Will Reilly, the 2007 PGA of America Player Development Award winner, the 2005 PGA of America Youth Player Development Award winner, a two-time Philadelphia PGA Section Player Development Award winner, a two-time Section Youth Player Development Award winner and the 2008 Section Golf Professional of the Year, is a Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Elite Growth of the Game Teaching Professional and the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Sailfish Sands Golf Course in Stuart, Florida.
Will Reilly on the importance of implementing fitness tools into your game improvement process:
My involvement with the Randy Myers Golf Stretching Pole spans several decades, dating back to when my father Hugh Reilly, PGA, and Randy Myers were developing the original model. Demonstrating our family’s commitment to the product, my two brothers, who are also PGA of America Members, have also played a vital role in the development and promotion of the pole. This tool can be used on the golf course, as it has been approved for use during play by the USGA. As many readers might attest, when you get to be my age, you need to stretch as much as you can and as often as possible so it’s less painful. I use the stretching pole in all of our player development programs, from the NGF’s Welcome 2 Golf Program to help beginners realize the benefits of flexibility to our high-level player development programs. We also use the pole for our Power Principal Program geared towards experienced golfers who are interested in hitting the ball farther with less effort and preventing injury. Most beginners don’t want to stretch – they just want to hit the golf ball and have fun. But they find the more they can stretch and relax their small muscles, the easier it is to keep their balance as they turn, and that helps to enhance their golf development. By having them stretch out their big muscles, they get an extended range of motion and have more time to transition their energy from the top of their backswing to impact, which leads to better balance, more club head speed and more solid centeredness of contact.
Will Reilly on the business impact of implementing fitness tools into your game improvement process:
Perhaps the greatest impact is in our PGA HOPE program. About half of the veterans who we serve have never played golf before, and they struggle with turning their bodies in balance. The pole creates stability like another leg in the ground so golfers can make a larger turn, elongating their muscles and creating more elasticity to then transition through impact into a balanced finish. Our students enjoy utilizing the pole because it takes very little effort to make golf-specific stretches, and if I ever forget the pole, they ask me to retrieve it so they can get loose before the lesson. Many country clubs leave stretching poles on the practice areas for members to use before they warm up. I feel using the stretching pole with my students adds credibility and has helped me gain their confidence because they realize maintaining their flexibility helps them harness energy and deliver it while maintaining their balance.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email wreilly305@gmail.com.
