Monday, June 27, 2011

Freddy Jacobson Captures His First PGA Tour Victory In Hartford!


Fredrik Jacobson played 71 bogey free holes to clinch his first PGA Tour victory in Hartford at the Travelers Tournament yesterday. His exceptional short game skills proved to be the winning edge he needed to get his first win in a little over 8 years on the PGA Tour.

Freddy is very committed to his physical fitness and developing his golf strength. That's why, when at home, he can be found working with Coach Joey D at the GolfGym Academy in Jupiter, Florida. His workouts are intense and very focused. He really likes to come in and, in his words, "Smash It Up".

This is just the start of many more wins on the PGA Tour.

(See the post from last week containing some of Freddy's workout routine)

Monday, June 20, 2011

Freddy Jacobson Was In The Hunt At The U.S. Open


Fredrik Jacobson was in the hunt at the U.S. Open this past weekend. He played exceptionally well on Saturday to be tied for 2nd at one point during the round. He suffered three bogeys and one double bogey down the stretch on Sunday and went on to finish T14.

Following are some exercises we posted here about a year ago. Freddy has really improved in his strength and overall conditioning which was demonstrated at Congressional last week.

Freddy visits the GolfGym Academy regularly while he is at his home in Jupiter, Florida. He works very hard at keeping as golf fit as possible.

Coach Joey D puts Freddy through a biomechanically sound set of exercises to get his body in top physical shape. The average person doesn't really understand how dedicated many of the PGA Tour players are to their conditioning and fitness. Most of the players on the PGA Tour have realized that staying fit and doing regular golf specific exercise is the key to injury free longevity on the Tour.

Here is an exercise that is working on rotation using the PowerBandz affixed firmly at a high level on the wall. No, Freddy is not left handed, but Joey always has his athletes perform exercises on both sides of the body. As he always says, "What you to on the left side, you have to do on the right side". The start position is at the midway point of the downswing just before impact.
The movement pattern brings the hands to the impact position under resistance. This helps to strengthen the muscles involved in the rotation of the upper body, but also helps to strengthen the hands and arms to work in unison while rotating.

This next exercise is an extremely difficult one to do correctly and requires strength, balance and most importantly dedication. All of which Freddy possesses. It involves balancing on the ball while pulling yourself up tight against the rings. Joey is always there to help with those incredibly difficult last few reps. This is a full body exercise requiring some serious concentration and grit.
Here Fredrik is working on his legs and arms (biceps) by using dumbbells, the balance ball and a wall. Start by dropping into a deep squat (90 degrees) while pressing the ball into the wall and holding the dumbbells to your side. While coming up out of the squat to a full standing position, you curl the dumbbells to the finished position. One more execution with this exercise is to press the dumbbells straight up above your head. Repeat the process with as many reps as you can perform well without compromising form.

Rotation is a key component in golf. Most people when asked would say that flexibility is the most important part of rotation. The truth is that flexibility is critical to how far you can rotate, but strength is essential in acceleration and deceleration. You have to be able to stop your club after a full swing at between 70 - 100 mph of acceleration or you would spin around right out of your shoes.

In this exercise, Freddy is using a heavy dumbbell to lift and rotate. Starting in a firm bent over posture and stabilized with his left arm, Freddy reaches down with the dumbbell then rotates his upper body as far as possible while lifting the weight to his chest. Again, you must perform this exercise with both arms (on both sides).
Joey is pointing at Freddy's shoulder to help him get to full rotation and lift. Strengthening your back and shoulders and core will give you better overall control and help you stay injury free in the long run.

Finished!!
Here is Freddy with Ken Pierce and Coach Joey D looking very happy that his conditioning session is over for today. We are also laughing because Ken told Freddy that his shirt was too short....and Freddy told Ken that his pants were too high.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Kris Blanks Playing Well at the FedEx St. Jude in Memphis


It's great to see one of our GolfGym Academy regulars playing well at the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis this week. PGA Tour Professional Kris Blanks has struggled a bit this year, mostly with putting and had some confidence issues as well. He was on top of the leaderboard for most of the first round and finished T2 after everyone was in the clubhouse. Kris finished T10 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.

I heard him interviewed on PGA.com and although he talked about some of the issues he was working on, his confidence was high.

This video of Kris demonstrates two great ways to develop core strength and stability while maintaining a neutral spine.


On the first exercise, be sure to start your reach closer in to maintain stability, then reach 3-4" further on each rep. Kris is using a small dumbbell under each hand.

On the second exercise, try to reach as far as possible through and across the body and as far as possible to the ceiling on the chest opener. Maintain stability and engaged your core.

Kris is a big Twitter guy, so you can follow him on twitter @krisblanks

Later.
Coach Joey D
www.golfgym.com/joeyd

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