Seminars on physical aspects of golf put Summit in motion

By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Puffy white clouds and an abundance of sunshine greeted the hundreds of PGA Professionals who turned out for the 11th PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit on the driving range at the PGA Learning Center early Friday morning.

The theme of Friday's Summit festivities was "Physical Motion."

Among the many presenters was PGA Professional Dave Phillips, who centered his lecture on "Physical Motion Evaluation," which is a simple but highly effective way to grasp an understanding of a student's abilities and limitations before even picking up a golf club.

Phillips, a Class A PGA member and recognized as a Top 100 Teacher by GOLF Magazine, is also a cofounder of the Titleist Performance Institute. Along with Dr. Greg Rose, who also presented on Friday, Phillips has developed what he calls the ultimate golf experience by combining Titleist's fitting expertise with the physical attributes of the body and swing technique to help golfers achieve specific goals.

"Understanding the physical part of golf is the biggest step," Phillips explained to his fellow PGA Professionals. "The best piece of equipment we have is our body. Just look at Tiger Woods. Everything changed the day that he turned professional."

It takes nothing more than turning the television on to watch the touring pros
to notice that elite players have become physical specimens. With few exceptions, modern pro golfers look like they could be athletes in any sport based on their physiques.

More so than anything, Phillips insisted that understanding the body and how it works is the most essential part of his teachings. While some might shrug at the thought of hours on end in a gym, Phillips assured everyone that's not what his lessons are all about.

"Someone doesn't like to go to the gym? That's fine," he said. "I might be able to give them a rubber band to use for a quick shoulder exercise that will help them to get through the ball like never before."

During his presentation, Phillips demonstrated the evaluations he uses on his clientele, which includes the likes of three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, Ian Poulter and Brad Faxon.

One of these evaluations included
a "Pelvic Rotation Test." With his hands on his hips, Phillips kept his body still from the waist up, while he rotated his pelvis. It looked simple until he invited some PGA Professionals to try it out. When it didn't go well for a few of them, Phillips jokingly asked, "Which nightclub will you be performing at tonight?"

The point, Phillips said, was that the pelvic rotation is a key element to the swing since the lower body needs to rotate first.

"If you can't separate the lower body from the upper body, it will cause you to come over the top, or have an early release," he explained.

Phillips also expressed the importance of understanding a student's physical limitations so as not to cause injury. Taking a simple measure such as asking a student to bend over to touch his or her toes -- the "Toe Touch Test" -- Phillips can see the type of flexibility he has to work with.

Just because one student's flexibility may be lacking compared to another's doesn't matter, he stressed. As far as Phillips sees it, the exercise helps him to understand where he should go with a lesson based on the student's flexibility. It helps Phillips identify possible limitations.

Phillips concluded his session by talking about how PGA Professionals could visit his Web site -- MyTPI.com -- to build exercise programs for their students taking into account several variables that could be plugged into a tool on the site to produce the most effective program.

"You can trace every swing flaw back to the physical side," Phillips said. "MyTPI.com allows you to create a physical assessment online."