The Spectrum of Power Training in Golf
Last week we talked about power and speed training through jumping and sprinting exercises, and this week we’re continuing that discussion with medicine balls, kettlebells,…
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How to Jump & Sprint for More Power Without Lifting Heavy Weights
Power training is an important part of training for golf, but there are different kinds of power training. In this article we will give you…
Top 4 Myths About Physical Therapy
There are a lot of myths about physical therapy, particularly because many people have only ever gone to physicians or surgeons and have never seen…
Back Pain? 3 Simple Fixes You Can Do Yourself!
Back pain is a huge problem for many people, whether you play a sport or you just work in an office all day. Regardless if…
How to Alter Training Leading up to a Golf Tournament
Whether you’re going into a high school event or a professional event, a common question we receive is how you should change your training schedule…
Top 3 Exercises for Thoracic Spine Mobility
Thoracic spine rotation is one of the biggest limitations that people face in everyday life. Being able to rotate to the side with just your…
Fix Your Knee Pain Quickly
If you have knee pain, that can affect your ability to swing the golf club correctly and your ability to move the club correctly through…
Fix Your Elbow Pain in Golf
Elbow pain is one of the most common types of injuries in golf, and quite often the problem is how you’re approaching impact with the…
Screw your feet to create power in the gym and off the tee
We’ll often say to “screw in your feet,” but just what does that mean? Take a squat as an example. In a weak knee position,…
Squat, Hinge, Push, and Pull your way to Better Golf
Golfers commonly are seen doing lots of exercises that “look” like the golf swing. It is not uncommon to also see them standing on Bosu…
Top 6 Training Mistakes Golfers Make in the Gym
The average time a golfer is out due to injury is 2-4 weeks. The most common reasons these occur are from the same 5-6 mistakes…
Staying Healthy Without Breaking the Bank
Navigating the healthcare system is complicated – and expensive. Today we’re going to be talking about how to work with the system to fix a…
How do I Incorporate Mobility Into My Golf Workout?
This is a common question we get at Par4Success. It’s boring to go to the gym just to do mobility for an hour. But after…
Golfers: Best Way to Stop Upper Back Pain
Lower back pain is very commonly discussed. Less often discussed, but still very prevalent, are upper and middle back pain. Upper back pain is very…
Spinal Stiffness = Best Core Training for Golf
Spinal Stiffness is a term you’ve probably not heard of. I mean what commercial gym is going to offer a “spinal stiffness” class? No one…
Best Travel Core Exercises for Golf
Working out on the road is a challenge. Your time may be limited, and the hotel gym may not have the equipment you need, so…
Best Way to Fix Wrist Pain in Golf
Wrist pain is a very common injury that we see in golfers, particularly in the winter or when it has been really wet and people…
Not So Common Elbow Pain
Today’s topic is some of the less common causes of elbow pain. When we look at treating a joint, we always want to look above…
Top Two Reasons Golfers Have Back Pain
Here at Par4Success, we see a lot of clients for either back pain or golf-related injuries so we’re pretty familiar with what happens when the…
3 Ways to Fix Your Own Back Pain
Back pain is the most common injury and pain that we have in humans, period. So today we wanted to give you three simple ways…
Hip Pain: Navigating The Rehab Process
If you have hip pain, figuring out who to see to get your pain fixed can be a literal pain in your butt! The healthcare…
Top 3 Differences: PGA vs World Long Drive
When it comes to swinging fast and hitting the ball far, names like Dustin Johnson, Lexi Thompson and Brooks Koepka come to mind. When I…
How Fast Do You Need to Swing to Play College Golf?
Playing college golf is the dream of most competitive junior golfers and their parents. There is tons of time, effort and money spent on the…
How Do You Know When To Get Surgery?
How to know when to have surgery is one of the most common and challenging questions that a Physical Therapy Clinic sees. Here in Raleigh…
Overspeed Training – More Speed With Less Swings? – A 6 Week Study
The Effects of Reduced Overspeed Protocol Volume on Club Head Speed in Golfers – A 6-Week Study Prengle, B. Cassella, A. Finn, C. Graham, T.…
Top 3 Exercise Golfers Do Wrong
There are so many exercises that a golfer can choose from when designing their workouts that is it overwhelming. Just think in the past year…
The Best Online Golf Fitness Programs?
How do you know if an online fitness program is any good? What is the difference from one to another? Are there different types…
Top 3 Ways to Increase Golf Swing Speed as a Senior Golfer
Hitting the ball further off the tee is one of the most important parts of your golf game, and as you age, you may have…
Virtual Golf Fitness Training – You’re Joking Right?
I started my career training athletes and active people in a big box gym while I was in Physical Therapy school over a decade ago. …
Fix Your Shoulder Pain – Don’t Do This!
So, your shoulder hurts. It’s been hurting for quite some time now, and instead of just being a normal ache and pain, it’s starting to…
Top 3 Questions Total Joint Patients ARE NOT asking Physical Therapists
As the population in the United States ages and the amount of joint replacement surgeries increases, more and more people are working with physical therapists…
Range Practice is HURTING You – Do This Instead
Range practice is the biggest barrier to a golfer’s success. Period. The driving range is a place where quantity is king and quality is the…
How to Swing Faster – Science Behind the Speed
When it comes to increasing a golfer’s length off the tee, there is only really one number that matters…ball speed. Once you have achieved the…
Ground Reaction Force Part 2
By Alex Cassella, Golf Performance Coach There are many training tools to use to increase Ground Reaction Forces. Here at Par4Success we use specific tests…
Ground Reaction Forces Applied to Golf – Part 1
PART 1: The Strength and Conditioning world surrounding golf is growing, and we hear more and more about how athletes are working different focuses…
How Can a Coach Help My Game?
Learning a new skill and mastering it is one of the most powerful human experiences we have. The challenges involved with solving new puzzles, fine-tuning…
Dare to Do Differently
When everyone else is doing one thing and you believe in something different, do you have the courage to challenge everyone else, stick to your…
Mind Over Matter for Performance
As a competitive athlete and strength coach, I can say with the utmost confidence that mindset is everything when it comes to performance. Whether you…
Trying New Things
There is a big difference between losing and failing. We want to strive to fail because this means we are learning from pushing our boundaries. …
Train Slow to Swing Fast and Play More
*As seen in GOLFWRX* You are probably reading this article because the title made zero sense to you when you read it. You are probably…
Training Without Time
The secret to successful long term development, improvement, and health in the game of golf is understanding that you only have a finite number of…
Are Your Superstitions Helping or Hurting You?
When you think of “superstitions”, your first thought is probably about all the bad luck that comes with black cats or breaking mirrors. You haven’t…
#1 Thing College Golf Coaches Do to Hurt Their Teams’ Scores and Speed
I have been getting a lot of questions, particularly from collegiate golfers, asking about the benefits of running during the in season. This has always…
Strength Training will DESTROY Your Game – True or False?
If you’ve been playing the game for long, you’ve probably been told that strength training for golfers will get you bulky, restrict your mobility and…
Total Joint Replacement Recovery
Working with people who are in recovery from a total joint replacement is one of the more rewarding things we do at Par4Success. We love…
Stroke Wellness Classes at Par4Success
Here at Par4Success, we have begun stroke wellness classes for those who have experienced a stroke. When an individual suffers a neurological event like a…
Fighting Parkinson’s Disease with Exercise at Par4Success
Parkinson’s Disease is a neurological degenerative condition that affects a million people across the country and in our backyard here in the Triangle. While there…
What is IASTM and How Can It Help Me?
In recent months, we have had so many questions about IASTM treatment. We’ve gotten questions like, “What is IASTM anyway?” “How can IASTM help me?”…
What is Active Release Technique?
There are many different methods to the madness when it comes to taking care of your body and decreasing pain. Each day, we move our…
What is Dry Needling?
What is dry needling? This is a question we get all the time and it is a fair one. To be honest, we didn’t…
Eccentric Training: How Moving Slow Can Make You Explosive
The Health and Performance Benefits of Eccentric Focused Training Introduction Many have probably heard the saying, “You have to train fast to be fast.” In…
Hack 5 of 5: Debunk the Top Myth of Physical Therapy
Here is the #1 statement we have heard over the years and the truth that actually exists. “My doctor wants me to see his…
Hack 4 of 5: Decipher the Great Clinician from the Average
Is this Therapist or Doctor Any Good? Here’s some industry insider knowledge: not all certified and licensed professionals are created equal. Everyone on the Google…
Hack 3 of 5: Pick Physical Therapy Focused on Your Outcomes, Not Their Bottom Line
To find the right clinic and beat pain more quickly, you need to speak with one of the providers at the physical therapy clinic. If…
Hack 2 of 5 to Crush Pain and Save Money: Ask the Right Questions
These 4 questions will give you more insight into a clinic than almost every other consumer out there. These are the questions we tell our…
Hack 1 of 5 to Stop Pain with Less Cost: Insider Knowledge
Choosing the right Physical Therapist and right therapy practice is no small task and should not be taken lightly. When we typed in “Physical Therapist…
How Well Does Your Body Move through the Golf Swing?
The golf swing is a complex movement that involves proper sequencing and timing of the body in order to hit the ball as far, and…
7 Stages of Long Term Athletic Development
Individuals can experience failed attempts to participate in organized sports when too much emphasis is placed on competition and not enough attention on developing proper…
How North Carolinians are Saving Thousands on Healthcare
There is a new kind of healthcare in the Triangle that is rattling some cages, getting people back to doing what they love quicker and putting…
The Dirty Secret of Golf Fitness
Golf fitness at this point is nothing new. It has been around for over a decade and is utilized by the majority of the world’s…
When Soft Tissue is Not Soft
What exactly are soft tissues? Soft tissues surround and support your organs and skeletal system to include muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints, cartilage, spinal discs,…
POWER = More Distance Off the Tee
There is a misconception that golfers don’t need to be strong or powerful. In actuality, golfers require significant functional strength and power to perform at…
Hip Mechanics for Golfers 101
The hip is a classic ball and socket joint formed by the femur, or thigh bone, and pelvis. The femur’s top end is shaped like…
The Shoulder is Like a Golf Ball?
What is the shoulder? The shoulder, or glenohumeral joint, is simply a ball and socket. This is similar to a golf ball sitting on a…
Foot and Ankle Pain in the Golfer
Ankle and foot pain in golf, while not the most common injuries, still affect a large number of people, so it’s important we address these…
Fixing Hip Pain for the Golfer
Hip pain is one of the less discussed types of pain when it comes to golf. Back pain, wrist pain, and elbow pain tend to…
Make the Most of Your Medical Appointment
One step the wrong way and that all too familiar pain shot through my hip. I knew my face to face time with the hip…
Active Release Technique for the Golfer
There are many different methods to the madness when it comes to a golfer taking care of their body during before, during, and after (is…
The Broken Bridge No One Talks About: The Knee
Knee pain is a problem that we see very commonly in golfers here at Par4Success. It’s an interesting problem because usually, the knee is not…
Stop Pushing on Your Total Knee Replacement!
I have been working with total joint replacement clients for a decade at this point and it has always baffled me at why total knee…
Better In One Physical Therapy Visit or It’s Free
The fact of the matter is that in Physical Therapy if the Physical Therapist is not able to improve how you are feeling even slightly…
Planning Your Pre-Round Routine
Pre-round routines can be a very confusing topic, and, surprisingly, is they are one of the harder topics for high-level players to master. For amateurs,…
Not So Common Elbow Pain
Elbow pain is an epidemic in the world today particularly with the number of hours spent on mobile devices and computers. Beyond the workplace, elbow…
Learning to Touch Your Toes in Less than 5 Minutes!
Other than maybe having some difficulty getting the ball out of the hole, it’s not intuitive why being able to touch your toes is important…
Playing Smarter with a Complex Illness
In medical school, doctors are taught the saying, “If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.” The rare and unusual diseases are exciting to a…
Time Friendly Workouts: What to do When You Are Crunched for Time
Man do I love the feeling of wrapping up a 60-75 minute workout, drenched in sweat, knowing I put in a solid day’s work for…
Golf Fitness on the Go
Let’s face it, free time to incorporate a golf fitness program is something that many golfers…
Looking to Play Golf in High School or College? Here’s How to Get Noticed by Coaches!
As the summer months’ tournaments are winding down many of our junior girl golfers are looking forward to playing golf for their high school team.…
Who Ordered the Soft Tissues and Dry Needles?
When we hear the mention of a “tight” muscle, many of us think of something being physically shorter than it should be. This is not…
Hip Mechanics for Golfers
“Your handicap may lie, but your hips don’t.” -Shakira Okay, so maybe my memory of Shakira lyrics leaves a little bit to interpretation, but one thing…
Teenage Boys: The Ultimate Muscle Builders
Puberty is a natural rite of passage that all boys go through as they transition into young men. The most common and superficial effects of…
Screening: What Should We ACTUALLY Be Looking For?
If you have a new student or a new member joins, he or she may be asking for a few tips on some nagging, persistent,…
Motor Learning: How to teach an old dog it’s like riding a bike again
For the most part, we all remember when we first learned to ride a bike, catch a fish, or flush our first long iron off…
Top 4 Questions to Ask BEFORE Scheduling Physical Therapy
Get the Full Guide Here This post is an excerpt from our Patient Protection Guide aimed at educating people in pain how to best help…
What Do Kids Call Exercise? Recess!
For the average child, making time to exercise in the traditional sense that most adults think about it, is not a priority. Long before a…
Return to Golf After Surgery
Athletic injuries are common occurrences for both the recreational and competitive golfer. Repetitive motion, muscle imbalances, joint stiffness, and pounding forces can leave the athlete’s…
Nutrition: It’s Effect on Performance, Both On and Off the Course
One of the most overlooked facets of performance, both on the golf course and in the board room is… drum roll please… nutrition! How many times…
Real College Golfers’ “I wish I had….” List
We have had so many great high school golfers go off to college, and they all say the same thing….”I wish I had…” With that…
Fitness and Health Care are Failing You
There is more research done in a year than there was around in total 30 years ago, yet the #1 predictor of injury is a…
Stretch Your Muscles, Stretch Your Game
As golfers begin to approach the twilight of their peak golfing years, the same question comes up repeatedly. “How can I continue to play the…
Top 5 Drills to Stop Shoulder Pain and Increase Turn
Are you one of the many who pushes through a round of golf grabbing your shoulder and wondering why that thing is so sore? Shoulder…
Fixing Back Pain in Women
In the United States, lower back pain (LBP) is the most common musculoskeletal injury, sustained by as much as 80% of the general population (1).…
Early Specialization: Are You Killing Your Kid’s Progress?
At Par4Success we work with hundreds of junior golfers every month who do nothing but play golf. We have a number who play other sports,…
7 Reasons to Say Yes to Yoga for Golfers
A balanced body is a flexible body, and flexibility remains the cornerstone of a good golf game. As Earl Woods tells his son, “What you’re…
Off the Cuff: Shoulder Mechanics
Can you shoulder the load out on the golf course? In today’s vastly sedentary lifestyle, the answer is: Not likely. “Sit up straight!” our parents…
Could you be missing a key part to your of your athletic training?
Most athletes are familiar with the need to prepare for each performance physically. They train in the weight room, practice drills, review plays and make sure…
Hip Mobility: It’s All in the Hip
You can get more than just laughs from the movie “Happy Gilmore.” Take the character Chubbs, for instance, who imparts the following words of wisdom:…
Golf Screening: Know Your Equipment
If you want to be proficient at golf, you will at least need desire, determination, hand-eye coordination and some talent. Also, selective short-term memory loss…
External vs Internal Cues – Negative vs Positive Reinforcement
When I was young, my parents taught me it was important to be mindful of the things you say to others. “Think before you speak,” they…
Try Something Different: Nutrition
The new year is the perfect time to try something different. This year, we are challenging our members to try something different by participating in…
Par4Success Junior Golf Scholarship
We are strong believers in growing the game of junior golf, but more importantly helping out athletes develop of well-rounded individuals who will be successful…
Junior Golf: Elbow and Wrist Pain
Believe it or not, with Fall right around the corner, the Winter weather will be here before we know it. This means the grass is…
Contain Your Athletes: Cumulative Fatigue
Over the past few months, I have noticed, very slowly, that one of our athletes has been slowing down. Just a tick, and not every…
Junior Golf Back Pain
The most common injury in golf is back pain, accounting for over 35% of all injuries sustained in the sport. These are the numbers for…
Let Off the Throttle
Training is one thing I truly enjoy in life. One of my favorite parts of the week is Saturday. If I am not coaching, I…
The Junior Golf Epidemic
As Fall is upon us and school has started, the Girls High School Season has started without much of a break from the Summer grind…
The Central Nervous System in Strength and Speed Development
The central nervous system (CNS) plays the leading role in strength and speed development. When a previously untrained athlete begins a new training regimen, or…
Fixing Wrist Pain in Golfers
(originally published on www.ptstrengthcoach.com, July 2016) The wrist is an area that we commonly see golfers present with pain in, particularly when the frequency of play…
Is Pelvic Tilting Wrong?
(Originally published by www.ptstrengthcoach.com April, 2016) An internal battle has been waging in my mind over this topic for the past month or so. I…
In Season Training for the Junior Golfer
With the heat of the junior golf tournament season upon us, I wanted to share with you what we are working on with our junior…
Shoulder Mechanics
Athletes these days, including golfers, face unique problems that previous generations didn’t have. All athletes are asked to be more powerful, more accurate, and more…
Olympic Lifting – Pros and Cons for Golf and General Performance
The Olympic lifts are some of the more controversial aspects of fitness programs due to the extremely high level of skill required to perform them and the…
Soft Tissue Techniques
Within the body, there are many muscles which are surrounded by fascia. Fascia is similar to ligaments and tendon, in that it is formed primarily…
Screenings and Performance
Screens have become a popular trend in sports medicine in an attempt to keep players from injury and improve on-field performance. A very recent article…
External vs. Internal Cues
One of the most useful aspects of working with a coach or therapist is the ability for someone else to objectively examine your movement and…
Be Inspired, Not Intimidated
When Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” he probably wasn’t talking about the gym or the golf course. However, these are good…
Pre-Round Routine: Who Are You?
The early season has been great for Par4Success athletes as they have accounted for over 20 Top 10 finishes and over 10 individual medalist and…
Seeing the Transformation
The best thing about what we do is watching a novice athlete transform into an animal in the gym. I’m not necessarily talking about gaining…
Sleep: The Natural Performance Enhancer
Competitive golfers in my facility often play 20+ tournaments a year and very few of them are within a 30-minute drive from their home. In…
How Do You Identify as a Golfer?
Normally this is time of year we would be talking about keeping up your fitness plan during the season, how to eat when you…
Flexibility: Perception or Reality?
Perception and reality…two entities that receive a lot of attention in the mental performance world. In golf, often they are two TOTALLY different entities, not…
Olympic Lifting – Power for Golf
What if I told you golf was was an explosive sport, just like sprinting? In fact, the golf swing is even more explosive than a…
New Years Resolution 2016
As time passes, we, as former athletes look back on our illustrious careers and often utter the question “If I only knew then what I…
Take Control or Lose It!
I believe everyone should have the opportunity to play the game of golf at the level they want for as long as they want on…
How Balance Hurts Swing Speed
Should you be working on balance in the gym? Does it even matter for junior golfers? Balance is just a problem that senior golfers have,…
Stretching and Golf
Quotes from the research… “Significant decreases in club head speed, distance, accuracy, and consistent ball contact were observed (immediately after stretching)…the static stretching warm-up treatment…