Bob Forman is the Health and Fitness Director at The Peninsula Club in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Throughout my career, I have implemented fitness programs at businesses, health and wellness centers and golf clubs from New York to North Carolina. These facilities had little to no fitness presence in place, which warranted a strategy that would serve as the framework for future growth. As the Health & Fitness Director at The Peninsula Club for the past year, we have put programs in place to improve members’ overall health and wellness, and positively affect their golf games as well. The biggest factor in these efforts is awareness.
You have to provide the hows and the whys of participating in a golf fitness program – tell them what it can do for them. To educate members and increase that awareness, I write newsletter articles and implement other means of disseminating information to members. This serves a few purposes: 1) to provide the education people need to make decisions; and 2) to provide an opportunity for the target audience to gain trust and confidence in you. Prior to COVID-19, I’d conduct 45-60-minute live workshops that explained
what golf fitness is and why individuals need to go through the screening process – essentially to identify their musculoskeletal deficiencies, discuss what we can do to correct them and the potential impact on their golf game and general health. I have even gone on radio talk shows to get my name out there and have provided video tips to gain the trust of my intended audience.
Once they gain a trust in you, they’ll start calling to discuss their physical ailments and the aspects of their golf game that may be affected, usually distance off the tee and stamina. This is how you start building a clientele. Of course, the live workshops are not happening now amid the coronavirus pandemic, but they can go on via Zoom or FaceTime. On one hand, you miss that in-person engagement – but on the other, you are able to inform and educate a greater number of people at one time.
Just as golf professionals must gain the trust of their potential students, so do health and fitness professionals. It often helps to get some of the better players at the club on board – work with them and have them sing your praises. Educate the PGA Professional staff on the benefits of golf fitness so they can be a champion for your budding program and spread that vital awareness, as well.
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