Randy Chang, a nine-time Aloha PGA Section and Southern California PGA Section Award winner, a 2024 GFAA Industry Leaders Award winner and a GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, is the Owner/Operator at Randy Chang Golf Schools and the PGA of America Director of Instruction at The Journey at Pechanga in Temecula, California.
Randy Chang on the importance of blending golf and fitness:
I recently opened an indoor golf facility and have partnered with Dr. John Thomas, a doctor of physical therapy, orthopedic clinical specialist and fitness professional, for several years. Together, we strive to bring attention to body awareness in golf through our indoor studio and TPI-certified PGA of America Golf Professionals, TPI-certified Doctors of Physical Therapy and TPI-certified Physical Trainers. We get many of our Complete Golf Performance clients through our partner entities, and many of those individuals are older golfers who have been playing golf for decades. As they age, they are encountering ailments and injuries that are hindering their progress and enjoyment in golf – hip and knee replacements, back issues, rotator cuff and shoulder injuries are just a few. They are rehabbing through LOR Physical Therapy, but can’t play golf like they used to. They have to change their swings to conform to their bodies’ reduced capabilities. This is a market we didn’t anticipate. When first diving into the fitness aspect of game improvement, we considered the importance of training young kids, budding college players and serious players. We are, of course, also attracting clients from this latter market through our long-running PGA Jr. League golfers and actually have a 13U team formed from within our indoor business. As they start getting older, they have ambitions of playing collegiately. We train them as if they were playing other sports through the ADM model that is widely promoted through the PGA of America. They are joining our Complete Golf Performance membership program and are not only enjoying the gym, but the many programs we’re putting together to build strength, mobility, stability and more (especially speed training to keep up with the ever-increasing driving distances that young golfers continue to attain).
Randy Chang on the business impact of blending golf and fitness:
The impact of these efforts runs the gamut for our clients, including: Building the athlete first – Promoting stretching as much as strength training – Increasing speed, flexibility and endurance – and Focusing on these issues for at least 10-15 minutes of each golf lesson. Even with the everyday golfer, we are emphasizing the importance of stretching, focusing on function and performance, warming up by stretching and getting loose, conducting applicable drills that make you better and increasing speed. TPI certification is required among our Complete Golf Performance trainers. With the Titleist Performance Institute just a half hour away, we maintain stellar relationships with Dave Phillips and Dr. Greg Rose, who are often at our Southern California PGA teaching summits. With the new GFAA-TPI partnership just announced, PGA of America Golf Professionals and fitness professionals across the country will better understand the role of the other guy or gal in this collaboration between golf and fitness. We used to strive to “stay in our own lane” when first putting golf and fitness together – now the boundaries of those lanes are blurring, and we’re all benefitting from the cross-training and teamwork.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email randychang@pga.com.
