Unofficial Review - TPI Virtual Assessment

[Shrek74]

My main swing issues come in my downswing. I have trouble getting from my back foot to my lead side and then opening up my front hip to clear the way for my arms and club. This has caused casting and flipping over the many years I’ve played this game. Something I’m working on, but it’s been slow going.

Why did I just tell you that? We’ll get there.

Initial Thoughts

I had been toying with the idea of finding a TPI certified expert locally for a few months. I found the closest experts were about 45-50 miles away, in either direction from me. So that put a bit of a crimp in my initial plan. So, I sat on my initial plan for a while, trying to determine if seeing one that far away would still be beneficial knowing I wouldn’t really be able to see them in person on a regular basis like I would if they were truly “local.”

In all honesty, I really didn’t know much more about these assessments than what I’d seen on various YT channels. Those videos are obviously skewed a bit as they’re usually invited out to Oceanside and meet with Dr. Greg Rose in person, something you and I can’t really do (at least the meeting with Dr. Rose part).

Even though the experience us average Joe’s/Jane’s can sign up for are not really the crazy awesome one’s we see on YT (Chasing Scratch, No Laying Up), I decided it was going to be beneficial enough to really investigate and try. I reached out to a TPI certified expert through an IG post I ran across, where he was asking for a few avid golfers who would be interested in gaining 20+ yards through “improved mobility & strength” over a 12-week program. This came across my feed just as I was pondering what I was going to do. So, I took it as a sign, and I reached out.

We did a bit of messaging about me and my health, him and his background, and the program before we both committed to the assessment.

What was tested

The assessment focused on 3 main areas – hip mobility, torso rotation, and shoulder rotation. These tend to be the 3 most important areas in the golf swing.

I did do a specific squat at the beginning in addition to the other movements, but we really didn’t do any leg stuff beyond that. The squat was more a part of the hip mobility tests than any leg test. I did find this surprising, though.

We essentially worked our way up the body with the various movements he had me perform. He demonstrated them first, explaining what he was looking for and what areas of the swing they affected. Then I performed them. He took angle measurements for each movement to see my range of motion and made notes. He would ask if there was any discomfort with each movement and some times asked where I was feeling any stretching or pulling.

Although I don’t remember all the movements now (when I do this again, I’m going to make notes), I was surprised there weren’t more things to cover. Perhaps that was due to the limitations of the virtual assessment and not having access to specific items needed for additional movements.

The Good/Bad/In-Between

When doing anything like this, you need to go in with an open mind. Unless you’ve done a ton of these and know exactly what your body is going to do, being open minded about the movements and what may or may not occur is the only way you’ll get the full experience and your TPI expert will be able to fully assess you. Asking questions about or requesting clarification on a movement is one thing, but constantly pushing back on the TPI expert when they ask you to do something is entirely inappropriate. Follow their directions and do your best.

When going through the initial discussions, be sure to be completely open and honest about your health. If they don’t know you had back surgery, they may have you do something that causes pain and discomfort that can completely be avoided. So be sure to tell them all your physical issues and/or limitations. It might actually be a good idea to write them down before going in for the assessment so you don’t forget anything. I have them listed on my phone in a text file, in case I’m at a doctor’s appointment and they ask me about something that I can’t remember.

After we were done, I was pleasantly surprised with my results. Although not perfect, I wasn’t as bad as I thought. Sure, I have a lot of work ahead of me to get back into proper shape. But as far as movement and rotation goes, I’m pretty good.

Post Assessment Thoughts

I have a simple recommendation – go get an assessment. Regardless of what you do after the assessment (use their plan, find your own plan, do nothing, etc.), you should go have an assessment done. If you get nothing else out of it, like me, you’ll likely find out where your physical issues and limitations are in your body and how those issues and limitations affect your actual swing. The assessments won’t be free, and the programs they offer I’m sure won’t be either. But if you’re truly interested in learning about your body’s abilities and limitations and how they affect your swing, an assessment will certainly help you target shortcomings that can help you play better golf, without (or with less) pain, for many more years.

My other recommendation - try your best to do the assessment in person. Virtual assessments are great if you don't have a TPI expert close enough. But I feel doing it in person, in their office with all of their equipment and such will allow more detailed movements to be completed and the TPI expert can evaluate you in a far more efficient, effective, and accurate manner. I'll be looking to do one locally now that I've had this experience.

Final Thought

Now, getting back to what I mentioned at the very beginning – my swing issues. At the completion of the assessment, we did a bit of review of the various movements and the results. As it turns out, the one main area in need of work is my left hip. It doesn’t move as well as my right hip does. That essentially translates into why my backswing rotation is so good, but my downswing rotation is not. That one main area of my swing I’m trying to work on and improve, was seen and evaluated during the assessment. So now I have proof of an issue and can target that area a bit more than the whole to help improve it and gain that rotation I need in my downswing.

[cksurfdude]

Dude great info, great write up! It's really interesting that you could evaluated as much as that virtually .. in fact curious how they could actually measure you? Guessing they based on the amount of movement they can see, they can then infer / extrapolate that to a value.

So based on the eval you do have a specific program to address your lead hip issue?

[TJ Hall]

Looks like you got some good insights from the session, hopefully you got some tips to help with the hip.

[Shrek74]

2 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Dude great info, great write up! It's really interesting that you could evaluated as much as that virtually .. in fact curious how they could actually measure you? Guessing they based on the amount of movement they can see, they can then infer / extrapolate that to a value.

So based on the eval you do have a specific program to address your lead hip issue?

Many of the movements had me in a position facing the camera where he could use a measuring app (or something) on his screen and put lines for start to finish and get measurements. Or maybe he's just done enough of these he's good at estimating. Hard to know for sure.

He'll put together a program for me that's a combo of overall weight training, movement, flexibility and such plus some directed activities for my hip imbalance.

[cksurfdude]

On 9/28/2024 at 8:56 PM, Shrek74 said:

He'll put together a program for me that's a combo of overall weight training, movement, flexibility and such plus some directed activities for my hip imbalance.

Nice. Def gonna look into this next Spring!

[Shrek74]

3 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Nice. Def gonna look into this next Spring!

You might consider it here in the fall. That way the program they give you (should you decide to do it) will be your off-season program. That when you start up again in the Spring, you'll be all ready to go. Just a thought.