Joey D: Verizon in the books; New Orleans on deck

Joey D checking in this morning from West Palm Beach. Saw my guys off Sunday morning in the trailer and hit the road in the afternoon. Drove from Hilton Head to Jacksonville for a pit stop and then continued out towards South Florida. Will rest up today and then back at it Tuesday morning when I head to New Orleans for this week's event. In the middle of a five-week run here with Charlotte next week and then Jacksonville for the PLAYERS.

Coming off a good week in South Carolina. Charlie Wi arrived in the trailer around 7:30am and put in some good work before Sunday's round. He had a rough ending to what started out a solid round (-2 after seven; final round 76), which is just how it goes sometimes. His attitude was right and his body was where he wanted it to be. Posture was good. Balance was good. Swing was right where we wanted it. It was a great Sunday morning session and we had high expectations. Things just didn't come together on the course during that final round.

Jason Dufner hung in there again this week. Back to back rounds of 69 over the weekend after a rough Friday round of 73. Dufner finished T26th which was his third best finish of 2009. Nice to see him close out the way he did. Hovering around the cut line for most of Friday and then solid play on the weekend. Jason shot -3 on the final ten holes Sunday, which helped him climb the leaderboard and will boost his confidence after a T77th finish a few weeks back in Houston. He did a great job managing his game this week. Very patient. Stayed within each shot. Very nice to see and was definitely a difference-maker this week.

We spent a lot of time this past week addressing Jason's hip tightness and shoulder issues, which played a big part in his ability to make a run this weekend. A lot of retraction work was done in the trailer this past week. Working with the PowerBandz and what not.

For those of you trying to replicate these exercises at home with the PowerBandz, remember the following. When you set up in your golf posture, your body and shoulders go forward beyond the neutral line and they protract. Doing retraction work with the bands, doing shoulder shrugs - exercises of this nature - will help combat your body's instinct. Get your shoulders neutral so your spine angle is correct and you're able to rotate to the top of your back swing. Focus on those muscles in between the shoulder blades as well as opening up the chest.

My third guy this past week was Tom Pernice Jr., who had a rough go of it with an opening round 78. He responded nicely with a second round 69 but still missed the cut by three strokes.

What really stands out for me this week with Tom is his dedication. After missing the cut on Friday, he was still in the trailer with me Saturday morning getting after it again. We had a 90 minute session and he remains dedicated to biomechanics and improving his game. Not too many Tour players would be in the trailer the morning after missing a cut. Tom was and that consistency and attitude are exactly what guys out here need to stay on top. This week was in the books, so his focus immediately turned to working towards next week and a solid run in New Orleans.

I want to congratulate Brian Gay on his runaway win this week. I've worked with Brian and his coach Chris Noss on several occasions and again we're talking about another top player and Tour winner who is committed to biomechanics. Coach Noss has his guys on a new program -- Stewart Cink, Sean O'Hair, Zach Johnson, Steven Ames -- we're seeing some great things out of all those guys both on the biomechanics front as well as on the course.

All in all it was another great week out here on the road. The Verizon was another top notch event. Great weather, great fan support and a great overall tournament. The wind got a little swirly out there and that had an impact as these are some of the smallest greens on Tour. 

Off to take care of some business with the little time I have at home during this stretch. I'll check back in from New Orleans later in the week. Keep those questions coming via Facebook or Twitter and we'll get your biomechanics questions answered a.s.a.p.


Joey D