Hey Team Titleist!
I was fortunate enough to experience what I imagine is an experience usually only reserved for touring professionals; touring professionals who are also fortunate enough to have a sponsorship deal with Titleist. Admittedly, I didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before my fitting and was a bit like a kid the night before Christmas anticipating what I knew would be an amazing experience. I was up early the next morning, and arrived early to the facility. Early enough that the marine layer had yet to lift, early enough to see the dew still on the grass, and early enough to see the meticulous grounds crew hard at work. It took all of about five seconds to realize that the Titleist Performance Institute was a very special place.
After parking my car, I was promptly greeted by Senior Club Fitting Analyst, Dino Antenucci. I immediately felt welcomed at the facility by Dino and learned that he had been with Titleist for over 10 years, which gave me a ton of confidence in his ability and recommendations. He then showed me to the locker room where I was greeted with a personalized locker. Again, the attention to detail and tour quality experience cannot be overstated. I changed into my gym clothes and was excited to get my day started.
The first part of the day was a physical evaluation. No two golfers have the same body and of course no two golfers swing the same way. Having a fitness expert like David Orozco review my physical abilities first, made a lot of sense. I actually learned several things about my strength and flexibility that were completely new to me. I never would have thought something as simple as thumb flexibility would have much of an impact on the golf swing, but hearing David’s explanation about proper strength and flexibility in all parts of your body made me realize how little I knew about my swing, and about how much the team at TPI was going to be able to teach me.
Next up was the part of the day that tech nerds like me really will enjoy: the 3D swing evaluation. I was amazed at how accurately David’s analysis of my physical limitations translated into some of my swing faults. The amount of data the 3D analysis was able to provide was truly mind-boggling and it even picked up a few details that a traditional video analysis of my swing would have surely missed. Being able to accurately pick up the exact sequence of upper and lower body movements and seeing baseline versus ideal really showed me how important having this information is if you really want to improve your golf game. David was then able to translate that feedback and data into a specific workout regimen that I could then take back to the gym to help me overcome those physical limitations.
Once the team had a baseline assessment for my golf swing, it was back to meet with Dino to get fit for the proper clubs. David shared some of the information he gathered from my physical evaluation and 3D swing analysis with Dino so he could then incorporate that into my club fitting. After getting a sense for how I was hitting my current woods, irons and wedges, Dino talked to me about what I would like to improve in my ball flight. He then took that information, along with the Trackman stats from my current set, and ran me through several different club head and shaft options until we found the combination that provided the best results. With the proper club, I picked up 10 yards of distance with my driver and saw a much better ball flight with both my woods and irons.
The end result from this experience was that I learned a lot about my body, my golf swing, and was fit for a set of clubs that optimized my ability to hit the golf ball. I couldn’t be happier with the team at TPI and their process, it truly is unlike anything I’ve experienced and would recommend it highly to anyone who is serious about improving his or her game. Of course, the real proof that the system works is in my scores. I was a 9.0 index 5 months ago when I went through the process and as of last update, am currently at a 5.1. There was a lot of work along with that, but my TPI experience gave me the tools to get there.
You can see the videos of my experience here:
www.titleist.com/.../performance-institute
Let me know if you have any questions!