45-degree angle, landing on my left foot and without letting my right one touch the ground once I land, then back, landing on my right leg. I proceed to do this at 45-degree angles to the left and right, frontwards and backwards for three sets and a total of 12 repetitions. Last, but certainly not least, holding a medicine ball between my hands in front of me, Noss has me jump up, kicking my heels to my butt and raising the medicine ball over my head simultaneously for about 30 seconds.

Im exhausted, though there were no puke buckets like Noss and Diovisalvi predicted. Only near blood, a lot of sweat and tears of joy that the workout is over. As Im walking back to the locker room, I see Jim Furyk on the treadmill, side-stepping -- and holding onto the rail, just like I did. Suddenly, I dont feel so bad.

Then Diovisalvi brings me back to reality, saying, "Youre lucky [Pat] Perez left, or hed be laughing at you."

Deutsche Bank Championship recap...

The last time we blogged I made a point to mention that there are no excuse in life. Some of my guys have been struggling - for various reasons - and as their coach, I was frustrated. I know they're putting in the work both with me as well as their swing coaches, so to see them not to get it done Thursday through Sunday, it wears on you. Still, no excuses. At the end of the day, everybody needs to step up to the plate and take care of business.

As rough as last week's Barclays proved to be, the Deutsche Bank Championship proved to be that 'turnaround' week I was hoping for. Body, spirit and mind, my guys were ready. The weather cooperated and everybody seemed to win that battle between their ears last week. They all came to play and all rose to the occasion.

We say it time and time again here, but you can literally miss the cut out here one week, yet muster up enough to win the tournament a week later. We saw Tiger Woods do it a few weeks back, missing the cut at the British Open and then winning his next two events (Buick Open and Bridgestone). Tiger is the most recent example and being the best in the game, he's probably not the best example.

That said, it happens all the time out here. Last week is last week. It's all about the present and the ability to put four good rounds of golf together. It's all about your physical game, your mental game and your emotional state - they all have to be tip top and nobody does that better than Tiger.

Jason Dufner had a banner week in Boston, going 16-under and reeling in a T2nd finish. That initial win still eludes Jason, but I couldn't be prouder of him for his effort this year. Here's a kid that just made a few hundred thousand last year and struggled to keep his card. This season, over the $2M mark and 10th in FedExCup points. That's a hell of a turnaround.

Dufner's T2nd finish came on the heels of three missed cuts and before that, a T3rd finish in Canada - further proof this is a very fickle game.

Charlie Wi had a solid T19th finish in Boston after wrapping up T67th at the Barclays. A solid second round 64 set the stage and he closed strong on Sunday with a 67.

My horse Pat Perez pulled in a respectable T27th finish last week after missing the cut in Jersey. A third round 75 knocked him off course, but it was sandwiched between a second round 65 and final round 67.

As for Ryuji Imada, the struggles continue. A second round 66 put him back in the mix, but a 75-81 run on the weekend knocked him out. Unfortunately he won't be in Chicago next week do to the 73rd place finish. My other three will, so tune in next week to see how Dufner, Charlie and PP do at the BMW Championship.

Back home at D1 Athletics, I've been working with Jensen Callaway and things are moving along nicely. Jensen is still recovering from a rather brutal car accident on his way home from a surf contest a few weeks back. The car was totaled, but Jensen and the other passengers were lucky enough to walk away from the crash.

Jensen and I got after it at D1 today and we're going to add some pics to the blog soon enough. We're continuing to focus on balance, blindfold training and a slew of other exercises I'm sure are going to blow your mind.

Off to Chicago tomorrow and will tune back in soon enough. - Joey D

Joey D talks Barclays and TPC Boston...

Back in South Florida for a few days after the first FedExCup Playoff even at The Barclays. Headed out to Boston tomorrow for the Deutsche Bank Championship, which runs Friday through Monday this holiday weekend. Taking care of some things at D1 Athletics the early part of this week before I hit the road again and wanted to make some time to blog before then.

I definitely wasn't thrilled with last week's result (three of my guys missed the cut) and I want to see that turn around this week in Boston.

Jason Dufner can't shake a nagging shoulder injury, which is frustrating for obvious reasons. That's definitely not an excuse for his missing the cut, it's simply an issue he's been dealing with on and off all season. The shoulder has been chronically bothering him and even with a few visits with the world-renowned Dr. James Andrews, Jason is still in pain and is basically managing his game to the best of his abilities.

He's simply "maintaining". Maintaining his game. Maintaining his ability to square the face at impact. It's an interesting situation when the shoulder / bicep tendon starts to flare up, causing all types of problems when you go into the top of the backswing. It didn't work last week in New Jersey but hopefully things fall into place this week in Boston.

Pat Perez had another rough go last week, as well. Some ups and downs this season, but obviously a solid year overall and a lot of golf left to be played. PP is one of those guys you never count out of anything. He's always one good round away from turning everything around.

We also have to remember that Pat is still working into his "new" golf swing. It's been just over a year working with Mike Abbott and truth be told, old habits die hard. Sometimes everything works smoothly and other days you can't get anything right. Pat continues to work through his swing changes. His old swing was with him for years and years and years. To abandon that and take on something new, it's going to take along time before it becomes old hat.

The new swing is very on plane and Pat has the ability to keep his right elbow from coming up as high as it used to. He's flattened it out and it's a much better overall swing. He just wasn't able to put it all together in Jersey and like Jason, we're hoping he can find what he's looking for next week in Boston.

Ryuji Imada had another tough week last week and he's pretty much struggled most of this season. He's missed three cuts in a row and is 99th in the FedExCup standings, whereas he finished last year in the top 25.

Ryuji is doubting himself right now and he's trying new things in an effort to get back on top. Last year Ryuji made over $3,000,000 and this year he's hovering around $682,000 and is playing for money, in an effort to keep his card. That in itself changes everything and causes a lot of second guessing.

In times like these, you need to go back to basics. Get back to where you felt most comfortable. For Ruyji that means settling down. The reshuffle happened and he's in this week's event. Take a deep breath, regroup and get ready to play. Remember what's worked in the past and do it.

This is do or die time for Ryuji. If he wants to stay alive in the FedExCup he needs to make it happen this week. If not, we won't see him again until Las Vegas.

As stated earlier, I don't ever count any of my athletes out. They all have tremendous ability and have proven what they can do. time and time again. I know what these guys are about and I believe that on any given day these guys can rebound. What they need to do right now is to believe and to have a better sense of consistency.

Does a long season play into a difficult year? Of course it does. The PGA Tour schedule makes for a very long season - from January through September or October, depending on how long you want to (or have to) go. The fall finish has been cut down due to the economy and the loss of sponsors, so you get Turning Stone, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Mississippi, etc. Come this time of year, some guys start to lose their focus; especially after the FedExCup.

The battle of needing to make money to keep your card versus playing solid, consistent golf - it's a real challenge. Trying not to get too inside of your head, keeping you from playing to your ability. Self-doubt can do you in if you're not careful. Overanalyzing every shot can break you down and in my opinion, I think that partly what some of my guys are going through right now.

That said, it's not just my stable of guys. Look around the PGA Tour. Take a guy like Adam Scott, who is struggling in 2009, as well. Adam earned just shy of $2,000,000 last year and about $3.5M in 2007, finishing 12th in the FedExCup. In 2006, he almost reached the $5M mark in prize money.

This year Adam is 110th in the FedExCup standings and has made about a quarter of a million dollars to date. Outside of a second place finish at the Sony Open, it's been struggle city. Adam has missed 10 of 18 cuts this year and his best finish since March is T36th at the US Open.

What was Adam Scott doing these past few years that he isn't doing this year? What about Ruyji? How did my guy Jason Gore win the 84 LUMBER a few years back and he's fighting for his card again two years in a row? What's changed? The ability is there, but something has obviously happened mentally with these guys. What do they have to do to get 'it' back? That's the million dollar question.

Let's see if my guys can answer the bell this week. Perez. Ryuji. Dufner. Charlie Wi. They're all Boston-bound this week and they're all one great round away from being back in the thick of things. Tune in starting Friday for all the latest.

Pat Perez & Coach Joey D talk biomechanics...

Check out this clip from the Golf Channel's "Playing Lessons With The Pros". In this piece, Tour pro Pat Perez and Coach Joey D talk about Double P's sessions in the fitness trailer.

Golf Channel : Playing Lessons With The Pros

We shot the footage back in February and wondered if it'd ever see the light of day... and thankfully that day has finally come.

Tune in to Golf Channel on Monday night at 10pm ET for "Playing Lessons With The Pros" featuring my horse Pat Perez and world champion surfer Kelly Slater. The segment was shot during a practice round at the 2009 Pebble Beach ProAm and features Pat and Kelly tearing up the back nine as well as footage of Coach Joey D working over PP in the PGA Tour fitness trailers before the round.

Joey D checking in from The Barclays...

Here is glorious New Jersey at The Barclays for the opening tournament of this year's FedExCup Playoffs.

For the opening event you're not really seeing a lot of nerves out here. Everyone is relatively calm and ready to go. These guys have worked all year to get where they're at and now it's "go" time. That's the general overtone; guys are prepared and they realize what's on the line starting Thursday. The beauty of the FedExCup is that nobody is really out of it. A big week here or there will change your season.

A very interesting course this week. As you'll see on TV, it's all out there - right in front of you. Libertine National Golf Course was literally a marsh and wetlands before Donald Trump got on board and started building away. Shipping terminals and wasteland were the landscape here for the longest time.

I have a few of my guys in the field this week -- Charlie Wi, Pat Perez, Jason Dufner and Ryuji Imada -- all looking to make a run. Tune in to see how they perform. My horse PP is paired with our good friend Ian Poulter in the first two rounds this week, which is always interesting. PP and Ian are good buds and are two fiery guys. Definitely expecting some entertainment out of that comedy duo.

J-Dufner is again struggling with his bicep tendon, which isn't the way he wanted to roll into the opening round of the Playoffs. He's headed back to Birmingham to see Dr. James Andrews on Monday and we'll have more to report next week. Will Jason be able to compensate for the injury this week? It's definitely a subplot worth paying attention to.

It'll be a challenge to work around that. Golf is one of the best compensators of biomechanical movement, but that doesn't mean you can cheat it completely when a nagging injury has reared its ugly head.

Weather-wise things are again looking solid this week. There might be some effects of a hurricane out in the Atlantic, but most likely it'll be another smooth week.

On another note, something I wanted to bring up here as I delve deeper into this world of blogging and social networking. Censorship again proved to be an issue this week on the PGA Tour. A few weeks back we saw Tiger Woods called out for his comments on the officiating at Bridgestone. This week the Tour is cracking down on Twitter-happy Stewart Cink.

For those who missed it, Stewart called out AT&T - a big time PGA Tour sponsor - for their sub-par coverage in Manhattan, one of the largest cities in the world. Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem put in a call to Stewart, asking him to remove the 'tweet' - essentially censoring him because of the hold that AT&T has over the Tour. With sponsors dropping left and right and with AT&T on board with a handful of events (title sponsor in Pebble Beach and Washington D.C.), Finchem doesn't want the boat rocked.

Stewart removed the post, but I'm curious what the readers and Tour fans think. Did the commish go overboard? Should Stewart have removed his 'opinion'? Does he have the right to vent about his cell phone service, or lack thereof? There are definitely two different ways to go with this argument. Curious what everyone thinks. How much pull should the sponsors have regarding the opinions of Tour players?

Regarding D1 Athletics, things remain on a roll when I'm in Jupiter and have time to work with my stable of athletes in South Florida. Jensen Callaway has spent his fair share of time in the facility and reported back to me from a surf competition a few days back. Jensen let me know he's really started to feel the effects of the blindfold training and balancing training we've been working on at the facility. Jensen said let me know that he's been pulling off some things on a surfboard that he hadn't been able to do in the past.

Look for some video of Jensen's sessions on the D1 Athletics Blog in the near future. We plan on shooting some segments during my Mondays off between Playoff events these coming weeks. Stay tuned!


Joey D.