Training the body in ways that duplicate or utilize activity specific pattern/movement has the greatest impact on improving activity specific coordination.

To truly harness a body’s functional capacity for strength, mobility, power and achieve significant gains in golf swing performance, a golfer’s physical ability must be shaped into a more efficient and effective coordination. The principles of specificity of training must be applied. Simply stated, the closer an exercise is to producing the actual demands of the activity the more impact it will have on performance.

I am delighted to announce the addition of ZenoLink to my training programs. Golfing students will now be given the opportunity of accelerating the learning and improvement process using 3D Motion Analysis and Progressive Skill Training Program designed by one of the worlds most renowned and most respected figures in the field of Sports Biomechanics Chris Welch.

Here’s some Info about the Technology:

ZenoLink is a cutting-edge component to the holistic approach to golf performance, enabling the instructor to more effectively teach swing mechanics and adding sport-specific Progressive Skills Training to the golfer’s fitness regimen.

ZenoLink uses 3D motion analysis to gather research-level information about an individual’s swing simply by videotaping that golfer. ZenoLink’s proprietary software breaks down the video and produces a performance profile, which measures how effectively the golfer utilises peak speed output – his/her power potential – at the point of impact. By measuring the different attributes of your body mechanics, ZenoLink creates separate analyses of kinetic linking, stability, muscular loading and club dynamics. These are used to identify functional movement discrepancies that rob the player of power, and to design a personalised Progressive Skills Training program that addresses those problem areas.

ZenoLink is a cutting-edge tool for the improvement of athletic performance.

The first step to ZenoLink is a brief video session with a certified ZenoLink partner (typically a sports trainer, coach or physical therapist) during which the athlete is taped as he/she performs their activity – hitting a golf ball or baseball, serving a tennis ball, firing a lacrosse shot, etc. The video is evaluated at the ZenoLink performance lab in Endicott, N.Y., using biomechanical measurements that include kinetic linking, joint range of motion, body segment coordination and outcome parameters.

The resulting analysis can be accessed here on our secure Web site. Also posted under each individual’s account are the prescribed drills to begin ZenoLink’s Progressive Skills Training program. Athletes are retested at prescribed intervals in order to evaluate progress and modify their PST program accordingly.

To see what the world is saying about Zenolink please Click on and read:
GOLF’S BEST-KEPT SECRET by Brian Hewitt (Editor-in-Chief Global Golf Post)
Using 3D Motion and Biomechanics, Zenolink is a secret weapon to traditional golf instruction

For further Info please Click and read:
A Biography of Chris Welch – the man behind the technology and our Chief Biomechanist
Zenolink – Micro site

Success Stories:
Clark Klaasen, pro golfer

“I’ve improved more in the last year than I have during any other period since I began playing.”
Clark Klaasen

It’s not unusual for athletes to initially be intimidated by the data produced by ZenoLink. Even if, like Clark Klaasen, they’ve been educated at one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning.

“It takes awhile to understand what the graphs mean, and what the data means,” said Klaasen, a standout golfer at Duke University before graduating in Spring 2009. “But after going through the Progressive Skills Training (PST) drills for four or five days, I was a believer.”

With good reason. Klaasen’s competitive scoring average during his first three seasons at Duke was 73.6. It has dipped just below 70 since he incorporated ZenoLink into his training regimen in December, 2008. Since then Klaasen tied for 30th at the ’09 NCAA Division I national golf championship, qualified for the U.S. Open and just missed reaching the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School. The 2010 season will be Klaasen’s first full campaign as a pro. He plans to compete primarily on the eGolf Professional Tour.

Klaasen was an all-state soccer player at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian High School. A knee injury before his senior year prompted him to switch to golf full time, a move that paid off with a scholarship offer from Duke. His swing coach, Brad Dean, introduced him to ZenoLink.
“I’ve improved more in the last year than I have during any other period since I began playing.”
Clark Klaasen
“Clark’s performance factor was really low when we started with ZenoLink,” said Dean, who is Director of Golf at the Crystal Mountain Resort in northern Michigan. “Now it’s really up toward the elite level. He’s only had a couple of tournament rounds over par in the last nine or 10 months, which is pretty impressive.“

Klaasen credits ZenoLink with helping him better understand the cause and effect of functional movement in the golf swing.

“Before Brad and I started with ZenoLink, I really didn’t understand what I needed to do to improve and what I was trying to accomplish with my swing,” said Klaasen. “I’ve improved more in the last year than I have during any other period since I began playing. After doing the PSTs for a couple of months, I started going to the range and immediately began to hit it better. Now I don’t even think about what I’m doing, it feels so natural.”

It wasn’t long after beginning Progressive Skills Training that the proverbial light bulb went off in Klaasen’s head.

“The feedback is immediate,” he said. “You do this stuff and, boom, it just clicks. It’s so easy to pick up. It’s really fun, and it’s made a huge difference in my game.”

Dean, too, is sold on Progressive Skills Training – drills that are customised to individual athletes based on their ZenoLink functional movement analysis.

“The PSTs help you with body patterning, how the body is supposed to sequence up,” said Dean. “I always saw what was going on with Clark, how he gave the club away early and released his energy too early. The PSTs have really helped us create efficient angular speed for Clark and now he’s releasing the club really fast at the bottom. He’s creating a lot more distance than he ever had.

Klaasen said the PST drills have been especially effective in helping him use his core and lower body to initiate his backswing.

“Now I feel like I’m really gripping the ground and creating good stability at address,” he said. “It’s a totally different feel than the average player is used to.”
Don Slater
ZenoLink evaluation, PSTs put Don Slater on course for Durham Senior Amateur victory

Golf has become fun again for Don Slater. That’s something the 62-year-old from Durham, N.C., couldn’t say in the fall of 2009.

Slater was suffering from back pain that forced him to drastically reduce his time on the course. It was a frustrating development for someone accomplished enough to have qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in 1996, the same year he won the Durham Amateur.

But in March 2010, Slater began treatments with Dr. Eric Hegedus, the Duke University School of Medicine physiotherapist who founded T.E.A.M Inc. (an acronym for Targeted Enhancement of Athletic Movement). Slater’s therapy included a ZenoLink analysis, which enabled Hegedus to pinpoint the source of his pain, and Progressive Skills Training drills.

Two months later, Slater scored an eagle and three birdies on the final nine, cruising to a three-shot victory in the Durham Senior Amateur Championship.

“He told me he was hitting it past guys he had been behind forever,” said Hegedus. Slater began the final round of the 36-hole event at Hillandale Golf Course in second place after an opening 69. He closed with a 3-under-par 68 on the 6,339-yard layout.

“What drove me to Eric was the pain I was having on the right side of my back,” said Slater, who learned of Hegedus and T.E.A.M-Duke on the Titleist Performance Institute website (Hegedus was TPI certified before he learned of ZenoLink). “I had gone to doctors and another physical therapist with no positive results. Rest made no difference. The pain always got worse after playing golf, so I came to the conclusion it was golf related.”

Hegedus gave his new patient a general physical evaluation, then put Slater through ZenoLink testing. Using those results, he devised a program of stretches and Progressive Skills Training drills to help Slater achieve better thoracic spine rotation, which Hegedus determined was causing Slater’s pain.

“The primary benefit is being able to play pain free,” said Slater. “The other aspect is now I can do things my golf instructor wants me to do with my swing that I couldn’t do before. I told Eric that I’ve taken lessons since I was a kid, but I never knew how to move my body. Now I do.”

In early August, Slater told ZenoLink.com that he had taken a lesson two weeks earlier, and his instructor “looked at me and said ‘you’re on plane the best I’ve ever seen you.”

Hegedus said now that Slater has “re-educated his body, he can just go out and play. Eventually your (golf swing) motor program changes and it’s no longer a thought process. You just do it naturally, without thinking about it.”

Slater, a retired telecommunications executive, said he’s been on an upward curve since the day he began working with Hegedus. “When I’m moving well, I can actually feel that I’m picking up (swing) speed,” he said.

“The main thing,” said Slater, “is that playing pain free has made the game enjoyable again. I’m not fighting my body to get around the golf course.”

Investment:
Zenolink 3D Motion Analysis and Progressive Skills Training Program and briefing with Mark Smith – $2,200

Process:
15 minutes video capture
Analysis and Progressive Skills Training Program received from Zenolink via Internet (1 week turn around)
1 hour Analysis briefing and explanation of training drills with Mark Smith

12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Golf Game is a 32-page booklet of key excerpts from Tom Wishon’s award winning and best selling book, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club. Intended as a teaser for the full Search book or as a means for busy golfers with a short attention span to glean the key information from the Search book, the 12 Myths booklet is a quick resource for learning the most important facts about golf clubs today.

The 12 Myths

1. Modern golf clubs hit farther than clubs of even a few years ago.
2. The longer my driver is, the farther I will be able to hit the ball
3. The lower he loft on my driver, the farther I will be able to hit the ball
4. The bigger the head, the better
5. I know I play a stiff shaft; it says so right on it
6. The newer clubs have a larger “sweet spot”
7. Women’s clubs are designed for women
8. I’ll just cut down a set for my kid; that’s good enough
9. My club is just like the one Tiger uses
10. Any club that’s not “brand name” is junk
11. I was “custom fitted” at the driving range (or retail store or pro shop)
12. Custom fit golf clubs are only for really good golfers

Please click the link below to see the PDF Version of the Booklet.

12mythsBook

The booklet is the property of Tom Wishon Golf Technology. Please do not reproduce or distribute this document by any means without prior written approval.

My extensive knowledge and skill set has helped golfers of all abilities in realizing their true potential for the game and I continue to practice my philosophy with a passion for success. I have the mind set that your success is my success as we work in partnership towards achieving your own personal goals.

Come and find out how we can help you to reach your golfing goals and take advantage of our Special Offer of free golf club evaluation and launch monitor assessment (HK$500 value) to find out if you are
getting the most out of your equipment and your game.

We’re open 4-11pm daily

Our Address:

Golf-Pro Shop
South China Athletic Association
88 Caroline Hill Rd
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Tel:   (852) 2882 6878

Email: mark@precisiongolf.hk

Website: www.precisiongolf.hk

Giving lessons a Digital Life
Instantly receive YOUR V1 lessons to your computers, Smartphones (iPhones, Blackberry and others) and Facebook™ pages where you can easily share your videos.
A click on a link in your SMS gives you access to your V1 Mobile Lesson where you can view and hear the complete video lesson right on your phone. You can then forward the sms to friends and family and share in your lesson progress should you wish.

Personal Online Lockers & Automated Emails
The first-time a lesson is sent to you a personalized online locker is instantly created. Every time a lesson is transmitted; a customized automated email is delivered notifying you when your V1 lesson  is available for your viewing. A link back to Mark Smith Golf  will be provided, along with your username and password so you can easily access and view your lesson anytime you want.

 Most people believe that club fitting is for those low handicap players and professionals and hope that one day that they will be good enough for club fitting. Let me tell you once and for all that club fitting is for everybody regardless of age, gender or ability. Everyone can benefit from customizing their equipment. Whether it is as simple as customizing your grip size or setting the loft angle and shaft profile of your driver club to maximize your driving distance, club fitting has distinct advantages over buying clubs off the rack. Think of buying golf clubs off the rack as walking into a shoe shop and buying a pair of men’s or lady’s shoes. Let’s take an average and expect everybody to wear this size of shoe. For some it will fit and for most it will not. Let’s say the average is size 8 but your shoe size is a 5 then you can be assured that you will not enjoy walking let alone running in that shoe and expect blisters sore feet with muscle aches and pains. As much I hate to think about – this is how most people play golf when they play off the shelf equipment.

 Your golf swing will inevitably change over time. Typically as your swing improves you should expect greater clubhead speed which will affect the deflection of the club shaft and the way the golf club lands on the ground at ball impact (lie angle). It is important that you see your club fitter periodically to check the way that your clubs are performing and make necessary changes. Typical changes include: increase or decrease in shaft flex and weight, swing weight and total weight, club lie and loft angle.

Data
The following data is compiled by the launch monitor after each shot.
-         Clubhead speed
-         Ball speed
-         Dynamic loft (loft of the clubhead at ball contact)
-         Launch angle (the angle the ball is launched when leaving the clubface)
-         Club head path
-         Clubface angle
-         Angle of attack of the clubhead
-         Rate of ball back spin and side spin
-         Displacement of the ball during and after flight
-         Carry and total distance
-         Efficiency or smash factor

How date is used to enhance the fitting process
The data from the launch monitor is particularly useful in fitting the driver club. Launch monitor is also useful in plotting incremental difference in shot distance between each club thus making it easier to work out the set make-up.
Traditionally it was believed that a ball that launched low and climbed higher during flight maximized shot distance when playing the driver. This method relied heavily on the ball roll after landing. Driver heads where designed with grooves consistent with iron club heads and were offered in lofts as low as 6 degrees. The problem here is that the main function of grooves is to encourage backspin. With the emergence of the launch monitor manufacturers and club fitters realized that a ball that spins too much creates too much drag against air resistance and hence the modern trend of offering drivers with higher loft and little or even no grooves began. Drivers with as much as 19 degrees are now available in the market.
The key to maximizing driver distance is to maximize carry distance. This is achieved by matching the ball launch angle and the backspin rate to the clubhead speed at impact. Simply the higher the clubhead speed the lower the launch and spin requirement. The lower the clubhead speed the higher the launch and backspin requirement. For example:
Clubhead speed of 100 mph requires a launch of 15 degrees and a backspin rate of 2400 rpm
Clubhead speed of 70 mph requires a launch of 21 degrees and a backspin rate of 3000 rpm

The optimum launch is achieved by matching clubhead characteristics such as loft weight and head design with shaft characteristics such as flex, deflection point and weight together with club length, total weight and swing weight (balance between the head and handle end of the golf club), together with your swing.
The angle of attack (or approach) of the clubhead to the ball is also a critical factor in maximizing distance off the tee. The angle of attack greatly influences the amount of backspin that is imparted on the ball at impact. It has been stated that the average attack angle on the USPGA tour is around 5 degrees and on the LPGA is around 8 degrees.

Testing shafts with varying shaft profiles during the fitting process aids the process of optimizing ball spin. Shaft manufacturers offer shafts with either low mid or high launch properties as well as high mid or low spin influences in many shaft weights. Typically slower swingers will be most suited to lighter, softer shafts with a high launch influence (low kick point) and faster swingers will be suited towards heavier, stiffer shafts with low launch influence (high kick point) however there are always exceptions.

History
The first launch monitor is believed to have been developed by Acushnet the parent company of Titleist Golf some back in the 1970’s. It featured a large mainframe computer with a camera that captured the ball and club at impact, and the ball about 12 to 18 inches into flight.
“Way ahead of its time,” Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein said.
As with other advances in equipment, launch monitors are now portable, smaller and more efficient.

Types of launch monitors
There are currently two types of launch monitors in the market. One technology is using radar technology to track the ball its entire journey and the other uses high speed digital imagery of the ball and calculates the shot characteristics based on images immediately following impact. Both have their advantages however the radar systems do require more space in setting up. Perhaps the greatest thing about the expensive radar technology is that it confirms that the cheaper image based systems are in fact very accurate at calculating and simulating the actual ball flight and are a fraction of the price.
 
The Launch Monitor on Tour
 “There’s a lot of reasons the ball is going farther, and one of them is the launch monitor,” Jeff Sluman (PGA Tour professional) said. “You can really dial in the exact ball flight and get the right shaft and the right club, and that combination will maximize your potential off the tee.”
Brenden Pappas used a launch monitor for the first time two years ago while on the Nationwide Tour. He found the equipment for optimal launch angle and spin, and now tests himself every four or five months just to make sure his driver is reacting the way it should.  Pappas is tied with Tiger Woods at 10th in driving distance on the PGA Tour. “I’ve changed drivers to get extra spin on the ball,” he said. “If you don’t embrace technology, you fall behind. I use everything at my disposal. You’d be crazy not to.”

The launch monitor is not singularly responsible for players hitting the ball farther. It’s simply the catalyst for players being matched up with the best equipment — clubs, shafts, balls — for their game. “It shows players what it will take to play power golf,” said Bill Morgan, executive vice president of research and development at Titleist. “The information shows players how to make changes that give them increments of distance. For some, it was big. For others, it was not so big.”

Phil Mickelson showed at the start of his season in Phoenix how much he was putting that information to use. “The spin rate has been knocked down. The launch angle has been sent up. The ball is just taking on a whole different orbit,” he said in Phoenix. “From last year, I’ve got a 2-degree higher launch angle, 8 mph faster ball speed and about a 15- to 20-yard overall distance difference.”

Charles Howell III was still in junior high when he first went to the Callaway Golf’s test center and worked with a launch monitor. He came away with a lesson in engineering. “I learned that it was a lot of numbers involved in driving,” he said. “I had tried a bunch of different drivers. At that age, you’re just trying to hit the ball far, and you don’t understand why one driver goes farther than another. Now, you have numbers to put to it. I was lucky enough to have that when I was 13 years old.”

Dick Rugge, senior technical adviser for the U.S. Golf Association, believes the launch monitor simply speeds up the process of finding the right equipment. “It’s a catalyst,” he said. “It doesn’t create more distance, but it makes getting there quicker. Through trial and error, somebody could keep trying different clubs, balls and swings, and sooner or later they would get there. But the launch monitor makes it happen much quicker.”

Parents often buy clubs thinking that their son or daughter will grow into them just like buying clothes however, with golf, growing into your clubs is a very painful and unrewarding experience. Trust me – I’ve been through it.

It bothers me that many parents spend great time and money on their kid’s golf development like paying for instruction and taking out the course and often overlook the importance of their equipment.

What also bothers me is that many instructors do not understand the function of the golf club in playing the ball and the importance that the equipment plays in their student’s development.

Here are the factors you must consider for your child’s equipment.
- Are all clubs including the putter the correct length?
- Do the iron, utility and fairway metal clubs land flat on the ground at ball impact (= correct lie angle)?
- Does the shaft flex (amount of bend) match the strength and swing speed of your child?
- Are the clubs of optimum total weight and swing weight (balance between the head end and handle end of the shaft)?
- Do the grips of the clubs fit your child’s hand size and strength?
- Is there appropriate loft angle on each club to maximize control of shot distance?

Benefits:- Establishing the correct length and lie angle promoted good posture and balance in the swing resulting in increased athleticism and power.
- Having the clubs landing flat on the ground at impact ensure centre face or sweet spot contact resulting in increasing the distance that the ball can travel.
- Correct lie angle also increases control of shot direction. Simply think about what happens when you play the ball from a side hill lie. The ball flies of the right if the ball is below your feet and to the left if the ball is above your feet. Or think of what happens when an airplane turns on its side – the plane goes in a circle. This is exactly what happens to the ball if it is struck with a clubhead that is not landing with its sole flat on the ground at ball impact.

Remember that as your child grows his or her equipment must be adjusted for lie, length, grip size and shafts flex. This does not always mean new clubs. Clubheads made of stainless steel are adjustable for lie angle by 2 degree toe up or toe down and clubhead made of forged mild steel or soft cast stainless steel can be adjusted 6 degrees in either direction. Shafts can be extended by up to 2 inches without affecting the playability of the clubs too much although the head weight often becomes too heavy if lengthened too much as well as the shaft flex becoming softer.

In summary – if you are serious about your child’s development in golf strongly consider the importance of customized equipment. Constantly monitor their equipment with quarterly visits to your preferred club technician. A fifteen minute evaluation can make the world of difference to the development and confidence of your child.

Should you have any question please post below or contact me personally by phone or email.

Thank you for your attention and good golfing.

Mark Smith
Australian PGA
Hong Kong PGA
Nakashima Certified Master Club Fitter

Tel. 97750347
Email: mark@marksmithgolf.com