The Golf Swing with Adam Kolloff - Episode 20

In this week's episode, I'm joined by my friend and golf swing coach, Adam Kolloff. Adam is an award-winning golf coach that has an amazing blend of coaching styles that combine his experience with video analysis and Trackman data.

We have a great conversation about the golf swing, including a discussion about common faults and physical limitations. But, there are so many valuable lessons packed into this episode including conversations about coaching, skill acquisition, and collaboration between professions.

Full show notes: https://mikereinold.com/the-golf-swing-with-adam-kolloff

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Transcript

0:34

On this episode of the sports physical therapy podcast, I'm joined by Adam Cole off. Adam is the owner and director of instruction at pure drive golf, just outside Boston. He's won multiple awards for his coaching, including the Massachusetts PGA teacher of the year, new England PGA teacher of the year and golf digest, best young teacher of the year awards. We have a great talk about the golf swing for those that love golf or work with a lot of golfers, but there's so many valuable lessons that we also cover, including skill acquisition, coaching and collaborations between professions. This is a fun episode to record. I hope you Welcome to the sports physical therapy podcast. I'm your host, Mike Reinold from Mike reinold.com. Um,

Mike: 1:18

Hey Adam. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for joining me today.

Adam: 1:22

Absolutely. Mike, always a pleasure talking with you. Um, excited to be here.

Mike: 1:27

Yeah, this is, um, this is something I've always dreamed of with this podcast was that we do more than just talk to people within our profession, but we also learn from people. Outside of our profession a little bit. So I'm really excited for this episode, getting a, a skill coach, somebody that actually works on improving a physical skill, somebody, a sport skill. So, you know, with you specifically for golf, but I think there's so much that we can learn from you, right? So we're gonna have a great conversation. Talk about golf just because that's fun anyway. And if you like golf, this will be a fun podcast. But I think even just understanding the perspectives of a skill coach, maybe we talk at the end about like how we can collaborate better and stuff like that. But. Um, I, I just, I'm excited for this episode. So again, thanks. Thanks for taking the time out.

Adam: 2:12

Nope, no problem at all. I think it's really cool to talk with, uh, fitness professionals. Physical therapists, uh, guys like you that know a lot about the body and because I'm dealing with a golfer, uh, their body, their physical capabilities limitations. And it took me a while as an instructor, but once I understood how important they are in the golf swing, I'd say it really helped, uh, open my eyes up. To how I should teach how I should help people. Um, you know, for a while I used to think people just were not able to do things in the golf swing because maybe it was my lack of skill as a teacher. Maybe I just wasn't communicating things correctly, but the physical body has such a big influence on the swimming. So it's gonna be fun talking a little bit about that and how, you know, what are some, what are some things I do when I, when I teach to go about.

Mike: 3:10

I've been, I've been super impressed, you know, going through this journey of becoming a better golfer myself, I've been super impressed with like the rabbit holes and the things that you can go down and how things add up somewhere within the like kinematic sequence, right? Our, our chain of events, you know, I could be focused on one specific thing within. My, my skill of golfing. Right. But it's, it's happening from five things earlier in the kinetic chain. And if you, if you don't have the right coach like yourself, that can identify that. You're just gonna go down the, the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and that's, that's never as fun. So, um, I should probably tell everybody, cuz I, I'm not gonna put this in the intro, but. Adam. And I started working together because I'm a student of his right. And I think that's an important thing, you know, to keep in mind here too. Like, I, I think it's important that we all work with coaches to, to develop your skill, but we started working together and I think just the relationship of bouncing back and forth and talking about how the body and the swing relate, I think was just something that we, we really enjoy doing. So Adam's an excellent coach. He sees that. So he sees the body, he sees the slowmo analysis. He sees the data, the output of the ball, the external factors of like what happens with spin rate and launch angle, stuff like that. But it's, it's the, the true master coach that can put that together. So anyway, that's Adam. So anyway, I apologize. I feel like this isn't a commercial for Adam, but Adam's the best, right? So, you know, I mean, it's, it's hard to win. I mean, you're, you you've won all the awards. You're Massachusetts player, um, coach of the year, new England coach of the year golf. I just, you know, top young. Coach of the year, right? I mean, what's, what's next? You just gotta win the world. Best coach, like,

Adam: 4:47

Well, those, those are all great. Yeah, no, I'm happy. Those, those are all good, obviously. Um, it helps my brand, my business. Those are fun. Um, But, you know, at the, the way I treat it is I'm trying to better myself. As an instructor, I really focus on improving my craft. How can I help people play better golf? Um, I took a niche. Um, I got into technology. Because I was really drawn to technology specifically TrackMan using video because I knew how valuable this feedback was helping golfers. So I think other teachers, other students saw what I was doing. Um, and they learned from things that I was doing and that helped me get all those awards. Um, plus I do a ton on social, social media, Mike, as you know, it's so it's so good. Now it helps, um, brand yourself and I'm sure in the PT world, it's, it's the same. Obviously it's a lot different in many aspects, but I've been all over social media. And from my business, pure drive golf, it's been huge. Um, generating the, um, business following, um, using social.

Mike: 6:03

Right. And, and think about too, how people can learn how you teach, right. So they can learn your teaching style, your lesson style, if they jive. Your methodology and how you do that. Right. So, I mean, there's so many components of why putting what you do out there on social media is important is I, I think it helps the students relate to the teacher quite a bit. So, um, heck I mean, in the last, already five minutes in his pocket and we get so many business tips, right. I think that are amazing, but right. I, I, I think that's, that's an important concept there. The other thing that I, I think is really cool just to, to, to, you know, people to realize when you collaborate with a skill coach like Adam and I do a little bit is, is I feel like I'm a better physical therapist because of the things I've learned from Adam as a skill coach. And I'm sure Adam would say the same thing, right? Like we. It's really hard to innovate within your own field, but by taking information, you learn from a different domain. So for me, the skill coaches that helps me become a better strength coach and physical therapist and stuff like that. So, um, you know, really awesome advice so far, Adam.

Adam: 7:07

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I think there's, there's similarities in many ways, um, to what I do, what you do. I mean, we're trying to get somebody. Better, you know, you're trying to improve somebody's health. I'm trying to help somebody improve their golf game. Obviously those are different, but there's many similarities. Um, you know, I have a team of guys, you have a team of guys, and so we try to use our resources as a team to help somebody improve. Same with you guys. I mean, you got a huge. um, but you guys work together as a team and I think when you have that team, it, it, uh, it's bigger. It's better. You are more, um, you're better as a coach, you, you learn from each other. Um, so I think when I started peer drive, it was just myself. Um, and that was. Difficult cuz I was trying to do everything. I was trying to wear too many hats, but that's what I had to do to start the business. But once I started to hire guys, um, to run different aspects of the business, I remember a conversation with you, Mike, and you were like, you need to hire some more teachers. Um, you can't just be doing this on your own. And I was a little hesitant at the beginning cuz I needed to hire the right people. But once I found the right people and I trained them, the training was so key. Um, it's, it's so much better running the business. I feel like we have a much better product, so yeah.

Mike: 8:34

I think, I think you said that really well. And again, tons of tons of awesome business advice that I think we, we both share. So, uh, you know, pretty cool to, to hear about all that. Uh, let's let's dig into golf though. Right? Let's get in a little bit more here. Because this is, this is the funny part for me. So you've done. I don't even know how many countless thousands of hours of lessons, right. And it's a bunch of people that are trying to play this really silly sport that is impossible to get better at. And all of us are banging our heads against the wall at all. Times, right. Um, what are some of the common things that you see? So if you know a sports physical therapist, that's trying to get into a little bit more golf, let's take it from maybe their perspective a little bit. What are some of the most common swing faults you see in people that are getting lessons with you?

Adam: 9:22

Okay. Yeah, absolutely.

Mike: 9:24

Is that a giant question by the way? Is it just gigantic?

Adam: 9:27

It is gigantic, but what's really cool. Is there are, um, there's a small list of faults that relate to so many other things that you see, uh, in the ball flight, for example. So I'll bring up a couple. One of'em is just the inability to close the club face. Golfers struggle with that. Um, so they try to do so many different things and there are so many different things that can help somebody learn to close the club face. But if you're a ready golfer and you can't close the club face, you're gonna struggle with a slice. So you're gonna constantly learn how to slice and what happens to golfers typically is they, they do something to fix that and they overcompensated. Now it's a hook, but it all originated from that problem of closing the club face. The other big problem, uh, is coming down steep. So we call that coming down, steep, steepen across or outside in that's a swing path problem. Um, and the golfer's typically going to react to that fault and keep the face open to have it curve back to the target. So someone who's steeping across would miss shots to the left. That's called a pull shot for a ready, or they would, if they left the face open, it would be a pull slice. So the start line of the ball flight would be straight or even left before it curves to the right. Um, so those are the two biggest things and there's so many. Um, there's some reasons why those things happen, but if you really just look at the ball flight and impact, you know, what are the common things that the club's doing through impact that, um, that players struggle with? It's they can't close a club face or they come down steep, uh, and across, and then they also, uh, don't close the club face.

Mike: 11:14

Which is, which is great, how they, they both work together. Um, and what I really love about the way you answered it, right there is I think a lot of people would've took the comment approach and just labeled a couple of random, you know, terminologies of things like early extension or stuff like that. What you did was you started with the end in mind. And the only thing that matters in golf is where the ball goes. Right. And I like that. So, and it's not just, well, the number one problem, most amateur golfers face is that you slice, it's not, I, it it's even better than that. You talked about the club face and you talked about the club path, and those are the things that matter, right. Because everything has to come to that summation of what happens to the club face in the club path and how they interact together. And. I think that's where your technology, uh, background a little bit with both video and like TrackMan radar data. Like I think that's what really gives you a unique perspective. So O okay. That's the most common, right? That's the most common things you see? I. Um, there's probably a million things coming here, but if I was gonna see you on day one and let's just say, I slice, so that's everybody in the world. Um, you know, where do you start? Like where do you start with somebody? How far down the kinetic chain or the kinetic sequence? So we have both the bodies, kinetic chain, and then the kinetic sequence of the event of swinging the club. How far down the chain do you start? Like where's, where's your attention go to? How do you make that decision?

Adam: 12:42

Well, you start with the, the ball flight, uh, ball flight, like you and I were talking about, and then you go backwards. So if the ball flight is a pulse slice, okay, that's a pulse slice now what's happening at impact. Okay. I can use TrackMan data to measure, uh, the club at the moment of impact. So it's outside and it's it's open. Then I start to go into the video and then I go backwards from. Okay. So is it the down swinging, or is it the top of back swinging or is it the takeaway or is it the setup? So in reverse, I'm going from, from impact all the way backwards until I get to set position. So if you came to me and you were slicing the ball, I would look at how are you setting up to the ball? Do you have a good grip? That's the biggest thing. If I know you have the inability to close the club phase, the first thing I'm gonna do is look at your grip. So if somebody has a weak grip where their left hand is rotated too much counterclockwise and the same thing with the right hand, and they're slicing, that's an easy fix. I could strengthen their grip and then they're gonna start hitting the ball more straight. Um, sometimes if they have a good grip, maybe it's something in the take. So this is another common fault. Maybe they just start rolling the club face, open in the takeaway. So that's how I would direct my lesson. I would help them work on the takeaway. Maybe it's something further along, maybe it's the top of back swinging and the common fault is cupping the lead risk. So that's extending the lead risk. So there's a bend in the lead rest that opens the club face at the. Um, and then in the down swing, that's, that's usually the result of, of, you know, the takeaway or the top of back swing. So that's how I start the lesson. I always go to that first thing. So it's like a domino effect or a chain reaction. So that's how I explain it to my students. If, if we see a fault in the ball, right, let's look at impact on. And then, okay, we see it on data. Now let's go to the swing. And if we go to the swing, we gotta start with the setup or the takeaway or the top of back swing. Cuz those things usually relate to how they're coming down to the ball. See golfers. They, they are reacting. They're reacting conscious, uh, constantly, whether they're conscious of it or not. They're they know instinctively. They have to hit the ball straight. So if they've played golf, Long enough, they know their instincts are gonna kick in. If their club face is really open, they're gonna try to correct it on the way down. And maybe they don't correct it early enough, or maybe they do. And they maybe overcompensate now it's going left. So you always have to go back to the very beginning, you know, there's these little things in the setup or the takeaway, for example, that, that, where that's, where I would start a lesson, if somebody was struggling with.

Mike: 15:31

That's awesome. And I, I hope if you're listening here too, this is obviously really fun about golf, but I want you to think about this with everything, right? This could be a baseball pitch. This could be a squat, right? This, I, I want you to think about all those concepts that Adam just applied to, how he looks at the, the golf swing. And I want you to think about how you can do that with the sport activity that you work with too. Right? Cause I think that's the important part. Um, but man, there's, there's a million reasons. Right? And if you just pick one of those. Sometimes you're not successful. Right. So how many times do you, you know, you have somebody that's slices, they have a weak grip. You make their grip stronger than what do you do? What? You just start over again and see what happens and then find the next thing along the etic chain. Like, like where do you go to next?

Adam: 16:11

right. So let's say,

Mike: 16:14

It's such a big topic.

Adam: 16:17

this is like the art of teaching, right? This is cool because at this point you're like, okay, what's gonna happen next. You know, I'm gonna strengthen their grip. Maybe it's gonna fix their, their slice. And then the rest of the lesson could be just like simplifying the keys, um, to get in that grip every time. Like what's a routine. Um, and then you may, but let's say it doesn't work. Then you have to address other things, uh, in the swing. And I'm not gonna give up on their grip because I know I don't want them to have a weak grip. I want them to have a, a neutral grip. Okay. Something that's not excessively strong or excessively, uh, excessively weak. I'm gonna keep them in the neutral grip and then I'll start to work on the takeaway with them. So the first part of the back. And make sure they're taking the club back without opening the club face too much in the takeaway. Um, and how I go about that. And if I go about that, that's, it's dependent on what happens to the golfer during a lesson. You know, I'll say, uh, a very common thing when I change somebody's grip. It's like some, it, it could get real messy at the beginning. Cause if you strengthen the grip, it's such a different feel in the hands. And sometimes the golfer will say, I don't even know how I'm gonna hit the ball. And so I might be just coaching them for the less rest of the lesson, you know, telling me it's it's okay. We'll make contact. Let's let's set up a gate that you just gotta swing through. Let's put some tape or, you know, we can on track me and measure the impact. and just small shots just to make sure that they make, and then they'll be surprised that they can hit it pretty well. Um, so some players don't react well with the grip change. Some are just like, okay, that's easy. And then we go on from there. So it's really dependent on how they do at that first step. And that determines where I go from there.

Mike: 18:11

I love it. And that's, that's the concept, you know, we do all the time about assessing and reassessing. And I don't think a lot of young clinicians that, that we're trying to mentor a little bit. I don't think they understand that sometimes is we Don. As an expert, as an expert clinician, we don't have all the answers right away, but we know how to dig in a little bit. Right. And I think that's what you're showing right. There is you with your experience, you have some judgment, so you can say, okay, most people, this is where we start. Let's see how it goes, but then you can pivot based on that because you're assessing and then reassess. Outcome of that adjustment. That's, that's gigantic. And that's a great teaching point right here is that will then lead you down that next road. If you're just following like a cookie cutter blueprint type thing, that's gonna be really hard for you to determine where to go next, because at some point you're gonna be like, oh, that was supposed to work. Why didn't that work?

Adam: 19:05

exactly. Yeah. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta learn what to do. You gotta learn to pivot quickly that comes with experience. Most young teachers, maybe PT guys. They it's hard to pivot. Um, Sometimes, if you have somebody that you've, you know, this type of body type, this type of person, maybe they react differently and you gotta be quick to pivot and you gotta know what are different ways to pivot. So if, if you can't do that, then, well, you gotta learn to do that. you know, and that happens with experience. Otherwise, you know, you're, you're, you know, people are not gonna come to you. They, uh, but so that's just comes with experience. That's what you gotta learn. You gotta learn to.

Mike: 19:46

Right. That's great. That, that's what, that's what makes that's, that's what makes the best teachers is the, the people that develop that ability to do that. So every lesson you have, just like every session we have, it's a learning experience. And it's something that you're gonna add to your, you know, to your, your database in your head. Of knowledge, that's gonna help you in the future. So, um, let let's talk physical limitations a little bit. And, uh, have you ever had somebody where you wanna make these swing changes, but you think it's not possible because of some specific physical limitations that just aren't gonna allow them to be able to make that swing change you want. And then what do you do? And just asking for a friend, by the way, this is just, just we'll we'll say this is this isn't about me specifically, but you know, like, do you ever face somebody. Doesn't have the physical ability to do the swing you want. And what do you do?

Adam: 20:35

Yeah, happens all the time. Um, like I said, I didn't, I didn't go deep into the physical limitations until later on in my teaching career. When I, when I went to TPI the Titleist performance Institute, I'm sure a lot of you guys have heard of that. Um, so I got certified. You're basically learning from a group of physical therapists or people that know a lot about the body and they teach you how the body relates to the swing. They call it the body swing connection. So anyway, that opened my eyes to, uh, physical invitations, how they influence the golf swing. So I'll go back to those two examples, uh, not closing the club face and coming down steep and over the top. So closing the club face. There's there's a perfect student that comes to mind. And I was working with him, uh, probably in the last three or four months. And he checked all the boxes of somebody who should be closing the club face. So his grip was okay. The takeaway was fine. The top of the back swing was fine. In fact, the club face at the top of his back swinging was on the closed side of the spectrum. So on the way down to the. The club face was good, but as he got new impact, it was still open. So I'm, as a teacher, I'm like scratching my head, like what is going on with this guy? He cannot close the club face and we tried some different deals and things, and he still was struggling closing the club face. And I, at that point I was like, do you have any injuries? And, and I should have asked this earlier, but I was like, do you, do you have any injuries or anything? And he said, oh yeah, I got a torn labor in my left shoulder.

Mike: 22:21

Right, right.

Adam: 22:23

for, for a ride golfer, if you can't externally rotate your lead shoulder, that will prevent the form rotation and the closure of the club face. So, and his opinion was, yeah, it doesn't really affect the golf swing. I was like, well, I'm sorry, but it does. And it's gonna make it really difficult for you to close the club face. So that was really good that we discovered. Um, for him, but also for myself, because now I was able to pivot and start to work through that physical limitation. Um, one of the things was strengthen the grip a little bit more, uh, because that really does. And he already had a fairly strong grip, but I told him it's gonna be hard for you to close the club face if we don't get this a little bit stronger. Um, but we had to be careful cuz getting too strong, you can overcom. Um, and then other faults start showing up. Uh, there's another example that that is very common that I see for somebody that comes down steep, uh, in a cross, it hits like a pole or a slice, uh, this type of golfer, typically can't rotate. In the back swing. Um, maybe cuz they're really tight. Um, uh, maybe they, you know, it's their back or it's something in their spine. Um, maybe they have tight hips, whatever it is they, because they can't turn in the back swinging. They don't get the club in their hands far enough behind them. and then what's worse in the down swinging if they can't create any separation between the hips and the chest that the chest starts to rotate really quick. As soon as the hips start to rotate and the club comes down super steep and then they're over the top and then they cut across it. So I had a guy who was doing this. Um, this was a guy I've been working with for a long. Um, and I have, I have a lot of fun working with guys over the long term because I can really see good progress. I love to track that progress and go through in detail, why he might not be you. Doing the swing that I want him to do. So anyway, he was super tight and I had to coach him through this process. He didn't really believe that because he was tight that he was making these swing faults, but I had to really coach him through this and show him how these limitations were leading to these faults. Um, so that's another example. That's very common. I mean, you know, most people, Mike, as you know, they're not very flexible. A small percentage of people are, are flexible. Especially if you're like sitting down right at a desk all day.

Mike: 25:04

right, right. We all wanna

Adam: 25:05

who I work with

Mike: 25:06

like Rory, right. We watch Rory swing in slowmo. But what we realize is we can't swing like Rory. We have no chance of swinging like Rory. So, so why even pay attention to any of Rory's like swing mechanics when we can't physically get into that position.

Adam: 25:20

Exactly.

Mike: 25:22

You know?

Adam: 25:23

yeah. Yeah. You see these guys on tour and you wanna, you wanna, uh, do what they do, but that you, you just can't do it. Your physi physical body cannot do what they, what they can do.

Mike: 25:33

Right.

Adam: 25:33

you shouldn't try to replicate.

Mike: 25:35

You know, the two most, uh, the two most impactful things that I think I picked up for going to the us open this year in person, it was up in Boston. You know, Adam went, I went, you know, the thing I think I, I picked up most was one is these guys aren't gigantic. Sure. There are some professionals that are, don't get me wrong. There's some monsters out there that are huge and strong, but there's a lot of guys that gave me hope. right. Like you look at'em, you're like, oh, that's a very UN UNOP opposing person right here. But what they have. It extreme mobility and to be able to generate that rotational, torque and speed is unreal so that, you know, yes, you have to have some genetic gifts. Don't get me wrong, but anyone can enhance their mobility somewhat. Right. It's it. You may not get it to the point of them, but you can definitely, if you focus on your mobility, you'll see improvements. Um, but it's about being able then to use that new movement to produce torque. And I think that's, that's, that's a big difference. So, you know, that's why Adam and I work well together is, is when he has a student that he identifies a big problem with, like, he can have that conversation. He's like, well, why don't to go see the guys, a champion, let him work with you, do a couple things. Um, but I like what you, you did with those two examples, cuz to me there were two extremes. One was somebody that had a mobility issue that we can work on. I like that let's do some drills. Let's get a TPI assessment. Let's let's get some manual therapy, whatever it may be. But the other one was somebody that theoretically you couldn't. We couldn't just work through that physical limitation. So, so how many times do you think it's that where somebody is you're gonna have to work on the physical limitation to get better? Or how many times is it that, you know, I think you've just maxed out your physical, uh, ability. Let's change your mechanics a little bit to work within your self. How many times do you do that?

Adam: 27:46

I would say if they've had like a surgery, uh, that's usually something for me as a red flag. That means I shouldn't go too crazy. Trying to help them make a big change. I, I should be very cautious on what I'm trying to do. Um, A good example would be somebody had something in their shoulder, um, rotator cuff, or torn labrum. Like I brought up last time, which is, which is common. Um, maybe they, they struggle going into external rotation in the down swing with their trail arm, cuz that is a natural shallowing move that can help somebody fix and over the top or fix that steep down swing. So in that case, What I'll do is I won't focus on that to help them shower the club and hit from the inside. I might get them to work on their body rotation to get their hands deeper. And then maybe on the down swing to create a little more like side bend where the, the right shoulder comes down a little bit lower. In order to shallow. So even if the right shoulder's not in the right spot, maybe cuz of an injury, I can work on some other things to help them. But again, I gotta be careful because those other things might bring another ball. So that's golf is so it's crazy how golf the golf swing. How these little things can create other issues. So as a teacher, you just gotta learn to keep them, um, within this kind of safe zone where, you know, you're not going into two extremes. Um, So, but then there's guys that can do the things you want them to do. If they improve mobility, there's a guy that I have taught for over a year and he goes to see you guys at champion. Um, and I know because of the work he's done with you guys, it's really fast tracked his process, uh, his, his improvement, the changes he'd made. So he's never had an injury. But he's worked with you guys on his mobility, his strength, um, all those things. And so when I work with him, he'll come back for his next lesson. I'm like, wow. Yeah, you're doing really good. You're making some changes. So I know because he did that. It's like fast tracking that improvement process. So it's, that's what I tell my students, if you, if they're like, oh, if I want to get to the next level, what do I do? I'm like, all right, well, let's look at your swing. Let's see what you're doing. Um, and. Maybe it's something in the body maybe I'll recommend, you know, they go see somebody. If I really think that it's a mobility problem. Um, but if it's an injury, like a surgery, I mean, what do you think Mike, like, that's I can't really go, you know, I have to be very careful when I'm teaching them.

Mike: 30:38

Right. And remember why they're coming to see you too, right? They're they're trying to get you to maximize them. I, I don't think anybody goes to see a coach to make me swing like tiger woods. Right. I think it's more of, I just care about where the ball goes. Right. So, you know, I, I think that's, that's the important component of that. And I think sometimes, you know, skill coaches may not think of it that way. Maybe they're trying to get everybody to be the one perfect swing where that's not realistic. I mean, everybody on the PGA tour doesn't even have the same swing. So how, how on earth can everybody amateur have the same swing? It doesn't make sense. Right. So I, I, I think that's, that's a good way of, uh, of thinking it. Um, I, I, I I've always wondered this, how come sometimes. We see this a lot with amateurs at, at every different skill level, I believe, but why does some days, why can you shoot in the seventies, like three rounds in a row? And then all of a sudden, boom drop like an 86 and. I know there's a hundred reasons why that, but let's, let's talk specifically about the swing mechanics and their, their pH their physical limitations. That way. Let's, let's not, let's avoid the fact that somebody distracted them, the yank went outta bounds and they got a stroke, but like, it's, it's, it's more about like, what is it about the swing in your physical components in your mind that you think may impact our ability to repeat ourselves day in and day out?

Adam: 31:58

yeah. Okay. Good question. I get this question all the time. and, um, Players want consistency. Right? So they come to me and they say, why do I shoot 81 day or 78, 1 day? And then I shoot 96 the next day.

Mike: 32:15

That's dramatic by the way. That's a big one,

Adam: 32:17

I, this is something that's realistic, but this, this happens quite a bit. You play a lot of golf. So you're able to like, bring that range in a little bit, but people that don't play a lot of golf, it's a really big range. So golfers need to understand it's very easy to shank one in the woods, all of a sudden

Mike: 32:39

right. And that, that could be three, four strokes right there. Yeah,

Adam: 32:41

exactly right. And. Okay. Well it's because the SHA, the puzzle of the club is not far away from that sweet spot. So, all right. What's a physical limitation. It could be standing up, uh, early extending in the swing because maybe they don't have that separation, or maybe they just, they can't stay in the posture. They can't stay in that forward bend as they're, as they're turning. So at the late in the round, they just, you know, are tight, their lower bodies, not moving the way it should. And they extend a little bit, the hands move, like an inch or two outward and hips go to the, and then there you go. You just shanked one in the woods and maybe it's not, maybe it's in, in the hazard or it's out of bounds. And so that's at least two strokes on the game, on the score, um, or. You're you're teeing it up with a driver. Okay. And you gotta carry it 200 yards to get to the fairway. And let's say on the t-shirt you stand up a little bit and then you top it and the ball goes 15 yards, but there's deep, rough. And the ball doesn't go. I mean, it just goes 15 yard yards. It stops. So now you gotta hit out a heavy. And you gotta get to the green and there's another two strokes.

Mike: 33:58

Right.

Adam: 33:59

So now you just added four strokes just because of two mistakes that were related to early extension. Um, and, and now there's, obviously you got a couple more, three putts you throw in there. Uh, maybe, you know, you get in the bunker, it's a plugged line, the bunker, and then so quickly there. You're gonna be shooting, you know, way out of that range. And then all of a sudden you're, you're pissed off. You're angry.

Mike: 34:26

Right. I was gonna add that.

Adam: 34:28

mental part gets in. Yeah. And then you're you're toast. So it's very easy in golf. So I just don't think people understand or appreciate how these, uh, physical limitation, for example, can, can start that whole domino effect of problems and your, your score just starts going up.

Mike: 34:47

I, I know this is crazy, but from personal experience, I can say the more I play, sometimes the worse I get. And it's not because it it's when you play like too many in a row. So like you enter like a tournament or something like that, or you're in a, uh, you know, you're in a, you know, memory, gas type thing. You're playing for a weekend, several rounds in a row, by the end, I'm getting toast. My legs are tired. My hips are super tight. Right. I feel that. And I'm like, Physically can't swing the way I wanna swing right now. So, you know, easy for me to say, right, as the physical therapist, but man, if you're running late to the course and you only get 10 minutes to get loose, I mean go under the range and just pounding balls with your physical limitation. Isn't as good as going through just a few mobility drills and, and you'll, you'll shoot better that day. Almost every time, you know, we always say, you know, the more you do, you get tight and you get tired. We say that with baseball, we say that with golf, you get tight and you can get tired from, from playing. So it's about making sure that you can mitigate those two things, because I think that's, that's the part that a lot of people don't understand. It's like, why am I so inconsistent? Well, maybe it's because your body's inconsistent today. This isn't your normal thoracic spine rotation or your hip mobility. Right. So. You know, good, good way of, of putting it all together. So, um, alright. Let's switch gears just slightly here, cuz we're talking about skill acquisition, but I think there's one thing that you're really good at that you do a lot in your world that my audience could really benefit from, but you change people's swing. Right. That's, that's a challenge, right? What are some of the tactics you use? Because we deal with this all the time with people where we're trying to change their knee position or their full position, or the way they jump or something like that. Like, how do you, what are some of the, the tips and tricks that you have for skill acquisition? Like, you know, their strategies, like, like H how do you vent people from. From getting into plateaus or falling back into bad habits, like what sort of like cues or external focus or, or what kind of things do you use as a swing coach that is trying to get somebody to improve on the swing? Assuming that they can, right. Is it purely, just repetitions? Is it, is it, you know, ha getting feedback through a mirror? Is it like, what is it? There's a million things you do, but what have been the most successful things that you've.

Adam: 36:56

so great question. And the way I would answer this, there's a lot of things I could talk about with, with regard to this first, the student really has to understand what they need to do. So I be at the end of every lesson, I need to make sure they understand exactly what their fault was. um, what's the correction they need to make. Um, and then I'll go into, what are the specific drills that you're going to do, um, in order to improve this fall and I'll break it down even further, you're gonna be doing a drill and you're gonna practice this for 15 minutes and then you're gonna do B drill and you're gonna practice this for 15 minutes and then maybe C. So I get very structured in how they will practice. I don't wanna just say, yeah, go work on this position at the top of your swing and, and just practice three times a week. I gotta say, this is the drill you're gonna do. And you're gonna start out with this drill before you move to this drill before you move to this drill. Um, if they come to practice at my facility, I think that's great because I have feedback at my facility, cuz that's also. What's important to this. If they don't have feedback, how do they know if they're doing this correctly? You know, for example, if the takeaway is not right, or let's say in the top of the back swing, their wrist is cut, right. They need to have feedback, whether they're flattening their wrist. So if they're at the driving range and I'm having them do drills, They are practicing, um, not getting into that flat risk, then the, the progress is not there. So I always recommend for them to come to my facility because we have video feedback, for example. So after every shot, I could say to them, look at the video, make sure you're actually getting your wrist flat. If it's not, here's what you need to think about. And just keep exaggerating that until maybe slow down the swing. Also shorten the swing until you can get that position in the wrist. Um, so feedback is crucial. I always rec I also recommend training aids. Um, I have a bunch that I use during lessons. And so I'll recommend them if somebody goes to the driving range, if they're not practicing at my facility, so they get feedback. If they're doing the change correctly, uh, so important. So I just stress that and I, and I stress that. And then I'll bring in the, you said external, I will talk about what's the external results that they should start to. And for example, if somebody's slicing, I might have them work on a position, maybe with a drill or a trainee, whatever, and then I'll remind them if you start seeing it go left. If you start hooking the ball, that's actually a good sign. I want you to start hitting shots to the left. So if that's something you see, great, that's the first step, but then eventually we're going to maybe remove the training aid or switch up the focus in some. And then we'll find that middle where you start hitting at to the target. Um, so there's so many different layers to that, but that's, I, I really wanna make sure they understand they have drills, they got feedback. Um, and I, I just want them to understand fully the, the whole process, how, how they're gonna, and then when they come. Then I just reassess make, you know, are they actually doing these things? Um, if they are great, we'll, we'll just take the next step in the lesson or if they struggle, uh, fine. Okay. We'll talk about a new type of, uh, practice session, a new we'll structure it in a different way. Get them maybe using a new training aid or, or different drills, whatever it is. Um, like, you know, it all depends on the student, how they come back. What's the feedback they're provid. On how they've been practicing. And then we pivot, we pivot if I need to.

Mike: 41:03

That's awesome. Right? And there's so many parallels to our professions in how you get your patients to do the exercise that you wanna do, how you improve running mechanics or jumping mechanics, or even knee position during an exercise, that type of thing. There's so many parallels to all those things you said right there. Um, I, I cannot. Stress this enough, I've grown so much as a clinician, as I've gone through this journey of improving my own golf swing, not just because of helping with my golf swing, but understanding how to make progress at things, especially that are related to your physical body and, and, and skill and, and that sort of thing. It's, it's been such an amazing journey for me. Um, I know that was like a super complicated question. Uh, I shouldn't say question, um, episode, right? If you think about all the things like Adam said, but you know what, I understood everything you. Right. And you know why it's, because I've dedicated myself to this journey and he's taught me all these things as my skill coach, right. As the guy that's working with my, my swing, I understand those things he says. So if you're trying to get somebody back to sports, if you're trying to get somebody to get back to where they wanna be and. In any specific sport. I think it's super important that you work with skill coaches and collaborate with them. So that way you're, you're helping that athlete get back to their, their peak performance together. As a team, you can see right here, how well Adam and I are jiving, right? Because we understand the terminology. He's taught me a bunch of stuff. I've taught him a bunch of stuff. This is the way to collabo. Right. So, uh, this was an awesome episode, Adam. I appreciate this. We could talk for hours. We haven't even talked about my swing, which, which, you know,

Adam: 42:36

That's another hour, right? A whole nother episode.

Mike: 42:39

I was thinking 45 minutes, which jeez, you think it's an hour, but uh, we could talk about Lenny swing for two hours though. Maybe. Right.

Adam: 42:46

Oh, that's another good one. Everyone that works for you. We, well, that's an episode in itself.

Mike: 42:51

We, we, we have a good working relationship with pure drive. We, uh, you know, we're all there. Uh, but no, I really appreciate it. Um, Adam, I, I love to end with five quick questions, five quick answers. Um, one thing that I like doing is just showing your growth mindset so like that. So people can learn from you, but let's hit the first one. Uh, what are you currently reading or working on? What are you doing for your own professional development for you right now? What are you working to get better at?

Adam: 43:16

I'd say time management. Uh, that's been always a struggle of mine. I try to do so many things at once. So. Focusing on one thing at a time and allocating time for that one thing is something that I'm trying to get better at. Um, it's helped me in my business life also with kids, uh, especially with kids. I, I sometimes get distracted with the family, cuz I'm trying to think about all these things in my head about the bit, but if I can dedicate time during the. For example, put aside an hour. Um, I'm gonna specifically work on this part of my business. And then after that hour, I, I stop, I move on to something else. So time management, that's, that's something I'm trying to really work on.

Mike: 44:03

I love it. That's that's, that's a, a fun one for me too. I agree. But, um, what's one thing that you've recently changed or revolved your thoughts on. to, to golf, we'll say because you know, your political opinions and stuff. No, I'm just kidding. but, but you know what I mean? Like professionally, what's one thing that even as somebody in your, you know, award-winning status thousands of hours, you're still growing. What's one thing you've changed your mind on

Adam: 44:32

I would say, yeah, there's so many things like with the PJ tour. Um,

Mike: 44:37

I know, right?

Adam: 44:37

if, if we well, if, if we keep it, uh, specific to golf, golf training, um, I really think the mental side is, um, even more important, uh, at the higher level. I really think that swing technique, um, will only get you so far. Um, I think guys who are on tour are maybe almost on tour, they have very similar technique. Um, I, I really don't believe that it's technique, uh, that will get them to the next level. Obviously, there are some cases where it is, but at that level, I mean, it's all the other things. It's the mental side. It's maybe it's getting in the gym, working on the body. Um, I just think technique can only get you so far. And so as a technique coach, you know, maybe, you know, I shouldn't be saying this, but I I've just learned that, um, you get to a point and you gotta start focusing on other things, you know, I, I, you, you you've gotten far enough with your technique, just. Don't don't try to keep working on things in your technique. Go explore other parts of the, of the game,

Mike: 45:52

There's a diminishing return. Like at some point it's you're, you're, you're putting too much time on technique. When you, you could be working on calibrating, your we shots and stuff. Uh, I like that. I like that. That's good stuff. Uh, what, what's your favorite advice that you give new golf teaching pros, um, that you're working with maybe, maybe a new hire at your place or somebody that you're mentoring. What's your number one piece of.

Adam: 46:17

I would say, become an expert on one part of the swing, the game, um, and really explore that and try to put that knowledge out there. For example, if it's putting or if it's chipping, if it's driver, whatever it is really explore that. Start to put out some content, start to share your knowledge. I know that's actually a very quick way to build up the follow. Um, because maybe you, when you are known as an expert in a certain area, uh, people are gonna seek out your knowledge cuz maybe they, they believe that, that you have more than, than what others have. And, and maybe you do, maybe you have some really good insights on how to improve a speci, uh, specific part of the game. So that's what I, that's a, I always recommend that obviously. Work on all the aspects of, of, you know, improve your knowledge in all parts of the game, but really being specific, uh, and, and trying to be an expert on one part of the game is I, I think a really, uh, important thing to do that will help you.

Mike: 47:25

I like that. Yeah. Focus on a niche is, is something we always recommend too. That's a good one. Um, what, what's coming up next for you, Adam. What's coming next next for you maybe or pure drive. What's what's down the road for you guys.

Adam: 47:38

Uh, expanding pure drive golf. Uh, we're at a good point where, uh, we, I have a bunch of teachers working for me. I have a great staff, uh, business going well. Uh, I'm I'm working on a project right now. I'm expanding. Um, I got some cool ideas, uh, a new concept of, of incorporating all aspects of the game. So for example, we just have, we have some simulators, we have a studio, I wanna make a, um, something bigger and better where we're working on all aspects of the short game. Um, so currently working on that project right now, hopefully it, it goes through and, and, uh, that'll be a lot of.

Mike: 48:18

Yeah, I, I, I'm looking forward to that for sure, but um, you're um, you're the man on Instagram. I know that, but where else can we learn more about you, um, online, your website stuff like where's the best place to find out more about you and pure drive?

Adam: 48:32

Pure drive golf.com is our website. You can find us on Instagram, pure drive golf. Uh, you can find me on Instagram, a Kohl off, uh, a K O L L O F F. I put out a ton of content. Um, we're on TikTok now. Pure drive golf's on TikTok. Yeah.

Mike: 48:53

let's go. So cool.

Adam: 48:56

Yeah, talk's uh, an interesting platform, but we've generated a good following. Um, it's been fun. Um, but yeah, those, those are where you can find us.

Mike: 49:06

Nice. That's great. And you know, he's got tons of, uh, educational content out there. The part that drives me crazy about your Instagram is sometimes I feel like you're looking right through Instagram, into my soul and giving me like a personalized lesson, because I've inspired you, but, uh, But no, it, it, I mean, you got tons of great, uh, content there's you have online courses. Uh, there's a nice, uh, speed development program that you co-authored with Mike Scudo from champion one of our PTs. So, uh, there's lots of things you can do to learn from him and, and do some of his online programs. It's not just in person. So please check out Adam. Um, and if you know, you're a sports PT or a performance coach, that's, that's trying to get more involved. The more you can collaborate and work with skill coaches like this. I think you can see the benefit just from this conversation that Adam and I had. So, uh, thanks so much, Adam, be sure to check out Adam and pure drive golf. And, uh, we really appreciate you taking the time out again today.

Adam: 49:59

Absolutely Mike pleasure to be on the show. Thanks very much.