Sit back and get ready to take off with Dynamic Golf.
So hey welcome back Dynamic Golf listeners.
I'm your co-host Tim McElwana and with me today is Sean Klotz.
Sean, tell us a little bit about what's going on today.
Well we got a special guest today Tim , pretty excited about this gentleman.
Coach Ray Torres, he owns a business called Fit for Life and I think it's going to be
a great way to kind of expose our listeners to sort of the kind of the crossing between
fitness, golf, mental strategy, you know nutrition, sort of all those things combined that sometimes
we take for granted as to why we're not getting the scores that we want and also maybe you
know the insight into somewhat the tour players do on a daily basis that makes them you know
so good.
So hey Ray we're really happy to have you.
Yeah welcome Ray.
Tim and John it's a pleasure to be on with you guys.
I'm super excited.
I've been nonstop talking about this all day.
That's great to hear.
I'm glad you're pumped and excited.
We're excited over here as well.
You know with the off season coming up for golf I figured this is a great way for some
of our listeners to kind of get a little bit you know stronger in the off season, kind
of work on their mental preparation and other things like that you know for those things.
Yes all good things.
So you've been doing personal coaching and group coaching for what about 15 years now
or so?
Yep going on 16 this year.
Finally became legitimized last year and that's when I started the Fit for Life company.
Great.
And I've just been doing that since last year.
LLC you know taxed everything, taken care of.
So we are totally legit.
Great I love it.
I love it.
So also I saw in your bio you're a little bit you come from a little bit of a different
sport you're a golf enthusiast but your love for sport was boxing is that correct?
Yes sir.
And as you remember we were in high school together many many decades ago.
And it was very strange for me now to see a lot of these high school athletes that don't
cross over to other sports you know.
We grew up playing different kinds of sports if it wasn't baseball we were going to soccer,
if it wasn't soccer we were going to football.
So I think a lot of the cross training for athletes has diminished a bit throughout the
years.
Well I think you get on to a good point.
I think a lot of students or parents now try to get them hyper focused on to one sport
and don't as you said don't have them crossed over.
Yes sir.
So Ray I mean again you know I'm 53 T-Max younger than myself so that means you're a
little bit younger as well.
It is that thing right.
I mean we did we went down you know we sound like the old guys Ray but like we went down
to the ball field we went to the basketball court.
Yes sir.
We went to the golf course like you didn't need a formalized club or the travel teams
or whatever right.
You just went and played with your friends and mom told you to be home at dark and you
were home at dark type of thing.
And as you read and you kind of like listen to just the elite athletes like Wayne Gretzky
is one of them.
Jerry Rice is another one.
Pele there was a documentary a couple of years ago I watched with my daughter and it just
it was so perfectly said that the reason why these guys were so good is because they their
hand eye coordination their balance which is part of your boxing world.
It's part of our golf world like their body awareness.
They knew what they were doing in different almost different motions right.
So it wasn't so specific to just throwing a pitch on their miles an hour you know 80
times a game.
Yeah.
Yes sir.
I go I I quote Jack Nicholas.
Yeah when I when I speak to people especially about golf fitness you know Jack was is one
of the best you know and he's been known to say that he's been able in the middle of the
swing he's been able to take off multiple things at one time and still execute that
swing perfectly.
You know whether it's just whether it was grip pressure whether it was hips not aligned
whether he too much too much left leg in it.
But before he even made contact with the ball and I feel that came a lot from not just him
being a great golfer just being a great athlete.
He played baseball he played basketball he played football.
Yeah.
And I think he got a scholarship at Ohio State for basketball wasn't it.
If I'm if I'm.
Yes you did.
Yes he did.
I mean what a hell of an athlete right there.
Again I was telling I think I was telling team act this like I just recently watched
they did a sports center special on Patrick Mahomes and it was amazing watching him play
basketball in high school and he said you know he's like quarterbacks not much different
than being a point guard.
It's really just disperse you know distributing the ball to a different place in a different
spot and you know he couldn't dunk but he like went up over somebody in a game because
he kind of had the adrenaline and like again it's just like don't be so like cordoned
off in your thinking that you can only swing one way.
We'll bring it back to golf right.
You can only putt one way.
How many how many trips do we see on the golf course.
You know I go to this gentleman.
Many years ago you know I'm a self-taught golfer.
I started working at a local golf local course called it's called Silverado now but it was
a you know a different name back in the day and that's where I got.
Yep so that's where I got my love for golf.
But I remember there was a pro out there and he even told me this was pre-internet or pre-videos
and everything.
You don't want to listen to everybody.
You just want to listen to yourself.
And I didn't understand that till I really started getting into golf and finding my swing.
Right.
Yeah.
I've probably I've probably had one coach in my life and that is the Rick Smith DVD
from the golf channel from 2002.
That is.
Oh it's so bad but I still have it and I hope to one day meet Mr. Smith and tell him thank
you for his great coaching.
That's good.
So you know when you work with some golfers Ray are there any like you know specific things
that you kind of you know try to translate from boxing kind of into the golf and stuff
like this as far as your approach to training or helping these these individuals as you
go through with your training with them.
Absolutely so just like just like boxing and golf it's an individual sport.
So I always approach it in that manner.
And because you've got you've got no one else to lean on except yourself.
In boxing it's the opponent on the other side of the ring.
In golf it's the golf course you're trying to be and the golf course is trying to beat
you.
So keep that frame of mind that you want you want the victory.
You don't want the golf course to get the upper hand on you.
So I guess my question to my question to Sean right now is is why did you go with golf instead
of boxing if you wanted a personal sport.
That's just a little joke between me and Sean because he always he always wanted the personal
individual attention but you know.
Also also was he too.
I wouldn't have been able to do it either but that's great.
You know I never really kind of thought about boxing and golf in the same way but you're
absolutely right.
It is an individual sport.
It is you against an opponent in golf.
It is the golf course in boxing is the opponent.
But that's that's a great analogy right there.
Right.
Yes sir.
I mean the training right.
You know when you're training for boxing and yeah I mean like I said I'm not I'm not what
you guys are.
I'm not getting close to that type of athlete but that I'm going to really be I could get
in trouble like people talking about caddyshark for us when they talk about when you watch
Rocky like literally when you watch like like when you think of like how dedicated the boxers
are to their that the fight night is just part of the deal right.
Yes sir.
Six months to a year and a half beforehand.
Yeah by the literally drinking the eggs or whatever you want to call it.
You don't get the glory during those times and that's when you got a strike.
You got to do all that stuff just like us golfers like we have to get up and we have
to go chip and putt for two hours and get hit balls for two hours and go maybe play
nine holes.
We're not playing 18 holes.
It's not the way that Tiger ever really got ready for a major.
It was always about the practice the stuff you're putting into it on the times when the
camera's not there bottom line.
Yes.
Yep.
It's that it's that individual work to get you ready.
Normally so if I was prepping a fighter or golfer I would want them to give me 90 days
before their first tournament.
Yep.
And so I could get them in tune with what they need to do and that is to win.
You know the sport is fun it's a great sport but if you're going to make it to the professional
level and beat at that level it's to win.
It's not to hold hands and beat Kumbaya.
And forgive me gentlemen because sometimes I may not be so PC you know.
That's fine.
Yeah that's the way I've always felt.
It's one of those things.
That's another Tiger thing.
I was about to say it seems like a very Tiger eyes kind of the way of thinking right.
Tim what was that like?
Yeah what was that like maybe even I don't know sometime this year a reporter asked him
you know is it the British Open or wherever he's at and like Tiger do you really think
you can win?
He's like and he just looks at the guy deadpan like why would you think I'm here?
Like there's no other reason to come unless I thought I could win.
And Ray what you're saying is so perfect.
We're not trying to play for fifth place right?
No who wants to play for fifth place?
Absolutely.
But it's that whole mindset you know I mean it's amazing just you know having that mindset
for Tiger though even though the body isn't there anymore the mindset is still there and
that's training that's discipline you know it's what coach Ray is talking about right
here having that mindset and hammering it in.
Absolutely no one no one picked Tiger to win the Masters a few years ago.
Right.
Everybody wrote him off to what he do when I didn't win the Masters again.
Yep.
You know when him when him and Rocco were having that battle for the US Open many many
years ago he was playing on a broken leg.
Yep.
Yeah.
And they had to finish the game on Monday.
Yeah go play 18 more.
Go play 18 more.
Yeah.
So that's that fusion of mental that's the fusion of mental and physical then right.
Absolutely.
That time.
Absolutely.
But I love the a good coach Coach Jason many years ago he gave me this he gave me this
jewel.
He said boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical and I transfer that to the golf course as
well because we have to we have to read the greens we have to see how it's running on
the fairway.
We've got to see how the sand is flowing that day.
Can I go for it.
Can I not go for it.
Is my swing going to him.
Am I am I shaking it left.
You know am I going to play with that.
You know how am I going to get out of this rut.
And so for me golf is the same way as boxing 80% mental 20% physical the physical aspect
of it is and forgive me for saying it this way for me it's been easy.
I've always been an active person.
Now when I deal with when I deal with golfers that are not active you know and they just
want to you know get better.
A couple of things I go through is are you are you drinking while you're playing your
round.
Yeah.
And most not vodka and soda right.
We're talking.
Well.
So and that's always going to have an effect you know.
Yeah.
And it's time.
There's time for adult beverages after the round if you want to play good.
Correct.
No.
You know are there you know with with the you know the fitness side of it you know how
you know you're touching on the performance of it you know what are some other key aspects
you know just not just hydration but could you touch into a little bit of like maybe
the nutrition like what's maybe what should a golfer throughout a round maybe eat snacks
or anything like that.
Would that be kind of induce it for a good good round.
Absolutely.
I'm a snacker.
Okay.
So.
But I don't I don't want to bust out a complete sandwich out on the golf course.
I always recommend a decent something decent in the morning before you're around a small
breakfast nothing too greasy maybe some egg whites nice whole wheat bagel.
And definitely I'm a fan of Gatorade.
Some folks aren't.
Okay.
Some folks aren't a fan of you know the sports drinks and things of that nature.
But there's some stuff that there's some stuff that water just can't give you.
Okay.
Yep.
So you know out there have getting your electrolytes in.
I'm I'm really big into fruit now.
Okay.
What kind of fruit.
Yeah.
I love I love me some apples bananas and oranges.
Okay.
Those are my those are my three go to's.
And grapes.
And I'm not.
But with grapes is a the awesome thing about grapes is it's tasty and it's hydrate it's
hydrating you at the same time.
Good.
So you're getting your you're getting you're getting your natural sugar.
You're getting hydration out of it and it's good tasting.
So you know so I definitely want folks to you know keep some keep some nuts and some
fruits with them and some electrolyte whether it be propel you know that's out there as
well too.
Folks don't like Gatorade.
You know I'm I'm a watered down Gatorade kind of guy.
You know.
Because in Florida nothing stays cold when you got it in the cooler.
Yeah.
No not at all.
No.
Does it have too much sugar.
I know it's a specific question but that's the thing you hear about Gatorade compared
to some of the other.
Is it is it okay because you are doing exercise and you are working.
You see the athletes doing it.
You know.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I know a good a trainer another trainer gave me to gave this jewel to me.
He said when Gatorade tastes funny you're hydrated.
Okay.
When it tastes delicious like it's like oh my god you're dehydrated.
That's really good.
That makes sense too because I know that I've you know like you said pick it up in the store
driving or something and you're like this isn't very good.
This isn't very good.
After a good workout or in the middle of a round you're like that's tasty.
I need another one of those.
You know.
Yeah.
So that was a jewel that another trainer gave me because I had you know we asked these questions
amongst each other and he said you know and I said yeah if it tastes good you're dehydrated.
If it doesn't taste good you're hydrated.
Drink water.
Wow.
So hey I got 15 minutes right.
I'm one of those listeners who I've got 15 minutes in the morning.
I can we can always find more time.
That's the biggest excuse that I hear and you hear as far as why people don't workout or
practice right.
I don't have the time.
Well okay you got 15 minutes in the world.
You can figure something out.
My point is like if you were going to tell the listeners okay I've got 15 minutes I'm
going to carve it out in the morning or at night.
I don't care.
What is the are you telling them to work on stretching?
Are you telling them to do some specific weight training?
You know what's the specific kind of give me one two maybe three at the most because
we only got 15 minutes.
Things that they can do to I'm going to go with the you know increased distance in a
golf swing and basically the way that I see my golf game as I've gotten older is I can
play 12 holes really well but those last four or five I'm not playing as well because I'm
not in as good a shape as I was or whatever.
So big open end question but kind of fill that in if you can.
No problem.
So if a client comes to me or an individual or a friend you know and they ask me that
same question the first thing I'm going to tell them is work on your putting.
Work on your putting because putting you know what do we do gentlemen?
We drive for show and what do we do?
We putt for dough.
Now if they will say you know I do that you know I work on my golf swing and stuff like
that what can I do for the 15 minutes that I've got in the morning?
Definitely work on your flexibility.
Work on your flexibility and this is for anyone.
If you are having difficulty touching your toes you're struggling with your flexibility.
I'm 49 years old gentlemen and I can still touch my toes.
We talk about that all the time me and T-Mac on some of the podcasts and even just when
we work together.
It's amazing how you know and you don't want to be like not PC but you got to tell Mr.
Smith or Mrs. Smith you know you're not only out of shape you have no flexibility so the
fact that you think that you're going to hit a golf ball as well as I do and the kind of
things we put into this thing and I don't care to me Ray I'm glad you said flexibility
because I was kind of leading you there like I think it's like I don't care what you do
but get out of bed and do something.
Does that make sense?
Go walk around the park for 10-15 minutes get a little cardio going get something going.
I just finished up a 60-day workout challenge on Facebook where I was video potting myself
going to the gym in the morning and then I would post the workout afterwards and you
know and my whole thing was people get up and get active whether it's get out there
walk the dogs play with the kids go to the gym at six o'clock in the morning which sucks
you know and I did that I did that for a few reasons.
Number one reason I wanted to start putting myself out there in the podcast in the video
cast world.
Number two I always you know I'm used to working out in the afternoons that's always been my
go-to so I started the first 30 days working out at 630 7 o'clock in the morning.
I wanted to change the dynamic of myself and I will tell you this gentleman it changed
a lot of things but the one thing it really helped me with was my focus.
I literally could tell you that I wouldn't get aggravated too much throughout the day
once if that workout was done in the morning but if I saved it for the afternoon I would
use some of the frustration I got out in the day for workout fuel.
I'm a different beast like that you know either way.
Which one do I prefer?
I definitely prefer afternoons instead of mornings but when I was getting them done
in the morning I was able to accomplish a lot more in the afternoon and I could squeeze
in nine if I wanted to.
Tim do you play better and great for you too but do you guys have a better time of day
when you play better?
For me it's the morning time.
For me it's always been the morning time.
I love the afternoon conditions where it's dry and ready to go but I think for my mind
and headspace being out there in the morning is where I get the best work done.
I agree with that as well.
I remember when I would play doubles and I'd go in for lunch and play that second round
but I would notice that what would be funny was that my score would be better on that
second round because like you said conditions were different.
You already played it once so you remember oh damn it rolled funky on green number five
so I'm gonna go for this way.
On hole seven I hit it in the sand when I went for it so I'm gonna cut down one and
get in front of that sand.
I'm a morning guy myself.
That's good.
We got friends that are both right?
We got friends that play much better golf after one o'clock mostly because of the alcohol
consumption after one o'clock.
Right?
You go play pool against some people.
Some people are much better playing pool with a couple drinks in them than they are without
drinks in them type of thing.
We call it swing oil in the industry or whatever you want to call it.
This weekend myself with my lady we own our own pool table and I was doing good for a
little while there and I messed up and said hey baby let's have a beer.
She mopped the floor with me three games in a row.
So it can work both ways huh?
I said one beer boy she got her eye right there bam bam bam.
So Ray what are some common exercises or drills that you kind of give some of the golfers
or would you recommend to a golfer that's listening to the podcast?
What's a drill that would most benefit them?
Any body weight movement, body weight exercises because we're focusing so much on our body
and swinging that club.
You don't need to get in there and get on the bench and start benching 225.
There's no need for that.
You're not going to do it.
I would say focus on your body weight movements, body weight push ups, body weight squats,
body weight lunges.
Anything that has to deal with your own body weight and focus on that.
And that makes a lot of sense.
I mean I think one of the big things that me and Sean have to deal with on a day to
day basis with some of our students is weight transfer.
So I think that kind of goes hand in hand with what we kind of talk about on the podcast
here.
Wouldn't you agree Sean?
Yeah I was actually working with a young lady this morning and I got two different stories.
So I worked with a young lady this morning meaning she's probably 23, 24 years old and
she comes at it from a field hockey and a softball background.
Okay.
Second lesson height.
Good athlete.
Yeah good athlete.
Now there's again difference right?
Good athlete but can you control your body in the way we're talking about.
So when I show her the video of her swing and she's hitting everything out to the right
which is kind of the normal thing and it's not a slice team act.
It's kind of this like you're standing next on the side of her and she's almost hitting
you because the ball's coming off the toe of the club so quickly.
Okay.
But her swing path and getting a little technical in the world that's fine.
Swing path is outside in.
She's swinging across the ball left and then I'd show her the shoulders and they're so
open.
So open in fact because she's got the field hockey mentality like almost you know right
hand way down the shaft.
Think of somebody in the field hockey position.
Their shoulders are way open.
Yeah.
It's funny like all right we got to change this.
We got to go the other way.
It's going to be really weird to make me swing to the right to make the ball go to the left
because right now the ball is going to the right because you're swinging so far left.
Yeah.
And you know once you show them on video once they see it again an athlete once they see
it they're like oh now I understand what you mean.
The other thing with that is minimal like our motions and golf swings.
This is my tagline.
One of my taglines Ray is pro golfers are efficient.
Amateur golfers are inefficient.
Wow.
The motions that the professional golfers they don't take four exits to get to the same
part of the world.
They take one exit.
We take six exits.
You know they do six things on the way to the top of the backswing when why are you
making it so challenging.
Like just and it sounds so simple to us sounds so simple to you and your world.
But so those two things combined is like just being aware of where they come from what sport
they're coming from what background they're doing and being able to see that as a teacher
like OK now I understand why you do it.
So we got to make it go the other way.
But then then just you know so you just you know what I did with it right.
I went OK let's go nine to three.
Let's take it.
Let's take a small practice swing small chipping motion and she's like that's not going to
be big enough and she hit the best one of the day.
Yeah.
Swing half follow through.
And you see that that glow in their eyes like they just got hooked by a fish.
You know they're they're they're hooked to the game for life after that.
You know that.
Yeah.
You got to you got to know who you're working with.
Like Ray said hey I'm not going to teach you to touch your toes if you can't touch your
shins.
Yeah.
Touch your shins first.
Yeah.
You know I'm touching your toes.
You know I think one of the great things I learned from you Sean is that you know you
don't need to start with the full swing.
You just need to kind of start with the chipping motion the small motion first and then we
start to graduate right.
As you used to say like we don't just start off on the triple diamond going down the hill
right.
Oh you know let's start small and and progress forward.
Hey let's let's go play let's go play golf on the black tee to start us off.
Let's do it.
Yeah.
No.
I grew up on a par three course Ray.
I mean I'm so glad I grew up on a par three course.
My dad brought me there for the first two years and you just learn you your short.
You know I probably would have been defeated if I started off on a regular length golf
course when I was 13 years old.
Yeah.
So no and then and then to your point Ray of what you do on that on the personal training
world.
Yeah.
Okay Ray I'm going to come in.
I need to lose 25 pounds by you know by six weeks from now.
Well I'm not your guy right.
Right.
Well you know I when when folks come to me and you know it all depends on what their
goal is you know.
Like I said I'm enjoying working with golfers and that's that's the that's the role I want
to go and they say you know I want to lose weight.
Well let's see what you eat.
You know let's check it out.
You know there's there's some folks out there that can survive for one meal a day and there's
some folks out there that do four or five meals a day.
I'm not saying I'm not saying either one of them is bad.
We just got to figure out what works for you.
I mean that's Michael Phelps you read some of what his intake was during his training
and stuff.
But when you're expending that many calories.
Yes.
You're that tall and your your heart's the size of a horse or whatever.
Like you know there's all these different factors that come into play.
But absolutely so.
But if someone came to me and said hey hey coach I want to get I want to get better in
golf but I feel like I'm a little overweight.
The first thing I would say is let's you know let's let's just cut our soda.
You drink soda.
Let's cut our soda.
Let's cut our soda for a week and see how you feel.
Let's see how you feel after a week.
Yeah.
Can we not eat after six o'clock at night right or those types of things.
Absolutely.
One of the biggest devastating is I want to say is bread.
OK.
Bread.
I had a car in the mind.
She was trying to lose some weight and I said do me a favor miss Amber.
Let me know how many sandwiches you eat in a day.
And sure enough she came back a week later and she said wow coach I'm eating three sandwiches
a day.
I said exactly.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's a lot of carbs a lot of bread right there.
A lot of people don't think bagels or sandwiches are like delicious sandwiches.
But if you're eating you know a bagel breakfast sandwich in the morning and then you get a
chick fil a for delicious chicken sandwich there and then you go home for maybe a delicious
pasta dinner with some what garlic bread.
But I think you bring up a great point there Ray.
I think a lot of people they don't really realize what they're eating.
You know they're not really understanding what they're consuming.
It's just a moment.
And if you know if they if you have them recorded or you know you know take a note of it they
really do kind of look and go wow I can't believe I'm eating this many calories.
I mean I think people just get lost in today's you know you know busy society and they're
just they forget about what they're eating or what it is they're putting in their mouth.
It's also the business it's also the busyness of our lives now.
You know it's easier to get a sandwich and convenience easier to get.
Yeah it's easy it's easier to get a delicious public sub you know.
And they are delicious.
A little plug for publics.
It's publics right on.
Your subs are the bomb boys.
So it's true.
What's the what's the now Florida versus Massachusetts different.
But still you're still a human being like I think this is the what was it.
I don't know.
Two thousand twenty one I stopped drinking coke.
I had a little challenge with my daughter.
We tried to drink water for a month.
That was April of 2021.
I haven't had a coke since.
I'm not like I'm not I mean I'm not like pat myself on the back.
But I was probably a two coke a day guy.
And so when I go out to dinner with somebody or whatever like you know I drink I'm like
no I'm just going to water.
Like what do you mean you you get out something.
I'm like no water.
I'm OK.
Yeah.
I might have a tea in the morning or something to give me a little caffeine.
But it's not I don't even know.
I don't know how to order off of Starbucks.
You know I'm saying like I don't know how to order a Dunkin Donuts.
Yeah if my wife doesn't order it for me I'm lost on that too friend.
Tim John neither do I.
I mean I'm a coffee guy.
I drink I drink espresso black coffee in the morning.
But you know they look at me strange if I was ever to go to Dunkin Donuts or to Starbucks.
I tell them you know I Starbucks I've got it down.
You know it's two espresso shots there and at Dunkin it's two turbo shots.
Thank you.
I'll show you.
That's it.
I figured it out.
You know.
That's great.
And to your point of like on the golf course I mean I don't think these are perfect but
I'm a Clif Bar guy like that's my.
Yeah.
I go I to me it's I got four hours.
I'm going to have some type of lunch prior to playing or breakfast.
Let's go with the 9 a.m. tea time 8 a.m. tea time.
And I know it's going to be 11 a.m. and I know I'm going to start just the energy that
you're putting into the game whether it's mental or physical because now we walk a lot
more up here in Massachusetts than we do in Florida.
So we're walking up hills you're walking probably six seven miles and you're carrying your bed.
So I look forward to that that mint chocolate chip Clif Bar with my water on number 10 like
I'm like if I make par on nine I get to have my Clif Bar.
If I don't make par I got to wait till 11.
You know.
Yeah.
I do the I do the nature's the nature's best.
I hope I'm saying it right.
With the dark with the dark chocolate and the peanuts as well.
Yes.
Absolutely.
And you know no no public such even those who are like you look at some of the you know
the some of the healthy quote unquote healthy stuff there's still there's still a lot of
caffeine in it.
You know there's still quite a bit of sugar is like you just get it.
It's only I mean I don't want.
Yeah.
Sodium.
Yeah.
I don't want to eat cardboard.
I don't want to eat.
You know I don't eat.
I don't have something that can taste a little bit good.
Yes.
But but not you know it doesn't have to be.
Reese's Cup with a with a sprite after nine holes.
No no and it doesn't have to be the share pack and you eat it all yourself.
Yeah.
There you go.
Right.
If you if you want if you want that Reese's I tell you I told you to get it.
But you know if if it's if it's four of it if it's four of them in there just eat one
you know if it's two you know share share with your partner a little self control right
a little a little bit goes a long way but this is coming from the man who will sneak
in the middle of the night and steal his ladies candy.
OK.
You know.
I live a little bit.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Sometimes.
Yeah.
We should do.
Yeah.
So what.
So I got a question for you Ray.
Basically again 53 years old.
So when I went to college at the University of Tampa my college coach.
Right.
My college coach said he said all right boys if I find any one of you in the gym working
out you will be off this team.
Wow.
Yeah.
1993 1990.
So 91 92 93.
Yeah.
All right.
And even you know trust me when you go to when you play high school golf and you don't
get a lot of girlfriends because you're playing on the golf team you know I'm saying it wasn't
a very popular sport in fact 89.
You get my point.
I got you brother.
Yeah.
My overall point is like OK.
So my college coach tells me you can't go by the go near the gym and we're all like
OK great why would we go to the gym because our role models at that point like Greg Norman
had kind of just come on the scene.
He was pretty good.
He's definitely fit for that age.
Nicholas Nicholas was strong but he wasn't like a fit guy if that makes sense.
Yes.
Yeah.
Arnold Palmer very very strong again a little bit of a little bit of stomach Craig Craig
Stadler like Ian who's the Mike.
These guys didn't look like they do now and now they look like Dustin Johnson and Tiger
Woods and Grayson.
So I get my long witty question would be Tom Watson was known for his forearms like there's
there's golfers that I know that have had huge forearms and it's really because you
have strength in your butt in your arms to kind of keep the face square.
So would you kind of long way question would you go for would you go.
I like the flexibility thing.
I'm the big core plank whatever that is.
Would you go like Bryson talks about shoulders a ton.
He really works on his shoulders and how strong they are because he's trying to pull kind
of give the listener you know your synopsis of where to sort of start in the in the world.
All right.
So if I would definitely tell him go to the gym.
I'm 40 I'm 49 years old and this is one of my favorite things to say to people.
I've been lifting weights for 20 something years and I did.
All right.
You know it's it's it's training it's genetics.
It's also some supplements that we may not will not talk about you know.
No.
Yeah.
And so I don't I don't I don't object to weight training at all.
But if I'm if I'm talking to a fellow golfer I tell them there's nothing wrong with with
pull ups you know being able to pull yourself up and do that being able to work being able
to work your core core is number one.
I like to refer to it as my trunk for me the golf swing the for me the golf swing and the
box and the and the punch and boxing all start from the feet up.
OK.
Kind of like a golf swing.
Yeah.
It comes up and it releases out out from where from our hands and our our arms and our hands
in boxing.
It's a punch in golf.
It's the swing.
Right.
Yes sir.
So I try to tell people focus on that focus on core you know get your get your trunk strong.
And my question would be you know I think you know I think Sean brings up a great point
about how Bryson talks about the shoulders and stuff is I think each golfer and each
athlete finds their own power source like for me I'm more of a leg guy like I believe
the power for me comes from the legs like a Justin Thomas or something like that.
So you know I'm in the same category.
You know so I think there's I think different athletes find different power sources.
I think the harmony is when you can get all those power sources to work as one unit.
Would you kind of agree with that Ray?
I totally agree with that.
A hundred and ten percent.
But for me like yourself is for me it starts with my legs as well.
It starts from the from the feet and it works its way up the entire body.
Yeah.
So so I got a question.
This is personal.
This summer Ray and Tim I've really been focusing on basically my hip speed and how fast I can
rotate my left hip behind me and that that straightens my left leg.
And that's the whole posting up concept and really using the ground to push.
Yeah.
Push off the ground with that left foot.
So my hip speed I've always had a really like the thing people when they watch me and not
being I get I've got a very smooth temple golf swing.
It looks very pretty.
And that's because my role models were Ernie L's Davis Love and Freddie Couples.
Like that's where I got that from.
Beautiful swings.
Yeah.
They're just beautiful rhythmic fast but they're rhythmic right.
Yeah.
So so my again kind of where I'm going is in boxing.
I know I love what you're saying like you got to use the ground.
I'm not going to produce that that strong right hand into the body into the body or
into the face with an extension.
I'm going to get to that in a second without having my power come from the ground.
Does that does that kind of make sense?
And then how quickly I rotate my hip to get my arm to get to the guy's face.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
How fast that back foot can turn.
We call it a pivot.
You know introducing into the hip.
And then the final the final thing is the hand and the arm coming out.
And even and as I've taught many many boxes before there's a thing called hand fatigue
where they'll just sit there with their hands balled up in their gloves and they're not
hitting anything.
No.
The only time your hand should be you know in a fist is at point of impact.
Okay.
Yes.
It should not be clenched up in your gloves while you're waiting to throw a punch.
They should be relaxed.
Your phalanges should be relaxed inside of your gloves.
And finally when you go to get ready to throw that punch and all that kinetic energy moving
up through your body from your shoulder through your arm out of your hand.
That's at the point of impact is when you clench that fist and that's when you get it.
Interesting.
And the same thing the same thing with the golf swing.
I've learned myself with my own swing the slower I take that club that's the slower
I make that motion for the socket to my get it to it when I finally get to that ball.
But if I try to rush it I'm pulling it left or slicing it right.
You know.
Yeah.
You lost you lost all your energy.
Yes you have.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
That's a great point.
I didn't even know that.
That's that's wonderful.
Yes sir.
We we talk a lot.
You know I use I use a boxing analogy probably twice a week.
Right.
In my god I love it.
So my boxing analogy is at impact I need your arms to be as extended as they can be at impact
or post impact from your body as possible.
So we call it either alligator arms or tyrannosaurus Rex arms when your arms are being pulled in
towards your body.
Right.
Hey why am I talking to my husband's tell me I'm lifting my head up.
Nothing to do with your head your arm your hands are coming in towards your body.
Yeah.
You can't do that any athletic sport that you do and I will take the 60 year old lady
I'll say ma'am if I was ever going to punch you I would never punch you.
But if I was ever going to punch you I would never and I stand real close to him right
and I'm like I would never punch you with my my elbow bent.
I would stand back and I had rear back and I have my arm fully extended into your face.
Yeah.
Yes.
So that's what I'm that's what I'm producing the most power flexibility speed that's happening
after impact not before impact because they all think it happens right before.
No it's post impact is what we're looking for.
And that's I guess I've never but I mean when you hit somebody boxing you want to hit through
them you don't want to just hit them top of their face.
You know.
No no you're punching you're punching through that person.
One of my favorite ones as well to us is when we're throwing a punch we're throwing it with
bad intentions.
I'm right.
I try to I try to make a friend.
OK.
Same thing same thing when we're trying to hit that golf ball.
You know you know when you try to get up there and you try to be sweet and kind and let me
just finesse it you know.
Oh man get up there and smack the shit out that ball.
Right.
Yeah.
What do they do.
They decelerate and they hit the ball to the right or the left and they wonder why.
Absolutely.
Take take it back slow and then bring it forward.
I don't myself I don't work with a lot of golfers swings.
I go with I go with you know swing your own swing.
Let me just help you get let me just help you get better.
I said I usually break it down with numbers you know.
How many times do we use our driver in an 18 round.
Maybe 16 15 times at the most.
How many times how many times are we hitting 150 to 100 100 yard shot almost 72 percent
of the time.
So if I'm only using if I'm only using my driver 15 16 times in a round the golf I'm
not put so much big focus on that.
You know let's work on 150.
Let's work on 150 and under that once we get locked down 150 and under then we can work
on 200 and under.
Then we can go from 200 to 225 you know.
So that's why that's how I try to break it down.
I mean it sounds a lot like what me and Sean try to teach our students.
Let's not try to go hit the home run first.
Let's try to get the single and the double and the triple and just kind of keep moving
that progress forward because I think you know a lot of people get discouraged if they're
not hitting that home run off the bat and you've got to teach them and bring them along
slowly that hey this is a development process and you've got to you know you've got to
walk before you run.
And that's why earlier I mentioned putting I mean how many times Tim John have we made
it on the green and two and we for putt.
I can raise my hand on that one a couple times.
Oh man I've taken a chunk out the green before you know.
God forgive me.
You know yeah that's how matters.
This is the this is the cool thing about the podcast in general Ray.
I'm hoping I hope you understand that like that that mean you've never talked right and
we're talking like you would sit in the back porch having a drink of water or a date or
whatever.
The whole point is that we got all these things you know that are symbiotic in our in our
daily life of what you do personal training boxing playing golf what we do for our side.
And I think that's the greatest part of what we do here on the podcast.
So I appreciate you coming on.
I got one more question for you.
Go ahead.
So OK.
Again I'm trying to keep these two like five minute questions but basically to produce speed
and to hit it further the club head has to be moving quicker quicker quickly right quicker
than it is currently.
If you're only hitting one hundred and forty yards seven iron that means the club that's
only moving 78 miles an hour through the impact zone.
So I got to create I got to get it to go eighty four miles an hour.
So I need a club head to move faster.
So I will tell you this right.
I can't I mean I can't tell you the number of lessons where I come up to the person and
I say all right ma'am sir let me let me kind of start guiding the club for you and I hold
the shaft.
I'm like a maybe a two inches below their hands like just on the shaft of the club.
They take the club back nice and smooth like you're talking about.
They start coming down right before impact that thing is so tight their hands are so
tight on that shaft.
You can feel it.
You can feel like ma'am sir what do you think is going to happen at this point.
We need this thing moving as fast as it possibly can be at this point.
And if the ball is going to the right there's a huge component of you holding on to that
shaft so tight you're not allowing the club head to turn.
But we got to have some freedom.
So it goes I don't know if it's the same point as your as your punching analogy with the
fist.
It is the exact same point.
Yeah I think it is.
It sure is.
So this is concept of like it's not death grip by any means.
It's not flimsy by any means to your point of like OK when I'm going to get to the point
of actually hitting the person I'm going to clench my fist.
It's kind of this riding this fine line of power intentionality is the term I use.
I like your term too.
Being really intentional at the bottom.
Don't be wussy.
Don't be like kind of just like you said trying to like.
No I got to be super intentional to hit the ball and through the golf ball.
That's usually the driver concept right.
Through the through the ball with driver.
Yeah the face is real square.
I can't just kind of lolly gag my driver through impact.
I'm going to hit it high and go right.
So take take that to whatever it is.
But I think it's just great talking about the different sports and.
Yeah that's the way the way I've also I've tried to break it down to folks and and I've
said you know when I've been out there on the range which I like I said I don't you
know if they're if they're avid golfer or you know they're playing in high school I don't
like messing with nobody swing.
You know but if it's if it's someone I'm tutoring or I'm just helping out on the range I said
don't choke the chicken.
All right.
Yeah you don't need to you don't need to choke them to death.
All right.
Act like you're holding two eggs in your hand.
You know you don't want to crush those eggs but you want to hold them suckers firm.
So if you got the throne with somebody you're ready.
You know and that kind of comes back to I mean we had an earlier episode with Sean and
he had a lesson with Tim Poulsen.
I think Sean was a little shocked about how much you need to have the grip you know in
your hands and your fingers but how you still need to have that combination of not death
gripping it.
Is that kind of make sense Sean.
Well I think it's to Tim to raise point to write and team I can talk about this all the
time.
So part of the reason Nicholas I mean he's got a million million things that he's good
at but one of the things he never did was he never grounded the golf club.
And when you don't ground the golf club when you start it from a position of consistent
grip pressure from the beginning instead of we have the club on the ground and immediately
people add pressure to their hands as they pick the club up.
That is kind of a death knell right.
It's a reason.
So as you can get I'm not telling everybody advocating everybody to kind of not ground
the club but Flick Jim Flick told him that at the beginning and he learned it that way
and he never deviated from that way.
So it just allowed him to always have consistent grip pressure and I think that's what it comes
down to is don't add pressure as you get right to the bottom of the swing or to the extension
of the punch.
I don't know.
Again if we're saying this the same way.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Focus on your focus on your form your technique.
Yep.
And that's that's the key right there.
I've always I've always said especially in the boxing world you know I could I could
make you punch 300 punches and in in one round.
But what what good is that.
I would bet you 125 with good form and good technique than to make you punch 300 300 punches
you know.
I'll let you take that one.
You know I think that's a great analogy for me and Sean.
I mean I think we tell our students you know I'd rather see 10 quality good shots out of
that basket of 100 balls that you're just jonesing to hit.
But you know if you just rapid fire through 100 100 balls or 50 balls you don't develop
any of that feel or anything like that.
You know we all advocate quality over quantity and I think that's the point that we all try
to get to as coaches.
But I think we've I think some it's gotten to a point where you know you hear this you
hear the one if you do something 10,000 times you'll master it.
Well if you do it 10,000 times bad you're still going to master it bad.
You know what I mean.
Yes.
What the hell you talking about.
You know.
Well I think you make a great point but people just don't want to put in the time they want
it immediate like they're thinking I'll just hit a thousand balls a day and I'll get there.
It's a slow progression.
You know it might be you know 10 quality shots like you know Tiger said when he was coming
back he would he would hit a you know two or three good shots out of a basket of balls
and he knew he was making progress if he hit three or four the next day and you've got
to have that kind of mindset when you're going instead of just hey I'm going to hit a thousand
balls because I hit a thousand balls.
Does that make sense as well.
It makes total sense.
I had a I forget that I forgot the gentleman's name because it was over you know 20 something
you know I'm 49 now so it's 30 years ago.
You know he gave me a jewel when I was on the driving range and I would if I started
it's always with your lowest clubs.
You're wedges and your irons you know and anything that had a letter on it and balls
with it anything that had a number with it you hit that number of balls with it.
Yeah interesting.
And so and so that's how I would go.
Yeah.
So I would go up in clubs.
You know I'd go six iron I hit six balls and if I go with my four iron I hit four balls
you know and then with the driver of course I had a three wood I hit three of them you
know if I had a five wood if I had a five wood you know I hit five of them you know
and then with the big driver I'd only hit you know one or two and that's how I would
I would work my practice that way.
Making it into the game.
I apologize Ray I'm probably going to steal that one from you.
Sorry.
Hey that's okay Sean it's all good brother I don't mind.
And then I would I tell people if you've got a wedge that's like a 56 or a 60 degree you
know just double that number that 60 degree make that 12 balls that 56 make it 11.
I'm going to hit 56 Ray.
I think that's fun to warm up with anyway so yeah.
Oh man yeah.
But I've used I've used that practice philosophy for many many years I've passed it on to other
friends and fellow golfers as well too.
You know just you know you ain't got to get out there hit a thousand balls it ain't like
that you know you know you ain't got to you ain't got to go to the gym and squat 400 pounds
and put it on the YouTube you know it ain't it ain't all that.
Yeah.
So it's a thing too like I've heard somebody say it's like it didn't it didn't take me
you know it took me six months to put on 15 pounds of weight.
Meaning like I got a little heavy so why would I think I could get that off in three weeks
like it might take me six months to get 15 pounds off like you know.
Well you know Sean I know Tim remembers this when we were in school because we did attend
the same high school go Bulldogs.
Go dogs.
Hey I coach there I coach there Ray I coach there.
Awesome.
I coach the boys team for four years.
State champ right.
Didn't you guys get state champ.
No no.
Or regional.
Don't get crazy now.
Yeah we'll keep going.
District conference.
There you go.
Conference.
OK.
I knew it was something.
Go dogs.
Well Sean I want to say go go Spartans for you for going playing in Tampa.
By the way I wanted to throw that out there.
But you know when we were in school I remember Tim's dad didn't let him play football you
know.
It was baseball it was baseball and golf you know that's that was it.
They just for myself they just needed a body on the team you know I was a fifth quarter
starter so but it gave me it gave me the opportunity to be part of the team when I came from just
an individual sport like boxing.
Yeah.
Then after football season we wasn't doing much.
So that's when I was introduced to golf and my first golf course I ever played was you
know Southport right here Zephyr Hills.
And I still I'm still adding and I still love the course to this day.
It gave me such it gave me such a great feeling of being out there and the camaraderie I had
with my boys.
Yeah.
And now I go play by myself.
That's how much enjoyment I have of the game.
You know my lady my lady will be taught you know I'll be on my way home from because I
work for the Department of Corrections so I handle Internet for and telephone for correctional
institutions so I'll be on my way home from an institution and Tim my favorite spot right
off of right off of seventy five is to big golf country club.
I hit that nine hole right there.
There you go.
You know what I mean.
I get it done.
I get it done in a lunch hour.
It is perfect.
Absolutely.
That's a that's a great little par three they've got over there at Tampa Bay Golf and Country
Club.
I didn't encourage more of my players and students to go there and play instead of trying
the big tracks.
Yeah.
You know it's a it's a great feel.
It puts us in the dynamic of 200 yards and under and that's where that's where you're
going to win the game and on the putting green.
Absolutely.
So Ray before we break what are some future future trends or future things that you see
for fit for life.
What do you guys got on the horizon for your company.
Tell us.
Well we're going to try to get our social media up and running a little bit better.
Right now I'm on YouTube and coach Ray.
I'm on Facebook as well as coach Ray but we want to migrate more to Fit for Life.
We're going to get our dot com back up and running for 2025.
Great and we just want to start putting out quality content.
Good good.
And what's the website again.
Tell us again.
Tell our viewers.
It's it's ww dot fit for life.
Florida dot com.
That's great.
So and one last question I would have for you.
If you had a foursome who would it be.
All right.
Well number one it would be my dad playing.
Unfortunately I lost him at the age of five so I would love to play around the golf with
my dad.
That's great.
Yeah that would be the number one person I would have.
Number two would be Lisa Harris.
She did such a great you know thing for golf in the Tampa Bay area for women's golf as
well too.
Yeah.
And yeah.
And I would say you know number four would you know would be you know Jack Nicholas.
You know I just think I just think he's awesome.
You know pretty good group of guys right there.
Pretty good group right there.
That would be a lot of fun I would think.
Yeah.
I would definitely enjoy that round the golf.
That's great.
So.
So John did you have any other questions for Coach Ray tonight.
Now I feel like it's one that we need to get him back on because we covered a bunch but
we can still more you know there's still more to cover in the future.
So as I'm excited to see his progress as his company keeps going and you know we just got
a lot of similar things to talk about and good for you Ray good for what you're doing.
Go Bulldogs.
Go Spartans and yeah we'll talk again.
Yeah absolutely.
Thank you.
Well Tim and Sean thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
I really appreciate it.
I can't I can't tell you how I can't wipe the smile off my face.
I've been smiling for an hour brother.
I appreciate you sir.
I just want to tell you listen as a quick a quick little story.
I know a lot of these golf courses you have the opportunity on a par three bet five dollars
and the chance to win ten thousand dollars.
Well folks do it.
Okay.
All right.
Do it.
In 2019 coach Ray his first hole in one did not get the five dollars to win the ten grand.
Oh man.
Yes.
No brother.
And I tell everybody this I still remember that I stood the pro even he said he said
you guys want to bet five dollars on the party challenge.
I looked at that gentleman right in his face and I told him I've been playing golf for
twenty five years now as it happened yet.
It's not going to happen.
That day was never say never and bet the five dollars people.
All right.
It's five dollars.
That's good stuff man.
That's great man.
So yeah Ray we'd love to get you back on the show here in the future.
I think there's so much more that we could go over especially for most of our students.
I really enjoy the idea that how much cross pollinating that you know each sport has you
know there's a lot of things similarities with what you do and what we do.
So I think our listeners got a great a great listen a great a great lesson today.
So I want to say thank you and thank you to the listeners at dynamic golf.
Thank you so much guys.
I appreciate it and I would love to be on your podcast again.
Talk soon guys.
Talk soon.
All right.
Take care.
Have a great night everybody.
Stay safe through the hurricane.