Fairway Performance Podcast

The back nine ache, the morning-after stiffness, the little stab on follow-through. A lot of golfers have accepted that pain is just the price of playing. In this episode Shaun challenges that, and explains why golf back pain is almost always a symptom of a problem somewhere else entirely.

In this episode:

• Why golf doesn't have to hurt your back
• How your lower back ends up "stealing" rotation it was never built for
• The role stiff hips and a locked-up mid back play in lumbar pain
• Why Shaun almost never starts with the back when someone has back pain
• The idea that where the pain is usually isn't where the problem is

Find out where your restrictions are. 

Take the free self assessment https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

One week you've cracked it. The next week, same clubs, same course, it all falls apart. In this episode Shaun explains why consistency isn't a swing thought or a magic drill. It's physical, and it comes down to whether your body can repeat the same positions on demand.

In this episode:

• Why a repeatable swing comes from a body that can repeat positions
• What it means to be playing with no margin for error
• How mobility, stability and strength widen that margin
• Why your worst swing matters more than your best one
• The difference between hoping for a good swing and being able to repeat one

See where your gaps are. 

Take the free Self Assessment https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

Solid front nine, then the wheels come off coming home. Most golfers blame their head. In this episode Shaun explains why late-round collapse is almost always physical, not mental, and why it's completely trainable at any age.

In this episode:

• Why eighteen holes is an endurance event most golfers never train for
• What fails first when your body fatigues, and how it wrecks your swing
• Why "I lost focus" is usually the wrong diagnosis
• What next-day stiffness is really telling you
• How golfers go from wrecked after a round to finishing strong

Want to find your weak links? 

Start with the free Self Assessment: https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

"I used to hit it 230. Now I'm lucky to carry it 190. I guess that's just getting older." Shaun hears it on almost every call, and in this episode he explains why it's wrong. The yards you lost didn't vanish to a birthday. They got locked up in a body that stopped doing what your swing is asking of it, and that is reversible.

In this episode:

• Why distance loss is usually sudden, not gradual, and what that tells you
• The three things your body must do to create speed
• How a stiff, untrained body quietly loses all three
• Why a new driver or a new swing thought never fixes the real problem
• Dan's story: from 180 to 230 after a body that had every excuse not to

Find out what's locking up your speed. 

Take the free Self Assessment at:

https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

The information isn't the thing holding most golfers back. Fear is. The quiet worry that you've waited too long and your body is too far gone. In this episode Shaun makes the case that nobody is too far gone, and that for most golfers the changes are weeks away, not years.

In this episode:

• The real reason golfers never start, and it isn't time or money
• Why Shaun has never met a golfer who was beyond help
• How quickly mobility and strength actually begin to change
• The one decision everything else follows from
• What's available to you this season, not someday

Take the first step today.

https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment it's five minutes, no pitch, just where you stand.

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

The golf fitness space has exploded, and not everyone offering it knows how to deliver results. In this episode Shaun gives you a clear checklist for vetting any coach, trainer, or program before you spend a dollar, whether you work with Fairway Performance or someone else entirely.

In this episode:

• The single most important question: do they assess you first
• Why a coach should be able to show progress with actual data
• The difference between a great personal trainer and a true golf fitness coach
• What kind of expectations a good provider should be willing to set
• Why case studies are not the same thing as proof

Before you hire anyone, see where your body stands first. 

Take the free https://golf-performance-call.vercel.app/free-assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

Early extension. Hanging back. Coming over the top. You've watched the videos and done the drills, and the fault is still there. In this episode Shaun connects fitness to swing mechanics and explains why your most stubborn swing faults usually aren't swing problems at all. They're body problems.

In this episode:

• Why your body takes "detour routes" when proper movement isn't available
• The link between hip internal rotation and early extension
• What's really behind an inability to shift weight to the lead side
• How limited thoracic and shoulder mobility forces an over-the-top move
• Why fixing the restriction often clears the fault with no swing lesson at all

Want to know which restrictions are creating your faults? 

Take the free SELF ASSESSMENT 

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

"I'd love to start, but I'm just too busy." It's the most common reason golfers put off taking care of their body, and in this episode Shaun challenges it head on. You don't have a time problem. You have a priority problem. Here's why the time is already there, and how to use it.

In this episode:

• Why "too busy" is almost never the real reason
• How much training a tailored program actually takes (less than you think)
• Why a targeted plan saves time instead of costing it
• The real cost of doing nothing: lost yards, more pain, less golf
• How to build the habit during the busiest season of your life

If "I don't have time" has been your reason for waiting, start by finding out where your body stands. 

Take the free: Self Assessment

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

If your golf swing falls apart right after you start training your body, that might be the best sign you are finally on the right track.

In this episode we go deep with Dr. Russ Manalastas, physical therapist, 20-year strength coach, and owner of MANA Performance Therapy in Rochester, New York. Russ works with golfers, hockey players, and baseball athletes, serves as the head PT for Cobblestone Creek Country Club, and uses force plates, 3D motion capture, and power profiling to figure out exactly where a golfer is leaking distance. This is the kind of nerdy, mechanism-first conversation we rarely get to have out loud, and we unpack all of it.

We get into why being strong does not automatically make you fast (the downswing happens in about 250 milliseconds, faster than you can produce peak force), why lead leg ground reaction force timing separates tour pros from recreational golfers, and why so many players are late to the ground. Russ explains why flexibility is lower on the priority list than most golfers think, why swinging on a BOSU ball is mostly wasted effort, and the three biggest mistakes the golf fitness industry keeps making, including the speed-stick protocols quietly wrecking people's backs.

If you have ever wanted to understand the why behind training for distance and pain-free golf, this one is a masterclass.

Connect with Russ on Instagram @manaperformance and @russ.dpt, on YouTube at MANA Golf Performance, or at www.manaperformancetherapy.com

Want to find out where your body is holding your game back? Take our free mobility self-assessment: https://fairwayperformancevipcoaching.com/mobilityselfassessment

Follow Shaun: https://www.instagram.com/shaun.diachkoff/ 

Learn more: https://www.fairwayperformance.com

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!

Most golfers think their blow-up holes are bad luck. Alex Huang has spent 18 years proving otherwise.

In this episode we sit down with Alex Huang, co-founder of Decade Golf and the analytical mind behind the system used by Bryson DeChambeau, Will Zalatoris, and dozens of LPGA, Epson Tour, and college players. Before golf, Alex spent nearly two decades in professional poker, and he brings that same cold, objective decision-making lens to how we should be playing the game.

We get into why "blow-up golf is just tilt in different clothing," and how the emotional spiral that wrecks poker players is the exact same one that turns a 15-foot birdie putt into a walk-off bogey. Alex breaks down why front pins are the most dangerous pins on any course (and why he lies to his players about yardages to fix it), why firing at flags is a trap even Scottie Scheffler avoids, and the brutal math behind laying up with a 3-wood.

You will also hear the Oakmont putting data that explains why speed control quietly wins tournaments, why bogey avoidance beats chasing birdies, and the one billboard message Alex would put on every driving range in the world.

If you have ever wanted to think your way around a course like a tour pro, this one is essential listening.

Connect with Alex on Instagram @alexhuanggolf and follow Decade Golf @decade_golf

Want to find out where your body is holding your game back? 

Take our free mobility self-assessment: https://fairwayperformancevipcoaching.com/mobilityselfassessment

Follow Shaun: https://www.instagram.com/shaun.diachkoff/ 

Learn more: https://www.fairwayperformance.com

Have questions, feedback or suggestions for future episode? Click here to send me a text!