For 10 years, SKLZ has provided products to help athletes train and improve. “Practice, Play, Win” is one of their mantras. SKLZ products, including the popular Hit-A-Way baseball swing trainer, can be found at thousands of retail outlets around the world. (SKLZ golf training products can be found in the SKLZ Training Store on amateurgolf.com.)

SKLZ has been extremely successful with its golf division, with close to 100 different training products covering putting, short game, distance, and practice nets, mats, and targets. A short list of their most popular products includes: The Refiner Pro Graphite (the only hinged graphite driver available); Gyroswing (a training club with a gyroscope to teach the proper takeaway and release); and the Vari-Break Putting Green (a realistic at- home putting surface which allows you to practice breaking putts.)

Rick Smith -- one of golf’s top instructors -- is a SKLZ partner and dozens of his videos on www.sklz.com show the product line in action. Thousands of PGA members worldwide have incorporated those same products into their teaching routine. Like video golf swing analysis software, SKLZ devices are another arrow in the quiver to help golfers “feel” the correct positions and groove them into the subconscious.

A new partnership with Athlete’s Performance has allowed SKLZ to bridge the gap between their practice-oriented products and the broader trend for all athletes to achieve strength and endurance through better fitness training. The entire website at www.sklz.com has been redesigned to reflect the new partnership.

"We've created a one-stop training destination for any athlete who wants to perform better in his or her sport," said Greg Shoman, vice president of marketing, SKLZ. "Our focus has shifted from simply selling training products to creating an immersive training experience for athletes."

SKLZ partnership with Athletes’ Performance is huge.

Athletes’ Performance -- founded by Mark Verstegen -- trains professional and elite amateur athletes at four training centers around the U.S. Their programs offer training, nutrition, and physical therapy seamlessly integrated under one roof by teams of specialists. Prior to founding Athlete’s Performance, Verstegen (who holds a masters degree in exercise science) founded the International Performance Institute at IMG Academies in Florida.

What's in it for golfers?

In golf, we constantly hear about golfers “strengthening their core” or some other part of their 350-yard driving body, and listen to Tour players discuss their fitness regimen in post-round interviews.  And while most of us won’t hit 7-iron into a par 5 anytime soon, we can without a doubt add yardage and improve consistency through fitness. Avoiding injury -- perhaps the most important bi-product of training -- can mean the difference between being competitive into a player’s 40s versus their 60s, like Tom Watson and many others have been.

On the new SKLZ website, there is an immersive section devoted to golf fitness. Much of the content is free to browse, providing a nice combination of Rick Smith's golf instruction with exercise routine's from Athletes' Performance to help you strengthen the pertinent areas. For example, in a recently-released short-game section Rick Smith discusses "hinge-pivot-hold" and two medicine-ball videos from Athletes' Performance show you the right way to train for that pivot. (Click anywhere on the image at right to view.) Of course, SKLZ can provide a quality medicine ball and hundreds of other fitness-related products. But unlike many web storefronts, SKLZ provides education, and motivation.

Along those lines, I don't think "New Year's Resolution" is in the vocabulary at SKLZ. The time to start is now. For players looking to set goals, track their progress, and get videos and content tailored to their goals, SKLZ and Athletes' Performance offer the MyEdge web training platform. For $9.99/month or $99/year, you will have a "15th club" to help you achieve your golf goals, whether it's winning the US Amateur or the 7th flight of your Club Championship. Check it out at www.sklz.com/myedge.

 

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