TEST VIDEO

Well...this is where we will post the FITNESS TIPS...

For now, look at this!

Video Fitness Tips Coming Soon!

Hey there everyone. I have exciting news. We have decided to start putting VIDEO fitness tips on the blog here. I will try to work them out at least once a week--and We will focus on things you can do without having to go to the gym or use fancy equipment--We plan on starting these in MAY so please let me know if there is anything that you specifically want.

My email address is kit@powerflexgolf.com so please feel free to send requests for problem areas or things that you might want to work on.

We are also considering a weekly video blog---so STAY TUNED!

Have a great week!

Kit

The Season Has Begun

After the Masters, I usually start getting out on the course more and more every week and this year has been no exception.

With more times out on the course, comes the inevitable "I need new ______" or "Wow, I hate my ______" or "Look at that guy's bag. Where did he get that______"

So far this year I have filled in the blanks with two new clubs. I got a new driver, a new 3 hybrid and a new headcover--(I will have to post a pic of the headcover below. It's quite impossible to describe), and new golf wardrobe (All Izod, of course).

I have played three rounds since the Masters and have shot better each time. I am finally starting to feel my swing again. I am starting to feel like I am more in 'golf shape' --My back feels good, my stamina is good and my swing is pretty solid.

But the wallet has become much lighter now that spring is here! That much is true.

So what should you spend your money on? How about losing that gut or strengthening those hips and that back? HA! Good idea!

I am here for you! Just call! I have openings left for the season!

See you out there!

Kit

MASTERS WEEK

So here we are. Master's Week.

The week every year where the 'itch' and the 'fever' and the 'golf shakes' and the 'putter sweats' grab us all and force us to the range or the course no matter what the weather, no matter how crowded.

My son and I have a tradition every year on baseball opening day. It's a holiday. I stay home from work if possible and I let him stay home from school. This year I worked a half day because I needed to go to the doctor anyway---and he indeed DID stay home from school. And what happened? Our team (the Kansas City Royals) were SNOWED out in Chicago. But here in Portland it was 77 degree and sunny---

So what did we do?

After the doctor gave me the OK, we drove 60 miles to a course that we THOUGHT would be pretty free on a Monday afternoon in a town the size of a postage stamp---only to discover when we got there a 20 minute wait on the first tee---

So yes! The fever is in full swing.

So now we all sit patiently on Wednesday WAITING for Thursday so we can all find a reason to watch TV in the middle of the day on Thursday and Friday--even if we watch online from the office. In fact, my cousin called me this morning (Wednesday) to ask me if the par three tourney was going to be televised so he could stay home from work!

So here we go folks. Golf has officially arrived. Spring has officially arrived. Don't put off getting in shape for the season. Even I (who works out everyday) discovered that I am not in 'golf shape' yet. It's the sore obliques and the tired legs after my first couple of rounds that gave it away. It's the bad shoulder turn and the unstable left leg that screams at me to do my golf exercises....

Have a great Masters week.

My pick to win it all? How about I give you the top 4--

1. Tiger


2. Paul Casey


3. Phil Michelson


4. Ian Poulter (he has GOT to win something soon, right?)

Hitting your stride

So.... was I right about all the fat guys fading at the end. Only Jason Gore managed to hang around to day 3, but he couldn't keep it up into the 4th...and look at the leader board...Fit guy after fit guy with an occasional fat guy.

Pat Perez was up there for a bit--so count one for the fat guys...

Now that I said "I told you so..."

I want to talk to you about hitting your stride on the golf course...pacing in other words.

When you warm up properly---with the exercises that you learn from me (or some other trainer that knows what the hell he's talking about)--you won't have to spend as much time on the range before your round "loosening up" and you can spend your range time actually grooving your swing. Think about it this way:

When a major league pitcher is in the bullpen warming up before the game, do you think he got there cold and decided to "loosen up" while he throws? In the old days yes, NOW? Not so much. NOW the pitcher spends 20 minutes with the strength coach stretching and lengthening his muscles--so that his bullpen sessions before the game are more productive---and because of this he hits his stride much much sooner.

In 1985 the average first inning pitch count was about 17 pitches. In 2008 the average first inning pitch count was just over 14. 3 pitches--and that is because he has spent more time grooving his arm angle and his release point and less time "loosening up"

The same should be true of your game. Spend your time doing your prescribed stretches and warms ups BEFORE you hit the range and then spend your range time hitting your clubs and getting your swing in order before you go to the 1st tee.

Hit your stride two or three holes sooner and watch those scores DROP!

See ya!

Kit

Fit vs Fat

As I get ready for bed tonight, the first round of the Bay Hill tournament is complete and Tiger appears to be back in the groove.

He is three shots off the lead--currently held by one of the worst physiques in the game; Jason Gore. In fact, who is in 2nd? None other than the WORST BODY to ever squeeze into golf pants: Tim Herron. The man's nickname is LUMPY for God's sake!

But what is ALWAYS intriguing to me is how (pardon my language) FAT guys always seem to be in contention after the first or second day but then rarely hang around long enough to take down the fit guys like Tiger. Even Phil Michelson didn't start winning consistently until he peeled off some doughy goo around the middle.

That's not to say that a fat guy doesn't win every now and then, but in the days of P.T. (pre-Tiger) golf, you certainly saw more of it than you do now. But Tiger brought a new attitude to the course---and now you rarely see the chunk-style wins.

And why is that? Because when EVERYONE smoked and drank beer and ate red meat and drank whole milk and ate enriched flour and....well you get the picture...EVERYONE faded on day 3. It was the more skilled player that USUALLY prevailed because everyone was crashing. Go look at the final round scores in the years before 1997---in nearly every season, the final round scores were MUCH higher than the first or second rounds---

However, since 2000 the final round scores actually level off quite a bit from the second day scores and in the case of the really fit guys--their scores actually DROP in day 4!

So WHY would Jason Gore, given the money and facilities and time available to him, choose to walk around like that? He clearly has the skill to compete with Tiger and Camillo and Immelman and Harrington and Poulter (and the dozens of other guys who started winning when they started hitting the gym). But Gore and his ilk are content to take their 25th place check week after week---get an occasional win in minor tournaments like Baskin and Robbins Invitational or the Dunkin' Donuts Classic.

Sorry for the rant--but laziness makes me sick. And when (everyday at my gym) I see obese people TRYING THEIR HARDEST to get control of their lives but don't have the money or the time or the access to the kinds of facilities that these guys have---well I just get upset.

So root for the fat guy if you want to. Maybe it makes us feel less inadequate when they do well---but for me, I am gonna root for the FIT guy---he is the one setting the example of what happens when you care for and nurture body as well as your talent!

See ya!

Kit

ALL TWITTERED OUT

Just a few random thoughts from my head tonight. I am working really hard on picking up new clients and networking in the Portland metro. Starting over SUCKS--

Anyway, in an effort to get more out of my Internet networking skills, I decided (like half the known universe) to start to TWITTER---and you know what I have discovered? Everyone on Twitter is there to get people to pay attention to them and to buy their product or service---so it becomes a very odd circle of people trying to get the attention of people who are simply there trying to get the attention of people who are there to get the attention of people who are there....

Like Bend, Oregon. It is a town made up of construction workers building homes for new construction workers who move to town to build homes of more construction workers....it's chaos.

So I think I am done with twitter. I have YET to see any value other than knowing that I have "X" number of people following me who have ZERO intention to become a client or even care to try to understand what I am doing....

I think I like the old days of hanging around a golf course with a stack of business cards waiting for someone to ask what my logo on my shirt means--and then WHAM!---NEW CLIENT!

See you out there!

Kit

Tired of the Doom and Gloom

It is Monday morning and I am reading the depressing news (again) about the economy and getting more and more frustrated to the mainstream media and it's role in this 'self-fulfilling prophecy" about the economy.

Let me just tell you that, as a person that has his OWN business and runs one for someone else, that people are still spending money. PEOPLE ARE STILL SPENDING MONEY---

I keep seeing the stocks drop and the banks get deeper and deeper into trouble and I firmly believe that it's happening because economists are TELLING us that it's happening.

Look, I don't know that much about economics apart from how they affect my business--but if the economy is SO bad, why did I have to stand in line at Golf Galaxy today while no less than 5 people in front of me were buying BRAND NEW drivers? If the economy is SO BAD, why was the golf course FULL on Saturday IN THE RAIN? If the economy is so bad, my is the day spa next door to my gym FULL of women at 11:00am on a MONDAY?

People are still spending money on things that make them feel happy--they just aren't wasting it. But in my opinion, the economists on TV want to be right SO BADLY that they are literally preaching death and mayhem in an effort to make death and mayhem HAPPEN!

SO people read, hear and see this stuff--and they use it as an excuse not to live their lives...and it's frustrating--because I see people out everyday TRYING to live their lives and (even though it's not intentional) pumping money back into the economy. But the banks and the rest of the "money changers" are hoarding it and telling us that we're all going to hell....

GREAT HUH?

OR....

Is it just that golf is recession proof? Could it be that golfers just love their sport so much that they are willing to spend the money to feed the beast? Has anyone else read the Callaway Earnings report for 2008? http://seekingalpha.com/article/88247-callaway-golf-company-q2-2008-earnings-call-transcript

Hmmmm---

What are your thoughts? Are golfers immune? Do we just not care? Do we have more money than everyone else? Are you as confused as I am about the state of things?

Well, I am not educated enough in the world of high finance to comment further--though I would like to say that as Americans, we need to live with more courage and less trepidation---We didn't become the greatest country on the planet by hoarding dollar bills in our cigar boxes under our beds---we always pull through this crap---

So buy that new driver---and yes, HIRE that new trainer or swing coach--buy lessons for your kids and get those new Footjoys---after all, if economic Armageddon does hit--it's not like they can lock the doors on the golf courses---we can just hop the fences and keep the game alive, right?

The Haney Project RULES!

Well--It's official. My usual golf channel fixation, THE BIG BREAK is not on right now so leave it to them to keep me interested with the introduction of "THE HANEY PROJECT"---

And who better to start the (what I hope will be a continuing) series than Charles Barkley!

I have watched in horror over the past 10 years as Sir Charles swing crumbled and his weight ballooned--and Hank Haney is just the man to save him.

The show is well produced and edited. Though I would love to see a little more "Charles" personality--it seems like the producers might be holding back a little...YOU HAVE to think that WAY more silliness went on behind the scenes---This might be an effort to make it look like Haney is SUPER serious about this endeavor--and that's ok. But I hope that future episodes have a little more fun to them.

That said, it's interesting to see how HARD Charles is willing to work on his swing AND his fitness level. As a trainer, I would LOVE the opportunity to help someone that is having weight issues and genuinely WANTS the help--And Charles certainly seems sincere.

On another note--there is a HUGE part of me that really feels sorry for Charles when he has to go on talk shows to promote the show and everyone just falls apart laughing. I know that in the grand scheme of things, a bizarre golf swing is not a major problem for the world--but the man obviously LOVES the game so much--and his obviously in some mental anguish--and now to have to re-hash it over and over for the chuckles of some of these 'superior' golf talk show people--it's kind of humiliating.

But the guy put in the work--and we can see the changes---In fact, just look at his weight come down! It's really inspiring--I hope people will watch the show so we can see who get's fixed next year--

Now if only there was someone that could fix John Daly--now THAT would be a show!

To Answer your Question: "YES! It probably IS too good to be true!"

This morning I awoke to an email from an ex client who is no longer in the area and is looking for another trainer to help her progress further with her golf fitness and her weight issues--

She found one and signed up. Now she was very taken by this person and their website and their 'credentials' and the fact that they have their hands in half a dozen pies in the community and have expensive TV commercials and radio spots and print and equipment---you get the picture right?

She said that the TV commercials "guarantee that you will be as fit as Tiger!"

Hmmm--really? As fit as a man who spends HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars on his body every year? Really? As fit as someone who has the time to work out 3 hours a day? Really?

So what happens next? You guess it....

The trainer is so caught up with TELLING everyone how great they are, how much they know, how cool their facility is, how wonderful their life is, etc....etc....etc....That they forgot how to train properly. Perhaps that is too strong. Apparently this woman knows who to train but her personal attention and customer service are terrible. She talks on the phone during sessions--she puts her clients on machines, sets the timer on 20 minutes and walks away to go and "blog" (funny huh? I manage to do mine AFTER work) and do numerous other things.

Let me explain something to you--actually it's simple math.

Expensive marketing+Expensive facility+a distracted trainer= Lots of money and little results--

It's a shame really, because trainers like this are giving the rest of us bad reputations and make us work twice as hard to erase them.

Look. Big facilities and lots of equipment are great. I wish I had them--but they don't make a great trainer. They don't decide your success and the REALLY don't do the work for the trainer.

One of the greatest facilities in the world is TPI--I wish I could work with people of that caliber everyday---but unfortunately, not everyone is on that level---not everyone is that professional.

You need someone that knows you as an individual and cares about your health and well being and not just a dollar sign.

Look before you leap!

Have a GREAT Monday!

Picking up girls!

Ha! A friend of mine asked me today if learning to play golf was a good way to pick up girls!...

I suppose that anything you do with enthusiasm can net you a girlfriend if you have mad game...but I digress---

I have noticed a few things about the driving range recently. Let me list them for you and then YOU can decide for yourself what the social implications are in the realm of matchmaking:

1. Most women at the driving range don't want you to watch them swing


2. Most men at the driving range don't want you to watch them swing


3. Therefore no one is looking at anyone

Then we have the next set of issues:

1. Most men at the driving range are dressed like crap (why do you hit balls in jeans guys? Seriously?) and haven't shaved in three days or are sporting the fabulous "ball cap/goatee combo" that was so chic in 1998
2. Most women at the driving range are dressed in matching pink (or purple or green) golf clothes with clean hair and $150 Guess sunglasses
3. Those two things don't match up at all

However since no one is looking at each other anyway, it doesn't matter---so no one ever hooks up.

So who knows huh? Maybe you'll get lucky and find that Natalie Gulbis is slumming and can't resist your 19 handicap charms---maybe she will think that your 80 degree banana slice is adorable and that your 10 year old Oakley Blades are "rad"---and maybe she will cozy up next to you and ask you to help her with her pelvic tilt---

But probably not.

So yes, come and play golf. Join the rest of us tortured souls out on the range and the fairways--and learn that there are worse things in life than being single (like three putting for example) and that the woman of your dreams might be at the driving range--but she will never look at you and you will never look at her---so just accept it.

'Now keep your head down and don't clear your hips too early--

Wait--maybe golf and sex are more alike than I realized!--I just had an idea for a new blog topic...stay tuned!

Peace!

Kit

Know your trainer's knowledge...

Shamefully enough, this story came from a gym that I run. In fact, I am so stunned by what happened--I am still at a loss on what to do. But it reminded me to let you guys know how important it is that you ask your trainer the correct questions.

One of my trainers asked me for "a spot" on a bench press. I was busy, but I don't want anyone to get hurt--so I obliged.

While he was 'lifting', I noticed that his form was all messed up. In fact, it was so bad, I thought he was going to hurt himself--let alone actually get something out of the exercise.

After his set I suggested some things he could do to make the left more efficient and he said to me "I am doing it like that on purpose. I know what I am doing..."

Oh really?

He actually got defensive and I realized that it was probably just a pride thing with him so I shut up and watched him lift again--and sure enough it was totally wrong. He claimed that it was a technique designed specifically for his sport....

Now I was worried. Because this guy is in my gym, training people that are paying money to be trained correctly and he can't even lift correctly himself. So now I have to go and double check his qualifications---

The point is that even someone who LOOKS like he is in shape might not be qualified to teach someone else and pretty much anyone with $500 can get certified to "teach fitness"---but they are likely not qualified to answer your questions or actually do anything SPECIFIC for you. Sure they can follow along with their what their 'test' told them to do--but can they help YOU?

If your trainer doesn't tell you WHY you are doing something--or worse if you ask them and they don't know--run like heck. Only use trainers that have EDUCATION and not just CERTIFICATION---any schmoe can tell you where your deltoids are--but you need to be with someone who knows what the deltoids (or any muscle group) are FOR and how they work.

When it comes to golf, don't trust just any trainer--make sure they have knowledge of the game so that they know how the exercises will affect your ability to play. It's called functional training---make sure they have that knowledge base.

That is why you need me!...LOL I will always tell you why we are doing things and how you can accomplish the same goals at home--afterall, I consider each and every one of my clients to be a walking billboard of my success....so I need you to get results and be happy!

Have a great day. It's snowing as I type this but I am going to assume that I am simply having a nightmare and all will be well for my noon tee time on Saturday!

Peace!

Kit

Golf is a SPORT! Why not treat it as such?

I was watching the Golf Channel today as usual and watched a Tiger Woods golf clinic.
And has he was showing people how to properly address the ball, he made a motion that was almost
EXACTLY the kind of motion that I was taught in baseball. At that exact moment, he said "Get into an athletic stance..."

And then he said something that I have been saying for YEARS and I just went "YES!"

Tiger said "Golf is a sport. It's an athletic thing..."

And that is what made Tiger DIFFERENT from everyone else when he arrived on the scene. Tiger approached Golf as a sport and not as an "old man's game" or (shudder) and "activity".

When you play a SPORT--you need to make your body act in an athletic manner. If you are overweight or out of shape, as MUCH as you love golf, do you actually PLAY golf or do you STRUGGLE to play golf? Why not get the weight off, get your back in shape, make your shoulders strong, give your poor legs and hips a break---and become more athletic?

You know I played with someone a few months ago and he was a tremendous golfer. I think he shot something like 74 or 76 or something...I mean he smoked me---but he said something during the round that struck me. He said, "God it's a beautiful day!"
Why did that strike me? Because it was 95 degrees outside and muggy as heck....but I was enjoying myself as well. Sure we were sweating a bit, but we weren't exhausted. We were both in pretty good shape and the SPORT that we were playing didn't wear us out....

When we got to the clubhouse, you should have seen all the people in there sweaty and drenched and puffing and COMPLANING about the weather and the course and THEIR GAME. Well of course you are going to complain. I mean how can you have fun at something that wears you out...but every single one of the complainers and the moaners and the grumpy people were all overweight, or out of shape or unhealthy--everyone of them. All of the people enjoying an after round beverage on the deck, smiling and happy were the more fit crowd.

Did you ever wonder why golf shirts are form fitting? Because golf is a SPORT and they are made for ATHLETES!
C'mon now! Get some weight off---get the life back into those muscles and get loose---You'll look better--you'll feel better--you'll PLAY better and you will complain ALOT less!

See ya!

Kit

New Location. New Site....

For those of you who are not aware, I have moved to Portland, OR and now have to begin the process of networking all over again. For my former clients in Bend and Central Oregon, I thank you and hope you all have a GREAT season. I will be available for sessions from time to time and of course you can always email me for my famous free advice!...LOL....The new site will be done soon. As you can see from the site it's being totally re-designed!
Have a great weekend and check back soon!

Kit