Titleist Performance Institute.

Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) are the leaders in golf-specific health and fitness information, helping create a better physical understanding and funtionability for golfers to reach their full potential.

Has anyone on here had a lesson or a physical screening from a TPI professional?

Titleist Performance Institute

SG, the link doesn’t work.

Apologies, try this one

www.mytpi.com/

No. Are they any good? What is the advantage of a TPI teaching pro over a teaching pro with say 30 + years experience teaching the golf swing?

Hi Razaar,

Nothing can compete with experience in my opinion but what TPI does offer is a look at the body and how that might affect a players opportunity to make his best swing.

Let me give you an example,

You have a player who is coming over the top, so as a golf coach you’re trying to get him the use his lower half so he will bring the golf club down on a better plane into impact.

Now a physical restriction might be the reason he can’t make this move in his downswing. A player has to be able to disassociate his lower half from his upper body for him to be able to create the right sequencing in his downswing.

TPI professionals can look at a motion and take a player through certain tests to see if there are any physical limitations hindering him from improving his motion. If there are limitations then he can prescribe some simple exercises and swing drills to help improve these physical limitations.

Hope this helps give you a better understanding to what we offer. I would recommend looking up a TPI professional near you and at least have a physical screening to see what comes out in the test and then see if anything shows up in your golf motion.

I see. An experienced teacher may show the pupil the correct setup and stance explaining how the weightshift and pivot works to use the feet and lower body correctly. Many of the younger pros I have been exposed to can do it but can’t teach it. But most of the oldtimers can.

I don’t believe much gets buy a seasoned golf coach, they have eyes that actually pick up physical limitation both in body and in mind. With that said, conducting a TPI screenings to a new students is often an eye opener as everyone’s body is a little different, as a golf coach I want as much information as possible before I begin setting a course of action. Getting certified is money well spent.

TPI Screening Test

There is things I will admit I don’t agree with TPI, however that’s more in the field of their approach with biomechanics. Although as for fitness is a totally different kettle of fish. I think TPI is a good breeding ground for coaches to learn about the human body and how physical limitations can impact and effect their students golf swings. For a coach to ignore this is just plain ignorance.

Personally I have never understood the static testing because when you test golfers under load during a golfswing they generate more range of motion then what they can statically. I can understand the testing for internal/external rotation of the arms because this can effect people get then club on plane in the back swing etc.

I have never understood though the separation between the lower body and upper body being tested statically. Because to be able to generate separation between the lower body and upper body during the golf swing takes coordination to achieve it. Generally we have found this to be due to a break down in their coordination pattern or swing sequence. Not because they lack Range of motion to generate separation.

A golfer only need 5 degrees of separation to stretch the muscles in the core between the lower body and upper body. In order to generate the stretch/shorten cycle. Which most people can achieve 5 degress quite easily.
The X-factor through research has be proven to be a myth. It’s not about how much separation your generate. It about how much load is applied to the cores muscles to how much it is stretched and how well the core muscles contract to accelerate the upper body.

In the golf swing the amount of load generated is achieved by speed. The faster the hip acceleration the more load is applied to stretch the core muscles. The faster the deceleration and stabilisation of the lower body. The more elastic energy is conserved to make the core muscles to contract faster, which makes the upper body accelerate faster. With the X-factor if you create big separation the muscles get over stretch and you lose elastic energy. Also the muscles are stretched for too long and you lose the elastic energy from the stretch/shorten cycle effect. You lose the power explosion or the fast contraction to accelerate the upper body faster. You have lost energy, plus you lose the energy passed from the lower body to the upper body.

However for a golf coach and their student for general fitness etc TPI is good to help golfers improve their golf fitness. Which is also extremely important. On tour these days it’s a power game. To hit it as far as they do you need to be super strong and powerful and that’s where fitness does come into play.

” The faster the deceleration” and stabilisation of the lower body.

This jumble of words makes no sense Scott, please explain ?
Jon…

So, for a teaching pro to be TPI certified he must sell/play Titleist?

” The faster the deceleration” and stabilisation of the lower body.

This jumble of words makes no sense Scott, please explain ?
Jon…

Jon,
The muscles stretch three different ways, for any power explosive movement the muscles use the stretch/shorten cycle. In golf muscles are stretch by rotational acceleration or speed. (velocity). When the muscles is stretched the muscles produces elastic energy. This elastic energy increase the acceleration of the contraction the muscles. This makes the body segment (upper body) accelerate faster, this increases the rotation speed of the body segment. If the muscles is stretched for too long the chemical energy dissipated or turns into heat. Which means the muscles lost elasticity. You lose acceleration or rotational speed of the body segment. In this case it’s the upper body.

The lower body produces acceleration by how we push and pull against the ground, the lower body decelerates (Slows downs)as an effect again how we press forward in the downswing. Again by using the ground our Lower body stabilises, does slide lateral or spin out etc. We have to train our lower body mechanics how to achieve this.

Ok so what happens is when the lower body accelerates it stretches the muscles between the lower body and upper body. We want the lower body to quickly slow down or decelerates so the muscles can contract in order to utilise the elastic energy to make the upper body accelerate or rotate faster. If the lower body doesn’t slow down the muscles get over stretched and we lose the contraction of the muscles utilising SSC.
The other reason the lower body must slow down is to transfer the speed of the lower body to the upper body. The speed of the lower body transferred and the contraction speed off muscles accelerating the upper body combines causing the upper body to double in speed.
The lower body doesn’t slow down it can’t transfer speed and energy to the next segment.
The explanation is basic physics of conservation of momentum.

In any rotational movement the human body replicates the same patterns, base ball, tennis, throwing a ball or golf. Any world class athlete who has a Kinetic link produces the patterns above.

It’s known as coordination, the kinetic link is the most effective coordination pattern the body can replicate over and over again. It also the most effective way to produce speed and power in any rotational movement sport.

Any on the above you have to measure some one’s coordination in 3D to know how the body is coordinating rotational movement. Eye or video won’t see it, to train it you have to train a person’s coordination or nueormechanics. Swing mechanics doesn’t teach us coordination.