New SKLZ Website Integrates Golf Fitness Training
21 Sep 2011
by Pete Wlodkowski of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Equipment Reviews
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- one of SKLZ' golf-specific fitness products
For 10 years, SKLZ has provided products
to help athletes train and improve.
“Practice, Play, Win” is one of
their mantras. SKLZ products, including the
popular Hit-A-Way baseball swing trainer, can
be found at thousands of retail outlets around
the world. (SKLZ golf training products can be
found in the
SKLZ Training Store on
amateurgolf.com.)
SKLZ has been extremely successful with
its golf division, with close to 100 different
training products covering putting, short game,
distance, and practice nets, mats, and
targets. A short list of their most popular
products includes: The Refiner Pro Graphite
(the only hinged graphite driver available);
Gyroswing (a training club with a gyroscope to
teach the proper takeaway and release); and
the Vari-Break Putting Green (a realistic at-
home putting surface which allows you to
practice breaking putts.)
Rick Smith -- one of golf’s top
instructors -- is a SKLZ partner and dozens of
his videos on www.sklz.com show the
product line in action. Thousands of PGA
members worldwide have incorporated those
same products into their teaching routine. Like
video golf swing analysis software, SKLZ
devices are another arrow in the quiver to
help golfers “feel” the correct
positions and groove them into the
subconscious.
A new partnership with Athlete’s
Performance has allowed SKLZ to bridge the
gap between their practice-oriented products
and the broader trend for all athletes to
achieve strength and endurance through
better fitness training. The entire website at
www.sklz.com has been
redesigned to reflect the new partnership.
"We've created a one-stop training
destination for any athlete who wants to
perform better in his or her sport," said
Greg Shoman, vice president of marketing,
SKLZ. "Our focus has shifted from simply
selling training products to creating an
immersive training experience for
athletes."
SKLZ partnership with Athletes’
Performance is huge.
Athletes’ Performance -- founded
by Mark Verstegen -- trains professional and
elite amateur athletes at four training centers
around the U.S. Their programs offer training,
nutrition, and physical therapy seamlessly
integrated under one roof by teams of
specialists. Prior to founding Athlete’s
Performance, Verstegen (who holds a masters
degree in exercise science) founded the
International Performance Institute at IMG
Academies in Florida.
What's in it for golfers?
In golf, we constantly hear about golfers
“strengthening their core” or
some other part of their 350-yard driving body,
and listen to Tour players discuss their fitness
regimen in post-round interviews. And
while most of us won’t hit 7-iron into a
par 5 anytime soon, we can without a doubt
add yardage and improve consistency through
fitness. Avoiding injury -- perhaps the most
important bi-product of training -- can mean
the difference between being competitive into
a player’s 40s versus their 60s, like
Tom Watson and many others have been.
On the new SKLZ website, there is an
immersive section devoted to golf fitness.
Much of the content is free to browse,
providing a nice combination of Rick Smith's
golf instruction with exercise routine's from
Athletes' Performance to help you strengthen
the pertinent areas. For example, in a
recently-released short-game section Rick
Smith discusses "hinge-pivot-hold"
and two medicine-ball videos from Athletes'
Performance show you the right way to train
for that pivot. (Click anywhere on the image at
right to view.) Of course, SKLZ can provide a
quality medicine ball and hundreds of other
fitness-related products. But unlike many web
storefronts, SKLZ provides education, and
motivation.
Along those lines, I don't think "New
Year's Resolution" is in the vocabulary at
SKLZ. The time to start is now. For players
looking to set goals, track their progress, and
get videos and content tailored to their goals,
SKLZ and Athletes' Performance offer the
MyEdge web training platform. For
$9.99/month or $99/year, you will have a
"15th club" to help you achieve
your golf goals, whether it's winning the US
Amateur or the 7th flight of your Club
Championship. Check it out at www.sklz.com/myedge.