Tony Ruggiero, Dr Greg Cartin, and Kolby Tullier sit down at the PGA Championship to talk about the prep work for Lucas Glover.
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[Music] Hi, this is Tony Roiro, the DWE. You’re about to listen to an episode of the Tour Coach, which is going to give you an inside look at coaching golf at the very highest level from on the PGA Tour with my guys all the way to here at Mobile Alabama in the Doucheer Dome as we help folks of all skill levels, all walks of life learn to achieve their golfing goals. [Music] Hey everyone, Corey Walker here, one of the co-hosts on the tour coach. Today we are joined by Tony Rugiro, Dr. Greg Carton, and Colobby Touier as they are helping Lucas Glover get ready for the PGA Championship. Uh they recorded this on Wednesday during the the practice round there today and talk a little bit about what they’re working on and it’s a really cool behindthescenes look at everything that’s going on to get ready for a major championship, some of the mindsets and actions that they’re taking. So stay tuned. Let’s get into it. Major championship week. Lucas Glover’s team here. Me, Dr. Greg Carton, Kobe Touier. Kobe obviously has another player, Harold Verer in the field, which is probably a pretty light week for you. I mean, normally when I’m out with you and I see you, in fact, you said this week like you came up to me and Greg, you’re like, I haven’t really had time to spend with you. This is a light week. Yeah, I was excited to be able to to get to see you guys a lot more. You know, usually I have, you know, six or seven out here, so I don’t get the opportunity to be able to hang out with you as much as I’d like to, but it ought to be a good week. So, now that we’re actually recording this, people, I didn’t have the recorder on, but take us through what you do this week and then we’ll talk a little bit about cuz we did some work with Lucas and and Greg came in on the on the mental side and I want to get your opinion of that, too. Well, I mean, for the second time, um, what, you know, I try to keep everything as normal as possible. So, I want I want those guys to feel like it’s just a normal week and it’s business as usual. So, the pressure and the and the the aura of the major championships already there. So, that that’s already a given. So, what I want to do is just try to keep the week just as normal as possible. Just we’re doing the exact same things that we do week to week in regular tournaments. We’re working out three to four times a week with the weights to make sure the body’s in condition. We’re doing the treatment at night. We’re doing the stretching and mobility work. So, for me, it’s just making making it just as simple as possible. I want to keep it as normal as possible for these guys to where they can get out there and do their job and get ready to do. And so, it’s it’s like this week, unlike recent weeks, it’s been pretty cool. And so, from my perspective as a teacher, like you go on the golf course, I mean, I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible. Sometimes you do better than others and when they’re struggling it’s hard to not try stuff but uh basically you know you could see that hey I mean it was 45ish degrees yesterday walking 18 holes in the in the rain. I mean that golf course is long. It’s hard. Didn’t seem like he was turning enough. So obviously we told you and I think that’s one of the really cool things about having you out so many weeks and it’s big benefit to me is because like I’m able to say hey like I mean Lucas and I only try to do a couple things. We’re trying to get him to hook it. One of them is turn it back into that hip and you’re able to work on that. Yeah. I mean, well, just like this morning at 5:00 a.m., you know what is so exciting about being able to be on the road with you guys as a team with you and Doc is we get a chance to talk about our players and see like what we need to do more of or what we need to do less of. So, for you to give me feedback on what from a body standpoint, what he’s doing in his swing, that’s what we were able to do this morning was really work on him turning into his right side and getting that feel back of him getting deeper into his right side for him to be able to make that swing that you’re trying to give him. That was fun from my not to jump in, but from my perspective to watch you two work together. You know, like yesterday the example, it’s cold out. He’s not getting into that hip. You talk to Colby, they work out this morning, that problem’s gone. To see that communication, it’s so valuable for a player to be able to have that. the, you know, to me and because we’ve all been around situations that didn’t work as smoothly, but like the player was able to talk to you and you and I talk and like we we averted a 2 and 1/2 hour range session after playing yesterday where everybody’s pissed off. You know, it was like you were like, “Hey, it’s 45°. It’s cold. You hit a bunch of good shots. Golf course is hard.” Like, you know, shooting two, three over out there wasn’t that bad a score. Yeah, you could be in the lead after that on Thursday. Yeah, that’s what happens in Kobe’s dead on by saying it’s just another golf tournament. You know, you got all the different stories that come with it. It’s a major. It’s the circus goes a little deeper here. But the essence of the game is always going to be the same. You got to make good golf swings. And when the conditions are bad and the courses are difficult, I think some guys press and think they need to do something different. So, they’re trying to do something that maybe they don’t usually do when they actually play well. Um, so keeping them in check on that stuff too is important these weeks. Yeah. And I think like Greg said out there yesterday, he was like one of the hardest things to do is to do nothing, you know, and like just because somebody’s struggling, you don’t have them do anything different in their workout, you keep going back. I think one of the not unique, but different things that we do is like it’s like we kind of all understand the things that we want our player to do and we just stay on it regardless if they have a good day or bad day. No, I agree. I mean, my whole thing is about consistency. Like, if we continue to work on the things that we need to work on and we’re consistent with that process and we believe in that process, then it’s going to the outcome’s going to be inevitable. You know, like it’s going to be a situation where it’s all the hard work and all the stuff that you put time in with Doc and with you and even the stuff they’re doing with me, like the results just kind of take care of themselves, you know. And we were talking earlier, you know, the one thing that’s apparent to me when you come to weeks like this and like major weeks are different than other tour events cuz like majors, I mean, these are the best players, right? And obviously any tour event, everybody’s really good, but mentioned how much the guys here want it and really want it. And so, you know, our schedule today on a Wednesday, day before we play, was to have ball in the air at 6:40 a.m. When Greg and I got that text, we were like, “Damn.” Right. But, but the first thing I knew was that meant you were really early, right? So, what I mean, but doesn’t that tell you about the player, though? Yeah. I mean it I mean like we you know we’ve had this conversation so many times in the past like what you see is the best players in the world. The players with the most success are the ones that make the biggest sacrifices. You know where you know you take Lucas. Lucas is a champion because he’s willing to make that sacrifice where instead of sleeping in late, you know, the weather was bad the last two days, you know, giving him giving himself time to just kind of like get a little more relaxed, get a little more rest like he wants to go out there cuz he wants to compete. He wants to go out there and he doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned to where he doesn’t want to leave anything out there that he can have any type of to look back on that he didn’t give it all give us all and do everything he needs to do. And for me being there at 5 in the morning doing our stuff then I know from a from a training standpoint then I know after he does the work with you that I know he needs some more rest that time. So like today will just be a treatment day. It’ll be mobility work. could be light cuz we’ve did some stuff in the morning and we’ll just we’ll complete that day tonight like just with mobility stability work just make sure everything’s moving correctly and getting it ready for tomorrow morning. [Music] [Applause] So when you do treatment and I I’ve seen the stuff you do in there like is that just basically getting the body more rested and ready to go? Well, when you look at it from a treatment standpoint, it’s just a lot of sup superficial stuff. I mean, you know, a lot of mild fat release, but we’re just trying to get the muscles to make sure the muscles are functioning correctly. So, we’re trying to get blood circulation through the body, raising the core temperature up, just kind of getting everything moving better. You know, like yesterday after Lucas was swinging and the weather was cold and you was we all talked about earlier how you were trying to work on more of a tilt with his swing at his setup, like working on his posture. So, he felt some things up in that mid thoracic area where he was a little tighter than normal. So that’s when I come in. So from a treatment standpoint, he’ll point those issues out to me and then that way I’ll go in there. I know the ground’s wet, so it’s going to be a lot of more of an unstable surface. So I know I got to really pay attention to his calves. We’ve always worked on Lucas’s hips, making sure everything’s good. But what happens is Lucas what happens is when he was swinging the club and then being colder, like he started getting just some some midback thoracic tightness that he normally that he was feeling a little in there. So for me, it’s just basic massage just kind of get that muscle loosened up again. We might have to do some cupping or something like that to get that going too. And then once we get it to release and sometimes the facet joints will just kind of be able to adjust too and then he’s good to go. You know, Greg, you said something earlier that I thought before we were started recording the first time, which wasn’t recording, but like so there’s tons of great players. Not everybody has what it takes to be a champion. And and I think that that’s where like folks teaching I mean I see it teaching like you see guys that just stripe it in your building and you see it like parents always oh this kid at my club I mean this kid’s great but like not everybody’s cut out to do what these guys are doing out here on tour. Sure. And these weeks really highlight that it’s a grind out there these major weeks. There’s a lot of other responsibilities off the course these guys have. The conditions are much different than a normal tour week. So there’s sense that they have to, you know, it gets a little tricky when they think they have to do something different. But the courses are longer and the rough’s always thicker. The greens are faster than the normal week. So there’s a lot of prep that goes into these weeks that, you know, you have to be willing to do that. And you also have to be efficient because you can’t burn yourself out in 3 days being on a course all day and hitting balls all day and thinking that’s what it’s going to take. You do have to do your work, but you also have to be efficient so you can rest, too. Like I think the most important part is to like I went to Jupiter the Friday before we came up here kind of just summarize stuff and like I think the most important the more I coach the most important thing I think about these weeks is just seeing the golf course but resting and you can almost like walk the range this evening and see the folks still out there and we could go to this off track betting site right here outside and fade that guy whoever the last guy is out there cuz I mean and especially to me like a golf course like this that man it’s physically demanding like I don’t see that there’s a chance and maybe Sunday will prove me wrong but like that one of those pros there’s very few anymore that’s not really in shape but like I don’t see a guy that doesn’t have a fitness plan having a chance to be very successful at all this week at meth yeah I mean it’s taxing I mean when you think about the body and like like I couldn’t agree with Doc more like him the references and stuff that he’s made and the statements he just made just now like you you have to adjust like you you have to to look at it from a player standpoint and then from my job is like I really have to pay attention to how how their body is and like how they’re moving and how fatigued they are and then then I have to adjust it because the players are like all right what we want to do and I’m like we’re going to do we’re stretching tonight we’re not doing anything else we’re not lifting today especially when you’re up at 4:30 in the morning and then you have a big long day so you put in like a 9 or 8 hour day Kobe’s hotline um somebody need to be stretched out but Kobe That’s arguably more important than even the course prep work is getting their body right. And I say this to guys all the time, especially in major. You’ve been doing this work your whole life to prepare for this. It’s not going to happen in three. You don’t need to get jam it all in in 3 days. You’ve been doing this your whole life. Yeah. I mean cuz a lot of those guys like and perfect examples like if you take Harold for instance like you know he was out there yesterday from dark to dark, you know, and I knew his day was it was super super long. I mean, he started I mean, he was balling there like at 7:30 and he was there late and we left, you know, like 5 6:00 at night. So, for me, from a training standpoint, like, he’s got to he’s got to really take in consideration their recovery standpoint. Like, I preached about these guys recovery and hydration and and making sure they’re taking care of their body. And a lot of times we just got to get off their legs and they need to let that body recover. And usually you see that a lot in the majors like when like I was talking somehow how everything kind of heightens up and you see those guys on the range cuz they feel like they need to hit more balls or they need to do more this do more of that. Yeah. So but for me that’s why when I said at the very beginning that’s why I just try to keep it as normal as possible where they don’t feel like they need to do extra just because it’s a major week. Like if we’re focused on the process of doing what we normally do and we’re not, you know, we’re not trying to add things or do anything else to it, then everything should go as planned. I think we noticed too this week and we talked about this and it may have had to do with the weather and the demanding course but a lot of guys were spending less time on the golf course, right? Baron notic a little bit later. Yeah. And and you know the other part as we kind of you know wind it down though it’s like you made a great point like I think our work as a golf teacher is more and more to have them prepared before they get here and then it’s your job your job is you know with the stuff I’m working on to have their body ready and then like Greg walking yesterday and was it was I was just I kind of faded back cuz I knew they’re talking right was helping him understand and talking about the fact that like you don’t have to hit it great or you don’t have to hit it perfect to win this tournament. Yeah. I mean, that’s what I love about this team more than anything cuz everybody has their role and to see it all work come together and and work and at the end of the week and when the tournament starts to build up cuz we’re excited, too. Like I mean, we want our guys to to play good. Let’s go. Absolutely. I mean, so and it’s really cool like, you know, just to be able to do it and to see it happen and to see it kind of like just the marriage of it kind of come together and it all evolve into something good. Greg, what was it like as you wrap it up rooming with me for this week? As always, it’s an adventure, but it’s fun. But we had some good team dinners. Yeah, Kobe was always working. But, uh, yeah. No, it’s been But I mean, you can’t find better people to work with. And I think one of the reasons that that it’s been successful watching a player have the start of the year he has. And Kobe, you got so many guys playing so great. But it’s I think too like when you when you have guys that genuinely like working together and we’ve all worked with people before that and there’s people sometimes you work with you don’t always it does in jihad as well but like man it’s fun working with y’all. We all I think we have the same vision and we’re all passionate like we 100% all would do anything we can to see him get back in the winter sir. Absolutely. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the tour coach with Tony Riierro. If you enjoyed this, make sure to hit subscribe. Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you are listening to this podcast, you can stay up to date cuz we have weekly episodes coming your way with fascinating people in the world of golf instruction at the highest level. Make sure to subscribe and stay tuned. If you want to learn more about Tony, head over to dweepersgolf.com to get all the details on what he’s up to. Maybe you want to see him, grab a lesson, or go to one of his camps, pick up his book, Lessons from the Legends. You can do that there. If you want to see Tony in action with some videos and other content, head over to golfciencelab.com/tonony to get more info there. This episode was powered by the Golf Science Lab and was edited, mixed, and produced by Just Hit Publish Productions. [Music] There’s one thing if you know about me, if you’ve listened to the Deceers, you’ve come to listen to me talk is, you know, I’m big on loyalty. We give a 100% here at the Doo Sweepers. We put a lot of emotional investment into everything we do with every one of our players. And the same can be said for our partners and the folks that have been with us for the long haul and help the Deuce sweepers, help our juniors, help us get to our tour players. And so I want to give a special thanks to our sponsors. Our sponsors are first and foremost Buick and our local Buick dealers here around the southeast. Shrix on Cleveland Golf who’ve been with me for over a dozen years and their belief and support of what we do here with the Deuce Sweepers. And lastly, the folks at Vineyard Vines. The folks at Vineyard Vines love what we do with Junior Golf. 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