It offers the complete yet tailored SNAG solution in three different levels (1 to 3 stars). Innovative systems, short courses with exercise areas, playable with SNAG, Super SNAG, SNAG Futbol providing modern concepts that are perfectly suited to the present day.

CliCk Here to Find Out More About the SNAG Activity Center

For More Information on SNAG Golf Visit www.SNAG.golf

Three-time major winner Harrington enters the Olympic fray

Padraig Harrington of Ireland, a three-time major champion, is on the Road to Rio after a number of golfers declared themselves unavailable to take part in the Olympic golf competition in August.

Ireland’s Harrington, an active campaigner for golf’s re-introduction into the Olympic movement, was in Copenhagen in 2009 when the IOC voted in favour of the sport’s return in 2016.  The three-time major winner enters the new Olympic Golf Rankings in 42nd place and is thrilled to have this opportunity to play in Rio de Janeiro.

Harrington and Seamus Power (52nd) are in line to represent Ireland after Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry all opted out.

World No.1, Jason Day, also decided not to participate and his place is taken by Marcus Fraser, who enters the Rankngs at No.30 and as result Jordan Spieth of the USA takes over at the top of the Olympic Rankings. Branden Grace of South Africa is replaced by Brandon Stone, who enters at No.32.

Quote…Unquote

“Ever since golf was first mentioned as a possible Olympic sport, and my involvement in golf’s presentation to the IOC in 2009, it’s been a primary goal of mine to qualify for the Irish Olympic Team for Rio 2016. Therefore, I am very excited by the prospect of playing and representing my country in the Olympic Games, should I qualify and gain selection in two week’s time. I will work very hard over the next few weeks to achieve this selection as it would be a huge honour for me to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games, having played an active role in golf’s bid to be re-included in the Olympic Games programme.” Padraig Harrington.

Perfect ten for Stenson

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson takes over as the leading European on the Olympic Golf Rankings after claiming his tenth European Tour title at the BMW International Open in Cologne, Germany. Stenson moves up three places to No.4 behind Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson. Stenson took the title with a 17 under par total of 271.

A tie for second with Darren Fichardt boosted Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen’s Olympic prospects. He climbs nine places to No.23 while Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who tied for fifth, is another big mover from 22nd to 19th.

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“This gives a nice confidence boost going into the summer with a lot of big tournaments coming up, so hopefully this will give me a push in the right direction. Whenever you play well you move up on the rankings and I’m looking forward to the Ryder Cup and the Olympics and the majors we’ve got left, so it’s all good.” Henrik Stenson.

“I may only have this opportunity (the Olympics) once in my lifetime. I am almost at the end of my career, so if I was nominated I would definitely go.” Alex Cejka of Germany.

First win for hometown boy Hurley

Billy Hurley III landed his first PGA Tour title when he finished three strokes ahead of veteran Vijay Singh of Fiji in the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club, not far from the champion’s home town of Annopolis, Maryland.

The highest placed finisher among the Olympic hopefuls was Italian Francesco Molinari, who was tied eighth to moves up two places to 31st in the Rankings.

Quote…Unquote

“I think the Olympics are the essence of sport. My favourite memory is Stefano Baldini winning the marathon gold for Italy in the Athens Olympics. Now I am looking forward to sharing the experience with the athletes from different disciplines and seeing what the environment is like. If I wasn’t involved in the golf I would like to take part in the 100m because it’s the highlight of every Olympic Games.” Francesco Molinari.

THE WOMEN

Ko consolidates her No.1 status as Pace withdraws

Lydia Ko of New Zealand protected her status as No.1 on the Olympic Golf Rankings by recording her third victory of 2016 in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G in Rogers, Arkansas.

Ko, also the official World No.1, finished the three round event with a 17 under par total of 196. Morgan Pressel of the USA and Taiwan’s Candie Kung tied for second place, elevating Kung two places in the Rankings to 17th. Germany’s Sandra Gal finished in a share of fourth and she also climbs two places to 24th.

However, South Africa’s Lee-Anne Place withdrew from the women’s Rankings and her place, at No.40, is taken by fellow countrywoman, Ashleigh Simon.

Quote…Unquote

“Just to be able to compete in the Olympics and play for your country in front of an international stage, I think that will be a dream come true for all the athletes to say, ‘Hey, I’m an Olympian’. If you end up getting a medal that’s great, but to say I’m an Olympian, I think that’s a pretty proud thing to say.” Lydia Ko.

View Women’s Olympic Rankings

View Men’s Olympic Rankings

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For up-to-the-minute information on #OlympicGolf and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter (@OlympicGolf), Facebook.

Image courtesy of Ladies European Tour/Tristan Jones & Action Images

Q: What is the similarity between someone winning a fortune in the lottery draw (lotto) and an elite amateur golfer turning professional?

A: Their sudden change of status means both undergo the process of ‘transition’ and managing that process well is easier said than done.

The challenge of  successfully ‘transitioning’ is highlighted by the fact that up to 70% of all major lottery winners worldwide end up bankrupt within a few years of their big win and less than 1% of elite amateurs make the ‘grade’ in big-time professional golf.

For my Sports Coaching MSc dissertation I was lucky enough to interview nine former elite male amateur golfers about their experiences following their transition to professional golf. My presentation at the first A.S.K workshop in Hungary will cover some of the findings of my research and possibly challenge those present to see the process of ‘elite players turning professional’ through new eyes.

‘Barriers and coping resources’ is an expression coined by Dr Natalia Stambulova, one of the world leaders in understanding why some athletes make the grade while most do not. It refers to Dr.  Stambulova’s ‘formula for success’ for elite athletes.

During my presentation I will draw on some of her research work as well as that Dr. Nancy Schlossberg; a leading authority of ‘life transitions’.

Suggested pre-reading for ASK delegates:

Stambulova, N., Alfermann, D., Statler, T., & CôTé, J. E. A. N. (2009). ISSP position stand: Career development and transitions of athletes. International journal of sport and exercise psychology, 7(4), 395-412.

Henriksen, K., Stambulova, N., & Roessler, K. K. (2010). Successful talent development in track and field: considering the role of environment. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20(s2), 122-132.

For more information and to register visit http://eur.pe/ASKWorkshops-Hungary

For more information about the 2016 A.S.K. Workshops visit http://eur.pe/ASKWorkshops-Hungary, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search #ASKWorkshops, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

@EntryLevelRebel

You might be a frequent flyer, but flight attendants and travel editors are in the air even more than you, and they have tips to make business travel more painless.

If your business compels you to fly frequently you probably already have strategies for packing so as to minimise the hassle of travel. But according to industry insiders such as travel editors and flight attendants, there are probably some professional-grade tricks you’re not yet using.

Never Neglect the Basics

You probably already know this but it’s so essential, it bears repeating.  The team behind travel site Fathom recently called these the golden rules: Carry-on instead of checking so that you can exit the airport immediately after reaching your destination.  Check in online 24 hours before a flight, not only to save time at the airport but also to get a better seat.

Roll, Don’t Fold

To achieve an all carry-on trip, you’ll need to save space.  So how can you get more clothes in your limited luggage and not wind up with creases on arrival?  Forget folding, says a New York Times article rounding up airline staff’s travel tips:

To make room for these new travel necessities, many flight attendants roll their clothes rather than fold them to save space. Nerea Gomez-Cambronero, an attendant with Air Europa Líneas Aéreas in Majorca, Spain, has taught friends and relatives to roll-pack clothes.  “The rolling-your-clothes tip is the basis of my entire company,” said Don Chernoff, an engineer and frequent traveller.  “It’s a more efficient use of the space.”

Even Better, Bag It

If you’re still space challenged even after employing the rolling trick, then Fathom has another idea.  “Air-compression packing bags are miraculous, squeezing air out of clothes, giving you more room in the suitcase.  Giant Ziploc bags work, too.  Just roll them tight,” suggests the post.

Dodge the Liquids Hassle

Under current safety rules, toiletries cause tons of hassle.  “Attempt to bring a large bottle of shampoo or a full-size gel deodorant through the security line and they will likely confiscate your stuff,” SmarterTravel reminds flyers.

The solution, according to Fathom, may seem like a luxury, but the blog claims this technique pays off in the long run: “Give up squeezing your favourite face wash into tiny tubes.  Buying travel-size items of your favourite products — and laundry detergent — and keeping them at the ready in a Ziploc under your sink might seem indulgent, but it will save time, product, frustration, and your skin.”

Take a Cue From Carrie Bradshaw

You may be more of a hoodie and jeans type than a fashionista like the protagonist of Sex and the City, but in the case of packing, take a lesson from Carrie – accessories count, especially shoes.  “Select shoes, then coordinate outfits around them.  Three pairs should be the maximum,” one Los Angeles-based flight attendant told the New York Times.  Save more space, and keep your shoes shaped, by shoving rolled socks inside your selected footwear.

Fathom also agrees that clever accessories are key to packing light (but well), as is thinking through your outfits from top to toes.  “Check that you’ve packed everything you need by mentally dressing yourself from shoes and socks up to goggles and hats,” suggests the site, which also urges business travellers to “pack something small that can make any outfit smarter.  You never know when you’ll need to look sharp.  For men, an uncreasable silk knotted tie. For women, a fancy scarf.”

Beginning the day two shots off the pace, Booth made substantial ground in the final grouping, eventually taking the lead with just two holes to play, and managed to hold off the chasing pack for her first Confederation of Professional Golf Sanctioned Event victory with a -13 (200) total.

“I came here and did what I needed to do and I’ve had a great time doing it,” explained the two-time Ladies European Tour winner.  “It’s a great boost for me to go back out on tour and get this winning feeling again because that’s what I want again.”

The leader at the start of Round 03, Paul Marks (PGA of South Africa), set the pace early on with a birdie at the first and their playing partner, Lee Rinker (PGA of America), also put the pressure on with a one-under par front nine.  But Booth remained composed despite the efforts of the many chasers behind her:

“I didn’t know my position at all…so it was really just playing my own game and just against the two Pros I was playing with,” added Booth.  “I knew I was two shots ahead – and we all birdied 16 and then Lee birdied 17, which took him to only one shot behind me.  The 18th is a par five so I knew it was a birdie chance and I need to make one to make sure I’ve secured this winner’s spot.”

Rinker [pictured above, centre-right] also shot one-under on his back nine for a two-under par 69 and a share of second place at -11 (202) with South Africa’s Jake Roos [pictured above, 2nd left] who’s final round four-under 67 was not quite enough to propel him into first.

Notable charges from competitors included the PGA of Austria’s, Georg Schultes, with a final 68 to finish in sole fourth place, whilst David Heinzinger (PGA of Germany) and Panos Karantzias (PGA of Greece) each shot 67s to finish at T5 on -9 (204). Henrik Engdahl (PGA of Greece) and Paul Marks both also finished at -9 for the tournament.

The hotly contested two-round Team Pro-Am event finished with Panos Karantzias, and his amateurs Aris Vovos, Dimitris Moraitis, and Alexey Syomin [pictured above with Karim Christian Haririan, President & CEO BMW Group Hellas (2nd left)], at the top with two excellent rounds of 90 and 93 points for an incredible 183 total (-39) .

In tied 2nd place in the Team Pro-Am were Steve Dooley (Austria) and amateurs, Gerhard Komarek, Gerhard Marischka, and Peter Fischer, Stuart Boyle (PGA of Great Britain & Ireland), Haris Papadopoulos, Georgios Kyvernitis, and Dimitris Carokis, and Rudy Whitfield (PGA of South Africa), Harry Christofi, Andre Hugo, and James Johnston, all on 181 points (-37).

For Full Final Scores Visit http://eur.pe/2016Aegean

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For more information visit the Tournament Hub Page follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AegeanProAm’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Find out more about the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am and Aegean Airlines by visiting www.aegeanproam.com.

[Images courtesy of Dimitris Andritsos Photography – dimitrisandritsos.gr]

Nevertheless, there’s a growing belief that having charisma means possessing a healthy balance of external qualities – including showing an interest in other people – to complement positive internal traits, such as self-confidence. While people might disagree on the exact ingredients needed for a charismatic persona, a fairly tasty recipe might look like this:

Ingredients:

C – Confidence

This is clearly one of the most important ingredients in charisma. You need to be confident enough to communicate with people in a variety of situations and social settings. However, there’s an important difference between confidence and boastfulness or arrogance.

H – Happiness

Happiness, as we know, is contagious. Research suggests that oxytocin (also known as the love hormone) goes hand in hand with charisma: the happier you feel, the more people are likely to gravitate towards you and take on board your views.

A – Assertiveness

A close friend of confidence, being assertive means being able to influence and encourage those in the same room, subtly bringing them round to your way of thinking in a way that’s non-confrontational.

R – Regard (for others)

Charismatic people are genuinely interested in what others have to say, not just the sound of their own voice. This means using your ‘active listening’ skills to really engage with your conversation partner and take on board what they’re saying.

M – (e)Motion

A high level of emotional intelligence goes hand-in-hand with charisma. You need to be aware of your own emotions (including knowing those you should be displaying and those you shouldn’t) as well as being aware of, and empathetic to those of others.

Method:

Putting all these qualities into the mixing bowl at the same time may be harder than it looks, however: too much of one ingredient and the balance tips too much towards either internal or external character traits. Like most things in life, it all comes down to self-awareness, experience…and practice. Perhaps it’s worth giving that charm school a call, after all.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: The Telegraph; Mind Tools; Skills You Need

To do this you would have to start by listing the personal, financial and professional goals that you wished to accomplish this year.  Often these plans fall by the wayside.

To prevent this, you need to ask yourself if you have made any progress and you need to review your goals.

lt is important to periodically monitor the progress you are making with your finances.  The halfway point of the year is a good time to reflect on your goals, take stock, and determine if you have lived up to your own expectations.  lt is an opportune time to identify any festering problems and start to make adjustments if necessary.

With barely six months left to go this year, if you have not made much progress, it may seem overwhelming.  Try to find some time for yourself- an hour is all you need -to review your finances. If you have made some progress in the goals mentioned below, you are on the road to financial health.

Budget

The first step to take is to put a budget in place.  A budget is one of the hardest things to prepare; yet it is one of the most important steps to take to address your personal financial issues.

Do you have a clear idea of how much you are spending each week or month?  Have you tracked your expenses for a period and developed a clear picture of what can be cut back?

You can use one of many online tools or just simply get out a notepad and track your expenses on paper. You will make much more progress if you have a clear idea of where all your money is going.

Reduce Your Debts

The second step is to try and reduce your debt. Do you carry less debt today than you did at the beginning of the year?  Until you start to face up to your debt, it will continue to grow.

The general rule of thumb, and the fastest way to reduce your debt, is to tackle your highest interest rate debt first.  By automating your debt payments and making incremental principal payments each month, you will soon find your debt is under control.

Don’t ignore your debt or wish it away; if it becomes a burden, approach your lender and discuss the possibilities for rescheduling to make it more manageable.

Build Savings

The final step is to start building your savings.  If you don’t have a budget in place and you haven’t paid any attention to your debt, it will be difficult for you to save; they are all connected.  You need to find the discipline to draw up a budget and reduce your debt before you can increase your savings.

Most financial advisors suggest that you should save at least 10 to 15% of your income.  Have you built an emergency fund over the past six months?  If you are suddenly faced with unexpected job loss, major car repairs or medical expenses, you will be better prepared to cope with it if you have this cushion to fall back on.

The easiest way to grow your savings is to automate it by putting a direct debit in place so that you won’t be tempted to spend all your income.  It will instead be directed to an appropriate savings vehicle.  Most mutual fund companies make it easy for you to be able to do this with your savings and investment plan.

The difference between those who attain financial security and those who do not is simply the discipline to take control of their financial situation.  If you are on track, congratulations!  If not, don’t worry, there is still some way to go this year to put things right, but you need to get started now.

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This article was written by Nimi Akinkugbe and appears courtesy of Corporate Golf Magazine and was sponsored By FBN Capital Asset Management, as published in Forbes Africa June 2014.

Another scorching day on both the Dunes and Bay Courses at Costa Navarino made for exhausting conditions, but that didn’t stop many of the Professionals from advancing their campaigns forward with a third of the field shooting sub-par rounds.

Round 01 Leader, Paul Marks, again hit the ground running in his second round with two birdies and an eagle in his opening five holes.  A lone bogey on the 16th hole reduced his total to 131 (-11) maintaining his two shot advantage heading into the final round.

“I had a really nice front nine – the back nine I struggled a bit…but overall I’m really pleased,” explained Marks.  “For me, just to be competitive, I’m thrilled – I’ve got no pressure and I’m going to go and enjoy myself and what happens then fine.”

Former Aegean Airlines Pro-Am Winner, Lee Rinker (PGA of America), held on to his second place spot with a three-under par 68 of his own that included an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey,

Also playing their way into the final group was Scottish Ladies European Tour Member, Carly Booth.  A solid opening four-under 67 was bolstered by a second round 66 (-5) consisting of six birdies and a bogey to join Rinker on nine-under par (133).

“I had real fun out there – it’s playing a little shorter so obviously a lot of birdie opportunities and I’ll hopefully have a strong finish,” said Booth.  “We’ve had a great time so far – my team have been amazing and I’m so happy to be here with them.”

17 Professionals are under par through Round 02 making for a highly competitive climax to the 11th edition of the Pro-Am.

The Team Pro-Am competition culminated at the end of Round 02 with results being released at the Pro-Am’s Gala Dinner after the close of the final round’s play.

Round 03 brings the Professionals together on the Dunes Course for the third round of the Individual Professional event, whilst amateurs will be split across both Dunes and Bay to compete in the Aegean Cup.

For Full Round 02 Scores Visit http://eur.pe/2016Aegean

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For more information visit the Tournament Hub Page follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AegeanProAm’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Find out more about the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am and Aegean Airlines by visiting www.aegeanproam.com.

[Images courtesy of Dimitris Andritsos Photography – dimitrisandritsos.gr]

With temperatures surpassing 40 degrees at the Messinia-based Costa Navarino resort, the 11th edition of the popular Pro-Am got underway in challenging conditions for PGA Professional and amateur competitors alike.

Marks, who is also PGA of South Africa Chairman, made an early bid for the lead at the Par 71 Bay Course, with a birdie at the second hole followed by a further six birdies in a row to go out in just 29 shots.

“It just clicked and my putter was fantastic,” said Marks.  “All round I hit my irons superbly well and I hit my driver well today too – it was just one of those rounds.  It’s my lowest round in a Professional tournament and equals my lowest score ever…so now I have to find a 62 from somewhere!”

Marks’ Round 01 score was made even more impressive considering a double-bogey five on the par-three 16th hole that was swiftly cancelled out by birdies on the final two holes.

But hot on his heels are two past champions of the Pro-Am; Lee Rinker (PGA of America) and Henrik Engdahl (PGA of Greece).  Both again played on the low-scoring Bay Course earning themselves a pair of six-under par 65s.

Ladies European Tour Member, Carly Booth, recovered beautifully from a three hole stretch of bogeys on her back nine with a birdie on the Bay’s 17th hole and an eagle at the last for a four-under 67 matching the PGA of Germany’s David Heinzinger’s 67.

Back over on Costa Navarino’s Dunes Course, defending Champion, Jake Roos, also matched their four-under par efforts with two birdies on each nine holes and share of fourth place after Round 01.

In the Team Pro-Am event Paul Marks and amateurs, Berny Lane, Alan Rahme, and Kamal Singh, and PGA of Italy Professional Adriano Mori and his amateurs, Marco Colombo Poggi, Luciana Marina Carli, and Fabio Poggi, lead having scored big targets of 92 points (-20).

In third place is Team Engdahl including amateurs John Stefanidis, Makis Papadopoulos and Chairman of Aegean Airlines, Theodore Vassilakis, just one point behind on 91 points (-19).

The second round of the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am will see the teams swap courses with the Teams completing the 36 hole Team Pro-Am and the Professionals complete the second of three Individual Professional rounds.

For Full Round 01 Scores Visit http://eur.pe/2016Aegean

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For more information visit the Tournament Hub Page follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AegeanProAm’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Find out more about the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am and Aegean Airlines by visiting www.aegeanproam.com.

Johnson promoted to Major at last

After a number of close calls and some tough days at the office, Dustin Johnson finally landed that elusive major title at Oakmont, and in the process climbed into the top three in the Olympic Golf Rankings for the first time.

Johnson is tucked in behind Jason Day and Jordan Spieth at No.3 after winning the US Open, squeezing Rory McIlroy into fourth spot as the Road to Rio edges ever closer.

McIlroy, Bubba Watson (fifth) and Rickie Fowler (sixth) all drop back one place, while Ireland’s Shane Lowry – who led by four strokes going into the last round – has jumped to No.13 on the strength of his tie for second place behind Johnson, who finished on a four under par score of 276.

Martin Kaymer of Germany moves up two spots to No.23 while newcomers to the top 60 – making timely upward moves – are Australian Scott Hend, new at No.31 with Marcus Fraser dropping out, and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, whose share of 18th at Oakmont, played a huge part in him ousting Alexander Levy in 35th spot.

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“I couldn’t be more excited, more happy, and more proud of myself, especially with the things that happened last year at the U.S. Open on the 18th hole. To come back this year and to get it done, it’s definitely bitter sweet. It was a lot of fun.” Dustin Johnson, 2016 US Open champion.

“I think it would be fantastic to be able to be in and around Olympians. They wait four years to be able to compete for their country, and fortunately, golf’s in it this year, and I think it would be a fantastic honour to go play.” Danny Willett, 2016 Masters champion.

“Right now, I’m pretty confident with what we’ve heard, from not only the PGA Tour but our personal outreach, and I think being an Olympian is just an absolute tremendous honour. It seems like it’s going to be an extremely memorable experience and I look forward to trying to win a gold for the United States.” Jordan Spieth, 2015 Masters and US Open champion.

THE WOMEN

Kim keeps the Korean flag flying

Sei Young Kim of South Korea birdied the first play-off hole to beat Spain’s Carlota Ciganda in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Victory kept Kim at No.5 on the Olympic Rankings as the second highest ranked Korean behind Inbee Park, who remains at No.3 in the Rankings behind Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson.

Ciganda is the week’s biggest mover, jumping six places to No.18, with her fellow Spaniard, Azahara Munoz, also joining the upward trend with a move up two places to 21st.

Quote…Unquote

“I’m very happy to win on Father’s Day to be able to give my dad this trophy.” Sei Young Kim.

Marvellous Madsen

Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark claimed her first title on the European Ladies Tour with a five shot win over Scotland’s Pamela Pretswell and Stacey Keating of Australia in the Tipsport Golf Masters in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Swiss amateur Albane Valenzuela produced a fine finish to take fourth, which was sufficient to edge out American Gerina Piller.

The result of the penultimate counting event on the LET ahead of the final Olympic Rankings on July 10 provided considerable cheer for Maden and Valenzuela in particular. The Dane, who is involved in a tight race for one of her country’s two places in Rio with Emily Kristine Pedersen, was a big climber from 37th to 32nd while Valenzuela was a re-entry in the top 60 in 52nd.

Quote…Unquote

“Emily and I are playing for the Olympic Games and it would be the biggest experience to go there. I haven’t thought about the Olympic Games yet because I’m thinking about how to get there. This week, of course, was very important to me.” Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

“This is the last tournament that counts so it’s really important for everyone in contention to go. I really want to play and I’ve been dreaming about the Olympic Games since I was five years old.” Noora Tamminen of Finland.

View Women’s Olympic Rankings

View Men’s Olympic Rankings

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For up-to-the-minute information on #OlympicGolf and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter (@OlympicGolf), Facebook.

Image courtesy of Ladies European Tour/Tristan Jones & Action Images

• Give an organisation a summary of who you are?
• Talk about your skills and abilities
• Tell the employer what you can do?

The sole purpose of your CV is to get someone to contact you and invite you to have a conversation.

It is a marketing document about you.  If you were marketing a product you would understand your audience before writing your marketing material or going out to the market.   So why wouldn’t you do the same before you write your CV.

You are not writing your CV for yourself but for the organisation you are applying to, it is a document for them not you.

So where should you start?   How about with yourself, what do you have to market, what can/will you tell your audience?

Write a master CV, and then think about your audience, who are they and what they need to know about you:

• Do you match their criteria (essential and desirable)?
• What sort of person are you?
• Do you have the skills, experience and abilities to do the job?
• Do you improve and develop yourself?

Research the industry, organisation and people, find out as much as you can before your write your CV, you are then in a position to create a specific marketing document about you.

Different organisations, industries and countries may require different styles, formats and information.   If you are applying for a role in advertising or marketing perhaps you can be more innovative in your approach than if you were apply for a finance role, find out? Make sure the employer gets the information most important to them as quickly as possible when they read your CV.

Remember an employer is looking for evidence so don’t just give them a list, tell them what you have delivered and achieved and how you have done it e.g.

Developed and delivered company presentation to an audience of approx. fifty people at an industry specific conference resulting in two successful business collaborations.

In short your CV is:

• a marketing document about you
• written for the organisation you are applying
• interesting to read
• a document that shows evidence of your experience, skills and achievements
• a document that matches you to the role/organisation

 You will:

Research, research, research

• Network
• Company websites
• Business social media
• Professional associations and organisations
• The Global Resume CV Book
• Country guides e.g. Deloitte

All change in the women’s Rankings as Henderson claims first major

Five in – five out. The Road to Rio became a little rockier for some and more positive for others as the fall-out from the second women’s major championship of the year, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, produced a very different landscape from the previous week.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson became the youngest winner of the event at Sahalee Country Club, when she overturned a three stroke deficit over the back nine on the final day to deny Lydia Ko a second straight major.

In doing so, the 18-year-old reached her highest position on the Olympic Golf Rankings by displacing Korea’s Inbee Park at No.2 thanks to a birdie at the first hole of a play-off against Ko. However, the New Zealander remains at the head of the pack at No.1 in the Rankings.

In the frame to fill one of the 60 spots in the Olympic field are Su-Hyun Oh of Australia, a new entrant at No.21 at the expense of the great Karrie Webb. Amy Yang’s seventh place in Salahee brought her back into the reckoning in eighth spot, with Ha-Na Jang dropping out. Also in are Gerina Pillar of the USA in 13th place, Japan’s Shiho Oyama  in 22nd and Tiffany Chang of Hong Kong in 58th. Currently out of the frame are Webb, Jang, Mika Miyazato of Japan, Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland and Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow.

Quote…Unquote

”The Olympics to me is kind of like the sixth major on the LPGA Tour. The LPGA has five extremely strong events on the schedule and every time you mention a major championship it kind of sends shivers down your back little bit. It’s really important to me (to play in Rio) and I think everybody else competing this week. So to choose one over the other, I don’t think I can do that.” Brooke Henderson.

“I think it’s amazing. I think it shows how much golf is growing as a sport. It’s an amazing experience to be able to say you’re an Olympian. The team is picked July 11th, so I still have some golf to play. It’s an honor to represent your country in any tournament, but to be an Olympian is the had highest honor.” Lexi Thompson, USA’s highest ranked player in the Olympic Rankings.

THE MEN

Two for Wu

There was distinctly less moving and shaking in the men’s section of the Olympic Rankings. However, it was a rewarding week for Ashun Wu of China, who registered his second win on the European Tour by capturing the Lyoness Open powered by Sportlife Cashback Card in Austria.

Wu, who broke through in 2015 by winning the Volvo China Open in his native country, took the title by one stroke from Spain’s Adrian Otaegui with a final round 69 and a 13 under par total of 275. That victory enabled him to displace WC Liang and re-enter the Olympic reckoning in 37th place.

Meanwhile Taipei’s Wen-Tang Lin was nudged out of the top 60 by Italy’s Nino Bertasio, who joined the Race to Rio in the final spot.

Quote…Unquote

“My game is coming together and everything is going in the right direction to keep competing at the highest level. That’s two top tens in the last three weeks, which has been great so there is a lot to look forward to for the rest of the year.” Ashun Wu.

Berger king in Memphis

Daniel Berger of the United States claimed his first PGA Tour victory in the FedEx St Judge Classic in Memphis, fending off the challenges of some tough competitors in Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson to land that eagerly-awaited title.

The 23 year old Berger took some gentle ribbing during a fourth round rain delay by Mickelson, who questioned if the Rookie of the Year crown had ever been won without the recipient winning a title. Berger ensured the question was redundant a few hours later with a 13-under-par total of 267. Mickelson, Stricker and Koepka tied for second three shots adrift with Johnson in fifth place. Johnson remains No.6 in the Rankings.

Quote…Unquote

“To get it done today means a lot, with so many great players, Hall of Famers behind me. It’s something that I’ll never forget and I just love the way I hung in there and was able to get it done. It means the world to me .” Daniel Berger.

View Women’s Olympic Rankings

View Men’s Olympic Rankings

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For up-to-the-minute information on #OlympicGolf and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter (@OlympicGolf), Facebook.

Images courtesy of Action Images

Defending Champion and European Tour Professional, Jake Roos, returns to Costa Navarino in Greece to defend his hard-fought 2015 win. Roos dominated throughout the week but was chased down by three-time champion, Nicolo Gaggero (PGA of Italy), who will also return hoping to make it a record fourth Aegean win.

Ladies European Tour Professional, Carly Booth, will make her first appearance at the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am looking to battle it out for her share of the €70,000 prize fund.  Booth is a two-time winner on the LET with victories at the 2012 Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland and 2012 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open.

Three-time European Tour Winner, Ryder Cup Player and PGA of Great Britain & Ireland Professional, Steven Richardson, will also join the field.  Richardson competed for Team Europe in the 1991 “War on the Shore” at Kiawah Island, earning two points against the United States in what was a narrow loss for the Europeans.

2016 Mercedes-Benz International Pro-Am Winner and PGA of Austria Member, Georg Schultes, will join the line-up having spent the early part of 2016 playing on the PGA Tour China.

PGA of Greece Professional, Themis Ginis, and his amateurs John Paraschis, Yannis Criticos, and Nikos Koulis, will return as defending Team Pro-Am Champions and will do their best to repeat last year’s performance across the 36-hole team event.

Past Aegean Airlines Pro-Am Champions Liam Bond (PGA of GB&I, 2006), Henrik Engdahl (PGA of Greece, 2007), Paul Nilbrink (PGA of Norway, 2009), Lee Rinker (PGA of America, 2010) and Zeke Martinez (PGA of Italy, 2012) also return each looking to repeat their victories.

After the Pro-Am’s successful 10th anniversary event in 2015, this year’s edition sees the tournament enter its second decade of operation and continues to grow in stature, and will again take place at Costa Navarino in the beautiful Messenia region of Greece.

Known widely for its quality both on and off the golf course, the tournament will see Teams come together to compete over 54 holes at the resort’s Dunes and Bay Courses, whilst enjoying fabulous entertainment at the various après-golf events throughout the tournament week.

For Full Scores & News Throughout the Tournament Visit http://eur.pe/2016Aegean

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For more information visit the Tournament Hub Page follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AegeanProAm’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Find out more about the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am and Aegean Airlines by visiting www.aegeanproam.com.

Images courtesy of [Images courtesy of www.papadakispress.gr, Tristan Jones/Ladies European Tour – www.ladieseuropeantour.com, Dave Mitchell – www.davemitchellimages.com]

Lets’ change that.

Our environment changes about a million times faster than we do.

Think about it – in just the past few thousand years our world has been revamped again and again. What’s important changes. The way we structure society changes. How we get food. The way we teach. The way we learn. The way we get around. The things that are important to get good at. What we do for a living. It’s all changed SO much.

This is all GREAT. I can only speak for myself here, but I love that we have wifi instead of covered wagons. But there’s a big glitch in this system. And it’s us and our brains.

We don’t change, update, and evolve even close to as quickly as our environment. The world is like on version 987,988,900, we’re operating with damn close to the original system (version 1.4 if we’re generous), and our iPhones are even on version 6s.

Our current system was designed to keep us alive back when we literally lived in the wild – when had to hunt for lunch, and worry about becoming lunch to a saber tooth tiger.

We found that the best way to do this was to listen to our fear, to avoid taking risks, avoid making mistakes, avoid the unknown, and avoid standing out at all costs.

Because…
New or unknown = danger = death
Mistakes = danger = death
Standing out = getting kicked out of the tribe = death

Obey, play it safe, fit in, do what you know, live.

Again this approach was highly effective for that environment but is far less useful today.

And that is the glitch.

Today our environment/society favors connection and learning. Those who think differently, who love the unknown, enjoy challenges, thrive outside of their comfort zones, and don’t mind sucking and stumbling on the path to growth.

And our 1.4 software is built to resist all of those things.

This is why we:

• Hate doing things we’re bad at
• Hate public speaking
• Hate getting called on
• Hate asking questions
• Hate trying new things
• Hate doing things that might not work
• Hate the hard conversations

and

• Love doing things we know we’re good at
• Love our comfort zones
• Love fitting in
• Love the sure thing
• Love playing it safe
• Love small talk

In other words we resist the things that lead to more connection and learning while steering towards the things that hold us back from connection and learning.

So we’re faced with three options:

1. Wait a few million years for our software to catch up
2. Continue on resisting and avoiding the good stuff
3. Learn how to function/override the software

1. nope – we aint got time for that!
2. no – hell no
3. yes – and let’s talk about that

You may be thinking something down the line of: “ok hollllld up – how do i beat this glitch? how do I conquer it? how do I turn it off? And when I first learned about all of this I was asking the same exact same thing, my friend. I even have video evidence…

Here is me asking my hero those questions + plus his brilliant response:

Boom.

The resistance, the “lizard brain”, that feeling in your chest, that fear – it is all a sign that you are in the RIGHT place. And as long as your life isn’t in danger you should do the exact opposite of what it tells you to do!

“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do… The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself.” – from Steven Pressfield in The War of Art

The fear is not going anywhere. We can’t let it run us. We can’t get rid of it. But we can USE it.

The best marathon runners don’t learn how to not get tired – they just learn to run with the pain. Just like the best performers don’t learn how to not get nervous – they just learn to dance with the fear.

With practice, we too can learn to lean into the fear, to dance with the fear, to use it as a compass that leads us to the opportunities and experiences that will help us the most.

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For more on this topic:

How fear impacts our ability to learn – video
Growth and resistance – article
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield – book (one of the best you’ll read)

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“When I learned how to breathe, I learned how to win”

Tom Watson

Though I have never had the good fortune to meet Tom Watson and talk through his career, my guess as a psychologist is that the quote suggests in the early days of his career he often felt too uncomfortable on the golf course in winning situations, or let frustration undermine his game.

In my work I find that many players think the top professionals must be doing something unique mentally; which isn’t the case at all.  For instance, controlling breathing is one of the simplest, most efficient ways for all standards of golfers to self-regulate high arousal/tension on and off the course and is straightforward to learn.

“You have to control tension.  Just a couple of times I got nervous but I kept it under control.  We all get taught certain breathing techniques by the Swedish Federation to help keep calm, its basic stuff”.  Niclas Fasth

In my time at England national training over the past fifteen years, great emphasis has been placed on teaching individual players simple breathing skills.

For example, focused breathing is great in that it can act as a distraction from negative thoughts, lower heart rate, and act as a positive behaviour in pressure situations.  However, players must be aware that although breathing itself is a natural automatic process, as soon as we shift to controlling breathing it becomes an acquired skill that improves with practice.

To fully obtain the benefits of focused breathing you need to impress on players the need to practise regularly.  This technique involves counting breaths, which also prevent negative thoughts as the mind is occupied by the counting involved.  Simply inhale slowly (normally, not deeply) through the nose to a count of 4, and then slowly exhale through the mouth to a count of 7 – the longer outbreaths induce a more relaxed state.  This is also sometimes called ratio breathing and a player may complete several cycles of this to remain composed.

If practised, a player will soon become proficient at using the technique in pressure situations or when frustrated after errors.  I find that many players like this technique as it is very subtle, and will go unnoticed by playing partners.  Coach your players this technique I am confident they will benefit hugely.

Considering Your 2016 Coach Education?

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“This online course has to be the best value for money training I have seen from the PGA. I use the activities with my clients and have seen improvements in their game of golf. Working with players and …understanding now more about mindset makes it easier to coach and enhance performance….”

Phil Allen, PGA of GB&I Professional, Holland

Check out the fully online Golf Psychology Coaching Certificate course that is approved by the PGA of GB&I (135 CPD points) and the Confederation of Professional Golf, and has been completed with great reviews by over 350 PGA professionals and coaches worldwide. Go to www.golfpsychologycoaching.com for full details.

The course is full of practical activities and information on assessing mental skills, goals and motivation, attention control, confidence building, and anxiety reduction techniques for the PGA professional to guide players through improving their mental game. The course is endorsed by some of England’s best coaches.  You can complete the course at home so you will have no travel costs or time away from your work.  All you need is a player to work with and the time to complete the course activities.  For a price reduction type in the discount code CPG to reduce the price from £295 to £215.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

However, unlike the technical aspect of coaching, we are given very little training on how to give players feedback. Consequently, studies have shown that coaches have poor awareness of when, what and how much feedback they give during coaching sessions.

Evaluating when, what and how much feedback you give players requires self-reflection on your behavior during and after coaching sessions. Reflective practice plays a vital role in your development as a coach (see information below about developing reflective practice skills). It is also an excellent tool for evaluating how you give feedback to players.

Consider the following elements of feedback:

WHEN?

Do you give feedback when players are taking their address position? During their swing, or after they’ve hit their shot? Feedback is best received when players can focus on only the feedback. This means giving players feedback between shots and even moving them away from the hitting space.

WHAT?

Coaches should not shy away from identifying areas for improvement. Unless these are identified, players cannot improve. However, coaches should frame the feedback in ways that give players a sense of control over making the correction. For example, “This is the problem and this is how we will correct it.”

HOW MUCH?

Players will be unable to process more than one or two corrections during a coaching session – regardless of playing ability. This means that coaches need to carefully prioritize the corrections they make. Just as problematically, a coach may give a player three or four corrections knowing which ones are most important. Unfortunately, the player doesn’t know which point the coach thinks is more important, and may focus on the less relevant corrections.

Reflective practice is a valuable framework for developing feedback and other coaching skills. If you would like to develop your reflective practice skills, consider enrolling in The Coach Learning Group’s ‘Reflective Practice for Golf Coaches’ module.

Click Here For Details

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If a presentation is a merely a mechanism to pass information from speaker to listener, it must be one of the most expensive, inefficient and unreliable ways of doing so as the above equation for its cost illustrates.

A is the number of people in the audience, L is the length of time the presentation takes, V is the cost of the venue and E is any equipment needed. P is the amount of work it takes to prepare the presentation in the first place and W refers to the work that the entire audience aren’t doing while they listen to it.

If we accept this equation, a presentation has to be so much more than a transfer mechanism to justify such a cost; it has to be outstanding and too few are.

A Rock and a Hard Place

Standing up and speaking is something we all find normal when done with family or friends, at home or in a social setting. When done from a podium in front of an audience of tens, hundreds or even thousands, it feels completely different, yet the physical mechanics and intellectual thought processes required are just the same.

As presenters, we are caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is the unavoidable truth that an audience requires us to match, if not exceed, their expectations. The hard place is Abraham Maslow’s assertion that our safety is more important than any sense of achievement. It can often feel like a vice-like grip, and to not just survive, but thrive in it is to dance in the line of fire.

A presentation must first be created and then rehearsed before it can be delivered, and quite often people avoid or omit the rehearsal stage preferring to rewrite and edit their presentation right up until the last minute.

For this reason most finished presentations are in fact first or second readings, which look, feel and are quite different to a polished performance. In this respect, presenting and playing golf are exactly alike; the amateur practices until they get it right, and the professional practices until they cannot get it wrong.

Effective presenters don’t merely speak; they engage

To present is to stand in front of people and speak. By definition it is an unnatural place to be, it feels awkward and lends credibility to this quote by George Jessel; “The human brain starts working from the moment you are born and never stops working until you stand up and speak in public.”

The easiest and most natural way to resolve this dilemma is to remember to do something, and the key to discovering what to do is to remember that what you do and how you do it are not the same. Good nurses don’t simply nurse; they care, support and reassure. Great golfers don’t just hit a ball; they align their body and swing with the intended direction, ensure the ball impacts the ‘sweet spot’ of the club face and drive the club with precision and consistency.

Effective presenters don’t merely speak; they engage, they inspire and they persuade. In all these three examples, the technical skills are so practiced, refined and honed as to be automatic, leaving the conscious mind as free as possible to react fully to all the vagaries of the present moment like a blood clot, sudden crosswind or interruption.

“To engage and hold an audience is also a physical activity…”

Presenting is not just an intellectual pursuit. To engage and hold an audience is also a physical activity and the purpose is to invite them on an emotional journey towards your objective. Not for nothing do politicians speak of winning hearts and minds, and all three must be present and congruent to deliver a great performance.

Because the external architecture of presenting so closely resembles the activity of one person talking to another, it is hard to articulate the merits of one presentation over another, and this leaves the critical appraisal of what makes a poor performance almost purely subjective. This is so because all the essential ingredients of an outstanding presentation such as authenticity, passion, relationship and purpose are far easier to judge by their absence rather than their presence.

In conclusion, I would suggest that two undeniable truths of presenting are that it is a choice and a commitment rather than a skill, and like every great golfer, you won’t become a champion unless you practise.

McGirt hits pay dirt

William McGirt of the United States might not be heading to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games, but he is certainly upwardly mobile on the PGA Tour, claiming his first title at the second hole of a play-off against fellow American, Jon Curran, in the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village.

There was little movement on the Olympic Golf Rankings as only a few players changed position among the top 60 headed for Brazil in August. Dustin Johnson finished third in the Memorial to climb from seventh to sixth, swapping places with Henrik Stenson, who was playing in Europe. Rory McIlroy tied for fourth to remain at No.3 behind Jason Day and Jordan Spieth.

Quote…Unquote

“One thing I had always told myself, if I ever won a golf tournament – number one – don’t cry. And number two – don’t make a fool of yourself. So when I stood over the putt, I told myself, ‘this is what you’ve dreamed of doing your whole life. You have this opportunity. Hit the best putt you can and see what happens’. Surprisingly, I felt no nerves standing over that putt and poured it right in the middle” William McGirt

Matt finish so impressive

Matt Fitzpatrick continued a run of great results in 2016 for English golfers. Following Danny Willett’s success in the Masters and Chris Wood winning the previous week’s BMW PGA Championship, it was the turn of Matt Fitzpatrick to maintain the pattern.

The 21-year-old former US Amateur champion finished three shots clear of Denmark’s Lasse Jensen in Stockholm to win the Nordea Masters on the European Tour. Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts came third to move from 46th to 43rd on the Olympic Rankings with Stenson tied fourth.

Elsewhere, there was encouragement for the host nation in the Olympics, with their sole representative, Adilson da Silva climbing four spots to 51st.

Quote…Unquote

“I think it’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, something very new for us as golfers. I’ve never been to an Olympic venue (city) so it’s going to be good fun to be there, feel the atmosphere and watch some of the other sports and, of course, to try to make my country proud by hopefully competing for medals. If you can do that, why not go for the ultimate one?

“It (gold) would be huge. Sweden is a proud and strongly supportive nation but we’re not spoiled by winning heaps and heaps of medals in the summer Olympics, so that would be very big. I haven’t won any of the four grand prizes in golf, but I would put it (Olympic gold) right up there next to it.” Henrik Stenson

THE WOMEN

Anna makes a case for the defence

Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist delivered a strong defence of her title in the Shoprite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer on the LPGA Tour. Rounds of 64-68-64 for a total of 196 tied the tournament record of 17 under par set by her now retired countrywoman, Anneka Sorenstam. Nordqvist jumped from 14th to 12th on the Olympic Rankings while Japan’s Haru Nomuda, who finished a stroke behind, is now 14th, a climb of one place.

Karine Icher of France, who shot a stunning 62 on Sunday for third place, moved up the Rankings from 26th to 24th as the Road to Rio enters the final six weeks.

Quote…Unquote

“Well, playing in the Olympics has been a dream of mine since it (golf) got introduced to the Olympics back in 2009. It’s been a big goal for me, and it’s going to be huge getting the honour to represent Sweden in the Olympic Games. I know there’s a lot of concerns with the Zika virus, but I trust the doctors.I know the Swedish Olympic Committee, they have a lot of great doctors and medical team behind them. I’m going to listen to them. But other than that, I’m going to go and I’m really excited about it, and I’m doing my best these last couple months to prepare for it.” Anna Nordqvist

View Women’s Olympic Rankings

View Men’s Olympic Rankings

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For up-to-the-minute information on #OlympicGolf and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter (@OlympicGolf), Facebook.

Image courtesy of Ladies European Tour/Tristan Jones & Action Images

The first ‘A.S.K. Workshops’ event, titled ‘Developing the Players of Tomorrow’, will see each of the 12 speakers present for exactly 20 minutes to share a story, present an idea, and pass on their thoughts about junior coaching and development in golf.

‘A.S.K.’, standing for ‘Attributes.Skills.Knowledge.’, is the Confederation of Professional Golf’s initiative to help share useful, relevant and interesting content to its Member Country PGAs and their individual PGA Professionals members through various written, video, live and audio media.

The ‘A.S.K. Workshops’ are the first live element within the initiative and will give PGA Professionals a platform to share their experiences, ideas and thoughts on junior golf in front of an audience who will be able to listen to, and interact with, the speakers.

Confederation of Professional Golf Director of Education and Membership, Tony Bennett, said, “If you want to make some changes in your life, then you have got to make some changes in your life! The opportunity to listen to, learn from, and question people who have a proven record of success in their respective fields is one sure way to be able to develop new skills and gain new knowledge, which can then be used to make the changes that you want.

“The A.S.K. Workshops approach ensures that from the great menu of speakers on offer that all participants will pick up valuable and practical ideas”.

Each of the sessions will also be recorded and excerpts used to create digital video content. The quality and quantity of A.S.K. content available is growing, as the Association aims to make it easier to consume shorter, sharper pieces of content in line with the trends seen across the globe in digital media and online education.

The event will take place on 26^th July this year in Hungary at the Abacus Hotel just outside of the country’s capital city, Budapest, and will bring together PGA Professionals such as Paul Eales, Sarah Claridge, Steven Orr, and Ian Peek, as speakers.

The event is open to any PGA Professionals to join for the day of education – registration is €99 and includes access to the full day of presentations, question and answer sessions, networking opportunities with the speakers and other audience members, along with coffee breaks and buffet lunch during the day.

For more information and to register visit http://eur.pe/ASKWorkshops-Hungary

For more information about the 2016 A.S.K. Workshops visit http://eur.pe/ASKWorkshops-Hungary, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search #ASKWorkshops, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

In the past few years the area of strength training has been a bone of contention in the golf world with many players attributing improved performance and increased successes to this type of training, whilst others have been critical about the impact it may have on their game.

We ask experts Dr Ben Langdown and Jack Wells from the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland some key questions about fitness for golfers, specifically when it comes to strength training.

How can strength training help a golfer improve performance?

BL – There are various ways – strength, stability, mobility, the clubhead speed is probably the obvious one and therefore distance and that’s potentially what most golfers are looking for when they come and do some strength and conditioning work.

Although others are just looking for – can they get into certain positions within the swing that their coach is trying to work on, and therefore we’re looking at the specific restrictions or limitations that they’ve got in their body and using strength and conditioning to aid that and improve their mobility and their stability.

Who should be taking part in strength training and how does a coach determine if a student should start strength training?

BL – Anybody can take part strength training – and the best way to find out as a PGA Professional if your client actually wants to, or needs to, take part is to ask him or her.

Do they want to see quicker benefits from the training that they’re doing, so not just practicing on the range but also can they reap the rewards of doing strength training in the gym? Basically anybody can do strength training as long as there’s no underlying health issues or injuries currently in place.

JW – This has to be guided by them [the athlete] really, and it might be a conversation that you bring in. If they’re looking to increase their driving distance and you feel that technically you’ve done quite a lot but actually they probably need to increase their clubhead speed through different areas, then engaging in strength & conditioning might be something that you approach with them. If that is something they want to do you can seek out an individual that will help them with that.

What strength training should people be doing?

BL – Strength training should be targeted to each individual. People can go and do a generic programme but they’re not necessarily going to get the maximum benefit from doing that. If you can target that strength training programme or strength & conditioning to that individual then you can hit the needs of that golfer and therefore they’re going to get maximum reward.

Does strength training limit a golfer’s ability to be flexible and mobile?

BL – No, is the short answer. There’s research out there that demonstrates that golfers who do strength training correctly can actually increase their flexibility and their mobility through doing their training.

There was this myth in the past that golfers should stay away from all sorts of strength training because it would of limited their movements in the swing, but actually that is a myth and there’s evidence out there now that shows flexibility can be increased.

How can coaches incorporate strength training into their teaching remit?

BL – The best way to do this is to work with a team – PGA Professionals, unless they’ve got themselves an additional qualification, they’re not insured to provide fitness or strength & conditioning advice. Therefore if they have done an additional qualification and they’ve got insurance on the back of that, then that’s fine, they can deliver the whole package themselves if they wish to.

Otherwise PGA Professionals can do some basic physiological or musculoskeletal screening that are looking for any restrictions in the movements that they want a golfer to do but in terms of providing correct exercises or strength & conditioning advice, that’s where they need to refer out to a specialist.

JW – Golf coaches who actually want to get into this field need to start to seek out professionals. But what a coach can perhaps do is start to incorporate things like warm-ups…and that will hopefully help them be suitably potentiated to hit the golf ball but also to bring in some movement patterns that will help them going forwards.

Who should a PGA Professional work with to carry out strength training with athletes and how can they incorporate them into an athlete’s performance mix?

BL – There’s always this, again, maybe a myth that the strength & conditioning coach or the physiotherapist is going to try and pinch [steal] the golfer. But PGA Professionals shouldn’t be afraid of working alongside a fitness team. So they’re the people that should be doing the full assessment.

There’s no reason why a PGA Professional can’t look at certain movements and positions. But then it should be the strength & conditioning coach or the physiotherapist who actually puts a programme together to develop that golfer as an athlete.

JW – So if they work with someone who has a good understanding of the fundamental movements that are involved with the swing then actually that is a good grounding for working with a specialist.

BL – Maybe give them some free golf lessons in exchange for some free fitness advice or physiotherapy sessions in order to up-skill the team that they’re working with.

Are there concerns with injuries in strength training? What are the warning signs and what should a PGA Professional do?

JW – I think with any sport there is always a risk and a concern of injury. If we look within golf we see that the in the amateur side there’s a lot of lower back injuries whereas at the top end of the spectrum it’s wrist and elbow injuries.

Actually engaging in strength training might help these individuals – so amateurs could be a little bit more robust to cope with the dynamic patterns of the swing. But also in terms of the elite end of the spectrum, a lot of the injuries involved with the wrists and elbows are potentially through overuse.

BL – Done in the right way, there shouldn’t be any concerns with injuries. Under supervision from a strength & conditioning coach or physiotherapist then actually we should be building athletes that are robust to injuries.

If people are going off into the gym doing there own thing and using incorrect techniques, maybe using too much load when their body isn’t ready for that load, then potentially there could be an increased risk of injury.

JW – If they [the PGA Professional] start to see a really bad ball flight and the player then says they’re struggling with this shot because they’re feeling pain in their left should or hands…then these are warning signs that perhaps hitting a number of golf shots is not going to help in the long run, and actually might potentially make that injury worse.

So it may just be discussing with them [the athlete] verbally or it might be something that occurs through performance. Sometimes it might involve a little bit of digging and learning a little more about the person in-front of you and trying to find out what’s going on.

BL – If the PGA Professionals spots any signs of over-training [or injury], first of all sit down with the golfer and just get them to outline what they’ve done in the past few weeks. If the PGA Professional doesn’t know how to deal with this then seek advice from maybe a sports scientist, strength & conditioning coach or physiotherapist.

Is it safe for juniors to engage with strength training?

JW – Absolutely – There’s so much research supporting the notion of actually getting juniors to engage in strength & conditioning. The golf swing has more force going through it than any form of lifting really so actually swinging a golf club is potentially, you could argue, more injurious than engaging in strength training.

BL – Again this is another myth that has been out there that juniors shouldn’t be doing any strength & conditioning work, lifting any weights, should stay away from the gym because it’s going to cause them injuries or cause them long-term problems.

Juniors should be in the gym if they want to be and if they need to be in terms of their goals and their development. Even things like fundamental movement skills can be done within a golf environment or they can be done within a gym. So developing those movements that are going to be able to create them as an athlete rather than just a golfer. Things like hopping, skipping, throwing, catching, running, dodging, or jumping – all of those fundamental movement skills that eventually lead to them becoming a robust athlete, and therefore cope with the demands of the sport a lot better.

JW – Other things that juniors will do naturally like climbing trees, learning how to walk, picking up their bike out of the garage, jumping over walls – these are effectively strength training. Engaging in that sort of activity naturally is the same almost applying a bespoke strength & conditioning programme.

Why are there golfers winning majors that do not engage in any form of fitness training?

BL – So this doesn’t help our cause as sports scientists or strength & conditioning coaches, but there’s always exceptions to the rule. There are going to be players out there that potentially aren’t engaging in strength & conditioning work currently, but you’ve got to ask what have they done in their youth, in their development period. They may have engaged in a lot of different sports as they were growing up and therefore they’ve developed these fundamental movement skills to become a golfer.

JW – Strength training is just one vehicle to successful performance, obviously the strongest golfer doesn’t necessarily win every tournament because there are other important parameters such as what’s going on at impact, to the mental side of the game.

BL – Occasionally you’re getting someone winning a major or a tournament that hasn’t engaged in strength & conditioning, but the ones at the top week-in, week-out are the ones that are athletes that are training. Putting in the hours in terms of not just practice but in the gym as well and working with that team around them.

Dr Ben Langdown is the Training Executive for Sports Science at the PGA National Training Academy at The Belfry. Alongside this Ben also works with many elite amateur and professional golfers providing strength and conditioning support. Ben has a PhD in the field of golf biomechanics, studying strength and conditioning for golf and movement variability in the swing.  Follow Ben at @BenLangdown.

Jack Wells is Education Officer (Golf Coaching & Sports Science) for the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland. You can follow Jack on Twitter at @Jackwells009.

@talentsmarteq

Failure is an inevitable part of life, but smart people know how to make it work for them.

One of the biggest roadblocks to success is the fear of failure. Fear of failure is worse than failure itself because it condemns you to a life of unrealized potential.

A successful response to failure is all in your approach. In a study recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, researchers found that success in the face of failure comes from focusing on results (what you hope to achieve), rather than trying not to fail. While it’s tempting to try and avoid failure, people who do this fail far more often than those who optimistically focus on their goals.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill

This sounds rather easy and intuitive, but it’s very hard to do when the consequences of failure are severe. The researchers also found that positive feedback increased people’s chances of success because it fueled the same optimism you experience when focusing solely on your goals.

The people who make history–true innovators–take things a step further and see failure as a mere stepping stone to success. Thomas Edison is a great example. It took him 1,000 tries to develop a light bulb that actually worked. When someone asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times, he said, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.

That attitude is what separates the successes from the failures. Thomas Edison isn’t the only one. J. K. Rowling’s manuscript for Harry Potter was only accepted after 12 publishers denied it, and even then she was only paid a nominal advance. Oprah Winfrey lost her job as a Baltimore news anchor for becoming too emotionally involved in her stories, a quality that became her trademark. Henry Ford lost his financial backers twice before he was able to produce a workable prototype of an automobile. The list goes on and on.

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Henry Ford

So, what separates the people who let their failures derail them from those who use failure to their advantage? Some of it comes down to what you do, and the rest comes down to what you think.

The actions you take in the face of failure are critical to your ability to recover from it, and they have huge implications for how others view you and your mistakes. There are five actions you must take when you fail that will enable you to succeed in the future and allow others to see you positively in spite of your failure.

1. Break the bad news yourself.

If you’ve made a mistake, don’t cross your fingers and hope no one will notice, because someone is going to–it’s inevitable. When someone else points out your failure, that one failure turns into two. If you stay quiet, people are going to wonder why you didn’t say something, and they’re likely to attribute this to either cowardice or ignorance.

2. Offer an explanation, but don’t make excuses.

Owning your mistakes can actually enhance your image. It shows confidence, accountability, and integrity. Just be sure to stick to the facts. “We lost the account because I missed the deadline” is a reason. “We lost the account because my dog was sick all weekend and that made me miss the deadline” is an excuse.

3. Have a plan for fixing things.

Owning up to a mistake is one thing, but you can’t end it there. What you do next is critical. Instead of standing there, waiting for someone else to clean up your mess, offer your own solutions. It’s even better if you can tell your boss (or whomever) the specific steps you’ve already taken to get things back on track.

4. Have a plan for prevention.

In addition to having a plan for fixing things, you should also have a plan for how you’ll avoid making the same mistake in the future. That’s the best way to reassure people that good things will come out of your failure.

5. Get back on the horse.

It’s important that you don’t let failure make you timid. That’s a mindset that sucks you in and handicaps you every time you slip up. Take enough time to absorb the lessons of your failure, and as soon as you’ve done that, get right back out there and try again. Waiting only prolongs bad feelings and increases the chance that you’ll lose your nerve.

Your attitude when facing failure is just as important as the actions you take. Using failure to your advantage requires resilience and mental strength, both hallmarks of emotional intelligence. When you fail, there are three attitudes you want to maintain.

6. Perspective is the most important factor in handling failure.

People who are skilledat rebounding after failure are more likely to blame the failure on something they did–the wrong course of action or a specific oversight–rather than something they are. People who are bad at handling failure tend to blame failure on their laziness, lack of intelligence, or some other personal quality, which implies that they had no control over the situation. That makes them more likely to avoid future risk-taking.

7. Optimism.

Another characteristic of people who bounce back from failure. One British study of 576 serial entrepreneurs found they were much more likely to expect success than entrepreneurs who gave up after their first failure. That sense of optimism is what keeps people from feeling like failure is a permanent condition. Instead, they tend to see each failure as a building block to their ultimate success because of the learning it provides.

8. Persistence.

Optimism is a feeling of positivity; persistence is what you do with it. It’s optimism in action. When everybody else says, “Enough is enough” and decides to quit and go home, persistent people shake off those failures and keep going. Persistent people are special because their optimism never dies. This makes them great at rising from failure.

Bringing It All Together

Failure is a product of your perspective. What one person considers a crushing defeat another sees as a minor setback. The beauty is that you can change how you see failure so that you can use it to better yourself.

How do you handle failure? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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This article originally appeared on Inc.com – to view the original article visit http://eur.pe/1sRwsaq.

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“Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.” – Bruce Lee

I’ve felt lucky to learn so much from being an avid reader in the past few years. I’ve come to believe that there is such immense power and knowledge contained within books.

As a natural introvert, I’m a reflective person and love to read books and think about what we could try to apply at Buffer.

In fact, we’re such believers in the power of reading at Buffer that all new team members (and family members) receive a Kindle with unlimited Kindle books (of any type, no questions asked).

Something I have done with books in the past is get about 30 to 40 percent through and get really excited to start implementing things.

I think this might be because with a startup, you often have to get comfortable acting without complete information. For example, when we do customer development we’ll never validate an idea or thought 100%. There’s always a leap we have to take.

But with our reading on leadership, I’ve realized that we could improve this and be a little more grounded in the decisions we make.

Here’s the story of two recent books that have had a big impact on our team, and how Buffer changed with each one based on what we read.

Reinventing Organizations: The book that changed Buffer’s direction

One night in late 2014, I stayed up until 4 a.m. reading the book Reinventing Organizations.

It was one of the most exciting books I had ever read, and I couldn’t wait to see how it would impact Buffer.

When I was through with the book, I was so inspired I wrote this letter to the author, Frederic Laloux.

(Frederic and I did eventually get an opportunity to chat, and I’m so grateful to him for his time and the incredible book.)

Eventually, Reinventing Organizations would be read by almost all the people within the Buffer team, and transform how the company operated in many ways.

Here’s the note I sent to the team that sent us on a fascinating self-management journey through most of 2015:

We made a lot of changes, including dropping all titles, stopping all official coaching and mentorship, and letting each teammate choose the goals and projects they wanted to work on (and what they wanted to pay themselves). On the marketing side, we tried to create a marketing plan without any goals.

Fast forward to present day: We’re grateful for the element of wholeness that Reinventing Organizations brought us and have moved away from its ideas in other ways, bringing back mentorship, goals and metrics.

We interpreted Teal as completely loose: the chaos, the forest. We threw out the ideas of management, skills, leadership, experience. Those are some of the things that we got wrong.

I think it was a great learning experience; it did set us back.

High Output Management: A more balanced approach

By the time I came across the underground business classic High Output Management by former Intel CEO Andy Grove this year, I knew we want to get away from the pattern of reading one book and changing everything as a result.

After I discovered and read High Output Management, I knew I wanted to introduce it to others on the team, but in a different way.

This time, it felt important to share the thought that while there’s lot of great stuff in it, a lot of what it describes is also pretty far from what we want to have. (It was published in 1983, when things were a lot different in the business world!)

As a small but important example, I prefer not to call employees “subordinates” as Grove does—or even employees, for that matter. “Teammates” has been a great fit for us at Buffer.

I didn’t want High Output Management be our next “book” but I did want to take what we could from it.

A tipping point for us in valuing “people management” came from came from High Output Management, as did the idea of “task relevant maturity”—relating how many touchpoints a person needs in a task to their familiarity with the task:

These are both really useful concepts for us.

Additionally, High Output Management evolved our one-on-ones and accelerated how we think about and plan for leadership at Buffer, which is important.

My experience when I read High Output Management was very different than that of reading Reinventing Organizations. 

In fact, as I could feel the book moving us further away from elements of self-management I made sure to cue up a Ricardo Semler TED talk on running a company with no rules to make sure to hear the “other side,” too.

My lesson: Be thoughtful in how I embrace new ideas

There’s a certain power in embracing an idea completely and fully giving yourself over to it.

At the same time, I’m finding it increasingly important to apply a lot of critical thinking and hear out an idea from all sides.

This learning reminds me of Jim Collins’ “bullets before cannonballs” blog post, where he advises validating with smaller steps (bullets) first during challenging times, instead of immediately looking for “big solutions, giant leaps, and dramatic success” (cannonballs).

“Wise leaders test idea and assumptions in low risk, low cost way. Try something in a small way and brutally evaluate when it’s over.”

I believe there is still room with our new, more grounded approach to experiment with structuring the team, decision-making, and management processes.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be really thoughtful about how we do this, and to validate ideas to the appropriate level before rolling them out to the whole team. The bigger the company gets, the bigger the impact of each experiment becomes.

I’m excited to keep reading and learning from what others are trying with various management structures. And yet as soon as we start going pretty far in one direction, we want to start getting opposing thoughts.

The good news is, the more we read, the more context we will naturally have.

The 10 books of Buffer (right now)

Today we’re reading as widely as we can, trying different things and keeping whatever works.

We’ve taken bits and pieces from countless management books, and we’re growing a bit more confident in our mix-and-match style.

Buffer’s management at the moment is a mix of:

• The Decision Maker: Most teammates at Buffer have read this fable by Dennis Bakke. It has helped to shape our ideas of complete trust and confidence in each team member to have the right context to make great decisions.
• Joy at Work: We hope we can retain some of the ideas from Dennis Bakke’s  organization AES, and create management that’s a bit different.
• High Output Management: The way we view leadership, feedback, and one-on-ones has been heavily influenced by this book by Andy Groves.
• Reinventing Organizations: The biggest element of this book by Frederic Laloux that we’ve kept is the idea of bringing your “whole self” to work.
• The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works: I mentioned Ricardo Semler’s TED talk earlier, and this book is another piece that has helped to shape Buffer. Some of Semler’s ideas are so radical it makes me question everything I think I know about work.
• Maverick: Another book by Ricardo Semler; this one helped to reinforce our confidence in many of our budding cultural ideas, like the value of transparency, and having trust in teammates to choose their location and work hours.
• Good to Great: This Jim Collins book helped me to understand how important culture is for building a great, lasting company that has an impact on the world. It helped me to understand that culture can be crafted by choice rather than rather than simply observed.
• Five Dysfunctions of a Team: I read this book at a key point when we were discovering that we needed to put our values into words to shape the culture of Buffer. The book helped to clarify that through culture, provided we lived it, we could get to the deepest levels of trust with one another and enable much better teamwork within the company.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: The Buffer value of ‘Listen first, then listen more’ comes almost directly from Habit 5 of this bestselling classic.
• How to Win Friends and Influence People: Perhaps the most foundational book of Buffer. We have based a large number of the values within the Buffer culture directly on the principles Dale Carnegie proposes here.

I’m personally inspired by all of these books and lots more.

There’s no one-size-fits-all book for building a company—any company.

I’m sure in the future I’ll discover many new books and ideas that make me want to change everything.

I hope I can remember the lessons I’ve reflected on here and make a balanced decision.

What about you—how do achieve balance when you’ve discovered a new idea or solution? What keeps you from going too far in any one direction?

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Written by Joel Gascoigne (@joelgascoigne)

Joel is the founder and CEO at Buffer. He is focused on the lean startup approach, user happiness, transparency & company culture. Say hi to him anytime @joelgascoigne.

10 – 17 July, 2016

PGA Members from Confederation of Professional Golf Full Member Countries have once again been granted complimentary access to the Open Championship.

This year’s championship will be staged at Royal Troon from July 11-17 and PGA Members and Assistants should purchase daily tickets for their own use.

The purchase price of the ticket will be printed on the ticket and this price will be reflected in the refund.  Refunds can be obtained by registering at the PGA Member Marquee and documentation will be issued to take to the on-site HSBC Bank, the banking patron of The Open Championship.

Membership cards MUST be produced for the registration process and refunds should be claimed as soon as possible – before 5.00pm and 3.00pm on the final day. Refunds cannot be issued at any other branch of HSBC during or after the event and must be claimed on the day for which they are valid – no tickets can be refunded for a previous day or in advance.

As last year, season tickets should NOT be purchased as these cannot be refunded.  Members and Assistants are welcome to bring guests into the PGA marquee subject to space being available.

[Tickets are available for the 10th July Practice Day, however, PGA Members will not be able to gain a refund as the PGA Marquee opens from the 11th July onwards.]

Ticket details are available at www.opengolf.com

Image courtesy of Action Images

Whether you want better posture for increased golf performance, injury prevention or simply a more confident, youthful appearance, this blog is a must-read. In this two-part series, Ben Langdown, Sports Scientist, Golf Strength & Conditioning Coach and Ph.D. in the field of Golf Biomechanics and Swing Variability, gives us a thorough breakdown of how desk posture can affect your golf performance and what you can do to fix it.

We were lucky enough to meet Ben at the Titleist World Golf Fitness Summit in 2014, where he and his colleague Jack Wells came all the way from England to give an outstanding presentation on the ultimate dynamic warm-up for golfers.

Many of you have heard us reference their research since then (yep, Ben is one of the experts that helps his golfers hit the ball up to 40 yards farther just by giving them the right type of warm-up).

In part 1, Ben will discuss lower crossed syndrome, the swing faults or injuries that commonly accompany it, and together we will show you exercises you can start performing today to improve your lower body posture. I hope you enjoy it!

Lower Crossed Syndrome

Your office desk. Your neat little set up. Or is it more like your enemy, joining forces with your office chair…conspiring against you…set to ruin your posture and even your golf game?!

Many people fail to realize that their desk habits impact their performance on the golf course. If you like to play golf and you also work in an office environment, it’s imperative that you address your desk posture and spend time training in the gym to reverse the power struggle between your posture and your office furniture. The next 10 minutes could change your life! Well, ok maybe not your life, but your ability to hit that little dimpled white ball around the 18 holes at your local golf club!

Recently, the press has asserted that sitting is “the new smoking”.  Like smoking, clocking up hours in a sedentary position can have a multitude of negative health consequences such as increased risks of developing cancer, heart disease and type II diabetes. OK, so we know sitting can be detrimental to your health, but did you know that it can also lead to lower and upper crossed syndromes (see Janda, 1987 & 1988 for further research). Sounds serious, hey?! When it comes to your golf performance, it could well be the difference between getting (or not as the case may be) into those positions your golf coach has been talking about for the last few seasons!

In the first part of this blog, I’m going to focus on how desk posture leads to lower crossed syndrome and what you can do to fix it.

The habit of sitting over a period of years can lead to the main muscles in your golf swing becoming lazy, including the gluteals, also known as your buttocks! In your swing, the gluteals provide stability, rotation and power. If these important muscles aren’t firing properly, a variety of swing faults can emerge. Along with the gluteals not firing effectively, the hip flexors (the muscles on the front of the hips) and the lower back often become tight from too much desk time, which can lead to an altered pelvis position (too much forward tilt) when you address the golf ball. This altered set-up position can have consequences such as over-rotation (reversed spine angle) and may even increase the risk of injury and lower back pain.

In addition to the gluteals becoming weak, another culprit of adopting a lazy attitude and becoming weak when we sit for long periods of time is the abdominals. Without strong and functional abdominals it’s nearly impossible for us golfers to transfer forces up through the body and out to the arms and clubhead during the motion of the golf swing. So now you could be facing a situation where you have an unstable lower body (weak gluteals) trying to send forces up to a lazy abdominal region. It’s been said before that this scenario is like trying to do the shot put on an ice rink, or fire a canon from a canoe. We call this postural dysfunction Lower Crossed Syndrome (LCS) and this is shown on the right side of the image below with a normal posture on the left.

Solutions to overcoming LCS include strengthening the glutes through exercises such as Speed Skaters.

Coaching Points: Using a mini band, placed around both legs just above the knee, you should keep the torso tall and skate back and out to the side with alternating legs. You can imagine there is a raw egg behind you on either side, when you skate back you are not allowed to smash the egg with your toe tap on the floor! In other words, control the movement, use that front leg to squat down slightly and then return to a tall standing position after each rep. Complete 3 sets of 6 reps each side to begin.

As well as strengthening the weak areas of LCS we also need some flexibility work to take place and correct the tight hip flexors and erector spinae. The following hip flexor exercises involve using a roller to improve the muscle tissue quality and reduce tightness through the hips followed by a hip flexor stretch to increase flexibility in this area.

Coaching Points: For the rolling you should do 2 x 30 seconds on each side no more than 3-4 times per week to allow your muscles to recover from the massage effects of rolling. Use the free leg for support to reduce the pressure on the roller if it is too painful to begin with.

Coaching Points: The hip flexor stretch should be held for a minimum of 30 seconds on each side and completed every day when warm. You can increase the stretch by reaching tall and leaning slowly over to the side of the front leg. Do not twist the torso at all as you lean. The stretch should be felt on the front of the hip for the trail leg. Ensure the legs are far enough apart if you can’t feel the stretch.

Obviously there are more exercises to complete than this but start by giving these exercises a try and look out for my future post on upper body postural dysfunctions, how they affect your golf swing and what you can do to fix them.

This article appears courtesy of Jennifer Fleischer and Holistic Fitness. 

Holistic Fitness offers Golf Fitness and Performance Training, Strength and Conditioning Programs and Nutrition Coaching.  Jennifer Fleischer, the founder of Holistic Fitness, is a Titleist Performance Institute Certified Golf Fitness Instructor and a CHEK Practitioner, both of which require an advanced understanding of functional training and biomechanics.

Find out more at www.holisticfitsf.com and @HolistictFitSF.

Dr Ben Langdown is the Training Executive for Sports Science at the PGA National Training Academy at The Belfry. Alongside this Ben also works with many elite amateur and professional golfers providing strength and conditioning support. Ben has a PhD in the field of golf biomechanics, studying strength and conditioning for golf and movement variability in the swing.  Follow Ben at @BenLangdown.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.