Flag Hunters Golf Podcast
Hello and welcome to Flaghunters ! It is a privilege to bring to you this powerful insight into playing better Golf. In all my years of being in the game of Golf from competing at a high amateur level, to caddying, teaching, and being a overall Golf geek, I have an insatiable, curiosity driven desire to get down to the bottom of what it takes to truly get better playing the game of Golf that we all unconditionally love. This has been one of the greatest journeys of my life and I am deeply grateful for all that Golf has given me. Thank you for joining me in this incredible journey. This is my ever evolving love letter to Golf. Jesse Perryman P.S. Please Rate, Review and Subscribe !
Flag Hunters Golf Podcast
How A 55-Year-Old Long Drive Champ Trains Power, Mobility, And Longevity
Want to hit it farther without wrecking your back or your confidence? We sit down with long drive champion Eddie Fernandes to unpack a smarter path to speed—one that starts with better movement, safe rotation, and a nervous system that says yes instead of no. Eddie explains why fast arms and strong hands are the true engine of clubhead speed, how to load the trail side without shredding the lumbar spine, and why cadence beats “ripping from the top” when you want both power and control.
Eddie walks us through his Rotex Motion warm-up: five intentional drills that push rotational limits beyond swing demands so the body feels free, oily, and ready on swing one. He shares why air swings often backfire and how impact-based training triggers bracing that protects joints and converts effort into ball speed. We get into the design of his HITS driver—adjustable weights, real contact, and clear protocols—and how he turns after-session spikes into on-course speed within 8 to 16 weeks. No hype, just a repeatable process built on mobility, impact, and disciplined progression.
We also dig into mindset. Eddie’s 82 at Pebble followed by 68 at Spyglass shows how emotional skill and acceptance unlock performance under pressure. Expect practical insights on rotational mobility, arms-led speed, sequencing, and realistic goal setting, plus why training indoors helps you focus on the metric that matters. If you want sustainable distance, healthier movement, and a calmer head over the ball, this conversation gives you the blueprint.
If this episode helps your game, follow the show, share it with a golf friend who needs speed, and leave a quick review to tell us your biggest takeaway.
To find Justin best, please find him on Instagram @elitegolfswing or email him, justin@elitegolfswing.com
To find Jesse best, also find him on Instagram @flaghuntersgolfpod or TEXT him, (831)275-8804.
Flag Hunters is supported by JumboMax Grips and Mizuno Golf
Hello and welcome once again to another edition of the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast. My name is Jesse Perryman. I am your host, welcoming you for this very special edition with Big Fast Eddie Fernandez. Eddie, I just recently met uh in the last few months and got to spend a day with him on the golf course. And I watched this man who's uh the same age as I. In fact, I'm a few months older than he. Both of us are at 55 years of age. I saw this man move uh like he was in his mid-20s. Out there hitting bombs. He's probably out dry than me by about 60, 70, 80. Uh, I watched him fly a ball 353 yards at 55. And uh those who listen to the pod probably know who Eddie Fernandez is. Those who are in the golf space definitely know who he is. Uh, world long drive champ, the oldest to win the open world long drive champ. I think Ed won at about 46, 47 years of age, and uh has never had any back issues. So we talk about this on the uh in the conversation. We talk about how he is using a system called the Rotex Motion System, who was developed by a man by the name of Dr. Dr. Joe Laquez, who we hope to have on at some point. I am also a practitioner of this system, the Rotex system, which is unique and uh will help design your body to uh load and accept and unload rotational forces in a safe manner. It's hard to describe here, but um, we're gonna put some videos up on the uh YouTube channel that's coming out here in 2026 uh to explain. And Ed, uh, you know, going back to the conversation, Ed really talks about uh mobility and the understanding of using these rotational forces and using the ground in a safe manner uh and unlocking the the the beast that is within all of us. And uh more importantly, or just as important, he has a uh uh a new product coming out, and it's actually a driver that you hit to help to create speed and power. And it's uh it's the hits program, it's I uh H I I T S. It's actually a driver with three different weights. So uh Ed doesn't believe in swinging out the air. He believes that the human body uh needs some sort of a feedback, uh something to hit, which uh I I agree, at least for me personally. Uh and the name of that website is W, or excuse me, it's H-I-I-T-S.com, hits.com. Uh go there, check it out. I have one coming. I'm excited about this process. It feels as if it's the right way, at least for me to go. I know that uh when I've talked to Bryson in the past, to Shambeau, about uh working on power, distance, speed, he also was a big advocate of hitting a golf ball uh and and and uh allowing the nervous system to recalibrate while doing something that it's designed to do. So without further ado, Eddie Fernandez, please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. Throw me a comment. I love to read the comments, please. Uh let's have uh a community engagement here. And it's fantastic. We're all on this boat together, we're all trying to figure out how to get better playing this game that we love, uh that we pour our heart our hearts and souls and a big chunk of our pocketbook into. So let's do it right, folks. Uh, happy new year. This is uh it's gonna be a great 2026, fantastic, and uh I'm I'm really proud and glad to uh help out the golf community in any way I can by getting these esteemed guests on to explain their expertise. So cheers to Big Ed and uh happy new year, everyone. Hello and welcome once again to another edition of the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast. This is Jesse Perryman, your host, along with my co-host Justin Tang from Singapore from the Hidden Castle Golf Club. We want to welcome our mutual guest and a man that um really got my head spinning because I'm only a few months older than he is. He seems like a long-lost brother. We kind of hit it off right away, Ed, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I felt it is funny, Jesse. I mean, you know, we I felt like we knew each other for a long time, same age, probably played the same tournaments. Yeah. Um so yeah, we it was it was an awesome, awesome day.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome day. Yeah, yeah. His name, well, if you haven't figured it out by now, his name is Eddie Fernandez. Zeddie uh is the uh oldest winner of the world long drive championship, and we're gonna get and get into talking about his golf swing. And uh to the listeners, I saw the art of the possible. Um, I saw where we can no longer use chronological age as an excuse to realize what our full potential is, how we rotate, how we rotate in the golf swing, how we can potentially interact with the ground and have it be uh quite possibly one of the most efficient actions I've ever seen in my life. And those who know me know that I've been around a lot of great players, and I've seen a lot of great golf swings, but Eddie's golf swing is something to be observed, to be studied, to learn from, and uh and to emulate. So, Ed, thanks for coming on, pal.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you got it. Let me make one correction. Uh, I won three senior world long drive championships. So I don't know if I'm the uh well, I was 53 when I won my last one. I I don't know if I'm the oldest to win the senior, but I am the oldest to win a world long drive event in the open division at 47 back in 2018. So um, but uh yeah, it was still fun beating up on those young kids. But uh but yeah, thank you so much for having me, Jesse. You know, that that day I will remember it forever at Cyprus. Um, you know, first time we ever met in person, and and it was just it was one of those days to where it's like it was just like a spiritual experience. I see only way I can explain it was 65 degrees, barely blowing, uh awesome. You were phenomenal. Uh, you know, telling me where to hit putts. I made six birnies in an eagle. Yeah, I'm like, just hit it here. I'm like, okay, yeah, you got 30 years here, so uh you're the man. But uh, but it was awesome, man. It was it was really, really cool.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks, Eddie, for coming, man.
SPEAKER_02:Finally, great to meet you uh virtually, I guess. You are a biological anomaly in your 50s and swinging the club faster than faster than I guess 99.9% of the human population. Yeah, you you know, unlike most uh long drive guys who uh power lifters, weightlifters who who then learned to hit a ball, you were a legitimate pro golfer first before transitioning to long drive later in life. Like give us the background of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so you know, I I started when I was uh my dad introduced me to the game when I was five years old. We lived on a little municipal par 60 golf course in Connecticut, and and uh I would just I would I was kind of enamored with uh with hitting stuff. So it was like I my brother was a wrestler, he was my idol, uh national champion wrestler in college, and I would go to his really quick, quick little background. I would go to his matches when he was 10 years older than me, so five, six, seven years old, and watch him just torture guys on the mat. And then when I was I I had an incredible education on being a champion at a young age, if that makes sense. So I witnessed my brother just he was incredible. He was fast, he was strong, he was disciplined, he was he was just such an incredible athlete. It was the little guy, he was only five eight. Um, you know, he wrestled at 134 pounds in college and blew out his knee right before the Olympic trials in '84, and that ruined his dream. But uh, but anyways, it was incredible um experience growing up, watching him. And I just said, Oh, okay, so that's what we're supposed to do, just win everything, right? So when you've when you experience that as a young child and growing up, and and it's almost like it's instilled in you if that if that makes any type of sense. But um, so yeah, took golf seriously when I was 12, 13 years old. I played baseball. That's kind of where my my nickname of Fast Steady comes from. I used to throw in the low to mid-70s as a 12-year-old and hit a lot of home runs and had a lot of bat speed, foot speed, arm speed. So I was always fast and explosive. Um took golf seriously when I was 13. And the rest is is pretty much history. I I kind of dove into it. I would shovel snow in Connecticut at uh, you know, in the in the on the in February, and it was it was crazy. My neighbors thought I was crazy. Who's this skinny kid going out on the golf course in 17 degree weather, shoveling snow, hitting golf balls? But you know, I became a state champion in high school, all state, uh helped lead the team to uh to a state championship as well as a junior and played four years of division one golf at Central Connecticut, uh was inducted into the Hall of Fame in high school and college. And uh I guess my claim to fame in college was uh was national golf week magazine national player of the month, uh, division one beat out guys like Mickelson and Duval and Justin Leonard and Furick and all those guys who became stars on the PJ Tour. So I think that would probably be my claim to fame. But but I was uh yeah, I was a player, won over 50 mini tour events, almost made it on tour, uh, just missed making the finals a couple times, made the champions tour finals in 2021. And uh yeah, I just you know, I always when I explained it, I wish I could put my 55-year-old head on my 22-year-old body. And and the reason I say that is I I had a physical ability, like my physical, I when I speak in in front of corporations or speak to people, I'm doing talks, I always talk about three levels of talent, you know, physical talent, mental talent, and emotional talent. I did not have the mental and emotional talent when I was younger, when I was playing. And my physical talent was, you know, 9.8, 9.9. I can hit every shot in the book, hit it far, you know, could chip and putt and things like that, you know, shot some really low scores. But the emotional and mental side, I didn't really, I was, I was kind of at a level to where I was probably a four and a half, I would, I would give myself at the time. So it was, it was just it was one of those things to where I had to grow, I had to learn. It's a skill, it's a skill to take one shot at a time, to not let anything bother you to to to uh to kind of take everything you know with a grain of salt and just kind of like just go smooth sailing. And I was always an emotional player when I played. And once I learned to harness that with uh the help of Paul Dooland in 2017, I finished third in the world championships. And I'm like, I I should never lose. Like I should never like ever lose. And so I worked with him and and really kind of developed a plan uh and a purpose of you know, making a rock solid, crystal clear plan uh going forward. And once I did that, it's almost like that level of emotional and mental talent and maturity really reached a level of, man, this is fun. It was uh it was so much fun to execute, focusing on execution, not hey, I should be this or I should be that. It's almost like focus on the process, and it's so simple. One shot at a time, pick out, commit to the commit to the plan, commit to the to the shot you're trying to hit, and let it go. And whatever happens, happens. And I was able to do that, but with a lot of work. It's you know, it's not as easy as just saying that. So that's a little background on um on my golf. So what made you transition to a long drive? So I missed making the finals in 2004, kind of cruised through the first stage, shot 66, 71, 72, 70, um, played really well in 04, won seven mini tour events in a row. Uh just I I was really lighting it up. I really felt that was the year that I was gonna make it. Um and worked hard and got to the second stage, just I just wasn't as sharp as I had been, you know, for three and a half or four months. And we uh yeah, if you play golf long enough at a higher level, you know, there's ebbs and flows and there's peaks and valleys, and it's just I just wasn't, I was off just a little bit. And when you're off just a little bit, especially with how good the players are uh in golf, especially now, that was 20 years ago, right? 21 years ago, and they're that much better now. So you have to you can't just go to Q school and just kind of go through the motions and play okay. You have to play really well, and and you have to make putts, you have to, you miss a green. You you just have to play so much smarter, and there's so much data now uh driving all those scores. It's it's like you watch Bernard Langer play, and he's just he's like a machine. Everything is right in front of him, rarely makes mistakes. And I see guys making so many mistakes, and and it's like if we just kind of narrow the mistakes and and take those mistakes away or make less mistakes, it's not about making more birdies necessarily, it's about making less mistakes and making good decisions and uh and just being present with whatever shot you're hitting and picking the right shot to hit at the right time.
SPEAKER_02:And it's interesting, you've come full circle from badly missing out at Q school. You've come to coach Hidaki Matsuyama and increasing his ball speed. What did that feel like working with Hideki?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, it was one of those pinch me moments. Uh it was 2021, right after it was it was July of the year he won the masters in 2021. So we were members at the same course over at Golden Bear Club in Windermere. And he lives out there and he when he comes to practice, I never met him before. So he uh he would come out with uh with Justin and and some of his guys, and there'd be like four or five of them. They had like four carts, and they look like a little train of carts coming in the back of the range. And I'm kind of off to the side, kind of on the back of the range, because the range there is only like 380, 385. So I always go in the back of the range, just so I don't I don't get yelled at for flying it on the back. But um, so I'm hitting drivers, and you know, when I hit it, and Jesse can attest to this, uh, it makes a different sound. So uh, you know, he walks over. I wasn't even paying attention. I saw him, and and I'm not one of those guys who goes up and hey, you know, how are you? Um so he actually came up to me, he had his phone, came up and he looked at my track man numbers, and I was like it was around 200 ball speed, uh hitting a play driver because I was I was playing at the time. Uh I wasn't doing long drive. So I was getting ready uh for some champions tour events coming up in Champions Tour Q school in 2021. So he comes up and he he looks at my my track man numbers and he looks at me and he goes, he went like this with his eyes. And he takes out he has his phone and he goes, Can a video? And I'm like, sure. You want to take a video of my swing? Okay, great. So thankfully, uh that was a pretty cool moment. And I hit two really good ones. He took one down the line and one face on, and they were right around 200, 201 ball speed and really good flight. And and uh so we just chatted for a minute and uh really what what a just a great guy, you know, and we just struck up a friendship right there, and um and we uh you know I I went to his house, he asked me uh through his translator, and he speaks pretty good English, but his uh his the guy that kind of helps run the house when he's there in his chef, Justin, um, said, you know, he Hideki would like to work with you or or find out what you're doing, which is which is smart, right? If I saw a 50-something year old guy hitting it, you know, 380 on a string that makes it look sort of easy, like what's he doing? Like, how is he how how is he doing this? Like, this isn't uh this isn't normal. So uh I I hooked Hideki up with my trainer Jeff Flagg, who's incredible, uh introducing the rote Rotex as well with Dr. Joe Lacaz. And so Jeff trains him, he's been training him for the last couple years, uh, a few years actually. And uh Dr. Joe uh and with Rotex, and Rotex is amazing. And I know Jesse, we're probably gonna get on that, but but it's really it's like the fountain of youth. It's one of the reasons why I move so well uh with the training I've done, and then add Rotex. Rotex is like the cherry on top of what I do. But uh, but getting back to Hideki, yeah, we've uh you know we've become friends and and worked with him, put them through a speed session, got up to 191 ball speed. Um, I'd like to see him, he's got the potential, but I think a lot of tour players, as you guys know, they have this governor and they see they they see they have blinders on and they don't want to, you know, they want to hit fairways and you know they'll take a lot off the gas and uh and let it go. And the cool thing is I just saw something last week with Rory McElroy, who I think he I think he was either first or second. I want to say he led in strokes gained off the T in 2025. First or second, and then he's like 135th and fairways hit. So I don't think Rory's really too worried about hitting fairways. Yeah, of course he wants to hit fairways. I mean, uh, we all do, right? If we can hit a driver, we want to hit in the fairway. But if you miss a fairway, but you're hitting at 340, you know, it's a pretty big advantage compared to hitting it 290.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but they've only got one ball. You guys have eight.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's quite decent. Yeah, well, it was eight back in the late teens, and then then it went back to six, which I would love to see four, to be honest with you. I would love to see four balls and the and the grid to 50 yards wide between 45 and 50, and make you hit shots. I mean, it's uh it's gotten to the point to where you know some of the grids are like I think they I think I heard that it was like 100 yards wide and 80 yards wide or 90 yards wide at the world championships. And and yeah, of course, it's it's great, you know, creating the speed, but but you should have to be held accountable for hitting it somewhat straight. You can't hit, I mean, an 80 yard wide grid with six golf balls uh is like shooting fish in a barrel. Like it so I mean it's it's catering to the fastest guys, which is which is fine. But we want to, you know, I would love to see fish. fast and and hit it you know have a dispersion which is pretty tight so you have to hit get a little pressure on you when you got to hit when you have to hit shots and and uh under the conditions so that's just my take on it I think if I ever owned it in a perfect world I would do a you know a 48 yard wide grid with four balls and uh say you know there you go let let's see it let's see you hit it straight and and hit it in between the pipes so um that's what I would like to see letter up keep it straight yeah absolutely so uh Ed now with with all this great information let let's get right into it yeah you know people are gonna ask all right so we got this guy who's kind of a human freak okay how does he do it how how does one if you are working with a guy in his 50s who has some athleticism who's not completely bound up who's swinging at it let's say 102 to 107 are you asking for yourself or a friend asking for a friend asking for a friend right okay how can one safely increase swing speed and and here's the caveat to that question because I know that you know you're shisnit without losing one's swing dynamics and or putting somebody into the hospital oh yeah and without get yeah and without getting into it as Jesse said yeah yeah so I'm a big proponent Jesse when I get a player uh most of the tour players I work with with are are athletic right you you can't be a really good golfer and have no athleticism it's just it's not gonna work right uh for the most part there might be someone out there but um I haven't met him yet so the the thing that I look at is is movement trumps everything great efficient movement athletic movement how you load how you wind up trout uh trumps everything if you move well you have the opportunity to swing a lot faster than you currently are and I experienced that uh myself I kind of had to train myself to go a little bit reckless in training but the one thing that I think has really changed the game for me from a movement perspective and how I wind up and and everything that I do is Rotex. I mean Rotex motion those two discs on the ground I saw them and I did I was not a believer at first back in uh I I heard about him in 2014 2015 when when Jeff Flagg he won the world championship in 2014 uh got to be really good friends with him and then we he started training me on some of the principles that he had uh had used with uh pure motion and and his training style and I absolutely loved it it's almost like training like an athlete but you're not you know so I mean there's different training styles and whatever works for you great but you know being 55 moving still the way I do uh I know for a fact that this is this is the way forward in my opinion because I've done it and you know this is what I experienced training and I'm super healthy uh can hit it far I move like a 25 year old I feel like and Rotex is a massive piece of that just being very intentional with the movements and the first thing I do is when I get somebody uh like a guy the other day Jeff came in another guy Jeff uh for a speed school I do a three hour speed school here and there uh when I'm in town with a couple guys and he started at he was like 107 and a half and 157 ball speed moved pretty well you know pretty good player single digit handicap four or five handicap and you know he goes I'm just frustrated I've seen a few guys and I've seen um you know I've I I just can't gain any more speed and he's I think he's 39 going to be 40 and I'm like well you're in for a treat today so uh got him got him moving better got him on rotex worked on a couple of principles and his trail side to kind of loading better winding up some of the things that I've learned in myself uh moving forward as a coach and got him up to 116.8 and one almost 173 ball speed from you know 107 and 157 and a lot of that so what what I do there's the so the whole thing with kind of how I do the way I do it and how I do it is when I put somebody through a speed session and you know you know you'll see people saying oh he gained 10 miles an hour in one day you know that's that couldn't be farther from the truth. So so when you see when you see ads like that or or companies stating oh well this guy gained 10 miles an hour in one day or eight miles an hour or 12 miles an hour it's it's completely fabricated. It's just not true. What it what I do is when I get a baseline number for a player and then I put them through Rotex, I explain some of the principles I'd like them to do. I put them through a hits golf session, the speed session with my driver and then I get them hitting their driver afterwards. Now they're warmed up they're ready to go and it's worked like clockwork the last 18 months with my case studies and the players that I've worked with and I want them to push the limits all the way to just literally push it with their driver. So I have a before number club speed ball speed hit session rotex and then I do an after. So whatever that after number is like with Jeff it was 116 and one 172 and a half I believe so anytime if he stays consistent and disciplined and does exactly what I tell him to like give him the blueprint what he needs to do every week that's where he should be cruising at within eight to 16 weeks. So in anywhere between two to four months that's where he could be cruising on the golf course because he's gaining sustainable speed that's going to actually mat it's gonna show up where it matters the most on the golf course. And that's it that's like worked like beautifully over the last 18 months just testing this driver uh and the system that I've uh I've created and you know it's it's a beautiful thing. But you know it's not like somebody gains 10 miles an hour in one day oh you gained 10 miles. No no but that's the potential to be consistently there and sustain that speed on the golf course and hit it you know 20 25 yards uh longer carry wise so it sounds like a lot of your training comes from nervous system training or some form or fashion of that yeah could you talk a little bit about that versus say lifting heavyweights as was the recommendation in the early 2000s yeah so I I lifted pretty heavy in 97 uh I started really working out when I was 27. I mean I was 6'465 pounds soaking wet so I was like I looked like uh I looked like this driver like my head and my body so I uh I wasn't exactly a physical specimen at the time but I was that wiry strong kid I don't know if you guys know anybody like that that you went to school with kind of and I threw hard when I threw a baseball I threw it in the low to mid 70s and I was probably a hundred pounds but I had this ability I was extremely athletic you know my dad played Pro Ball for a couple of years in the Cardinals organization and in single A back in the 50s you know my sister was a really good softball and volleyball player my other brother uh was a very good wrestler so it was it was you know uh sports were a big thing for us and I just kind of took it to where like I am I want to be great you know I want to be uh I want to be a really good golfer and I want to plan tour and this was as an early teenager. So it uh it it blossomed into you know when I didn't make it I I after the age of you know after I didn't make it in my mid-30s and I got to you know went through life and married and kids and and got to long drive and realized that I had to work on the old melon that was holding me back once I was able to really get that in check and really raise that level of maturity um it everything just opened up and you know that level reached my physical and then it was like I was unstoppable. Yeah so if if someone were to ask you the the engine of golf speed and the golf swing would it be arms or body oh arms yeah yeah I I 100% and people you know I I have this conversation with people and they're like oh well speed comes from the hips or leg drives yeah for you they say that that uh club head speed comes from the arms that's sacrilegious shouldn't we rotate our hips our pivot ground forces rotate the knees internal external rotation what's going on yeah so what are we misunderstanding there well you know the that's a that's a part of the speed but for me I don't care how fast you move your hips I don't care how well you you pivot I don't care how much you you transfer that force to your lead side if your arms and your hands aren't moving fast you're not gonna hit it very far. So it's it all has to be in the correct sequence. Like I've done something since I was 15 years old I really strengthen my lead hand my lead fingers where I grab the club and I'm able to create a longer lever than everyone else I'm I'm moving my arms pretty fast um and I'm making it look easy so to speak it's not we all know that that's been playing golf for a long time but I've been able to kind of create a system um that you know I don't have a lot of separation in transition like I'm not like my X Factor stretch uh is not I mean it's not like you know I'm not like Gordon Sargent. I'm not like uh you know anybody like Emmanuel yeah it's just I don't have a lot of separation I've never really felt like that was the most powerful way to swing for me and look here's the thing the reason why I went down this rabbit hole at coaching is because I'm in my 50s swinging it 150 something miles an hour and 220 ball speed hitting it on a string with with a good solid golf swing can control it can hit it left to right right to left high low whatever I needed to do as a golfer and I've never had a back issue not even a back spasm so what am I what am I doing in my golf swing to create so much speed and so much efficiency to allow me to pop up out of bed every day at 55 years old never even a back spasm so how am how am I moving my body to create that you know to you know other guys say oh well you've got to separate to create more speed and this and that well the facet joints in the lower five lumbar can only rotate about two and a half to three degrees so if I'm creating a lot of separation between my lower and my upper I'm gonna start shredding that lower spine. And I just that just never felt good to me. I like if I if I try to you know restrict my lower half and and try to really create a massive shoulder turn and leave my left knee where it is and and really not a lot of of lower body or internal hip rotation in the backswing then I just I just feel it in my lower back. Once I allow my my hip my right hip to get internally rotated plenty it just takes all the stress out and when I load in my trail foot I'm low I'm winding up through my foot and it allows me to create a lot of width and a lot of freedom in my body it just you know Dr. Joe and I thankfully you know he's like been incredible with Rotex we we spent you know we we chatted and we wanted to collaborate on my golf swing why what makes me tick like what what am I doing differently than than a lot of golfers like 20 something year olds like Will Zalatoris has gone on two or three back surgeries now and then all these guys have uh problems with their back and and some of them that hit it far. So what am I doing right with been on force plates been on 3D been on gears been on all this stuff figuring out how I move uh in in the manner in which I move and and putting that into a whole coaching platform to where it's going to help people hit it farther be more efficient and be healthier and and that's the goal that that's literally my purpose that's what I want to do. And working with the best players in the world as well as you know 15 handicappers just help helping them understand the movement and and doc for two years we spent and Dr. Joe he uh he's like I I think I spoke with you more than I spoke with my wife for that two year span. Uh but it was he's an amazing guy. I mean if anyone's ever met him he's Navy SEAL 22 years instructor he's gonna shoot you straight he's not gonna BS you uh that's what I love about him uh and we we've developed a really close relationship over the over the last several years and he's been a he's been a big part of my success as well because I wasn't able to you know I move better now than I did when I was 51 when I did uh rotex or 50 50 because I started doing Rotex when I was 51 right before the 22 world championships and uh I just literally dominated from that point on and it was uh it was incredible but but I think you know the whole X factor stretch I mean that work might work for some people I'm not gonna say hey don't do it but knowing what I know about the body and movement and through Dr. Joe's eyes and in and his expertise on the body you know the lower lumbar doesn't want to rotate so we have to do something to allow that to rotate in and out and you know I don't want to create a ton of separation. I want to get those arms and hands in front of me early in transition. Like one of my main thoughts when I'm trying to get after it especially in in long drive I was trying to outrace my lower with my upper and when I did that when I loaded properly in the trail foot and I got it and I got those arms in front of me and my separation might have been 10 degrees not 30 or 40 so that's what we wanted to figure out what I'm how am I moving? What am I doing? How am I doing it? And why am I so healthy? Why is my body you know and I'm not swinging 102 miles an hour I'm swinging 152 in my 50s. So what what have I done? How am I how do I move to make me move so fast and efficient and and being healthy.
SPEAKER_02:So that's that was the whole goal of of why um where I think speed comes from there is a difference between swinging fast and swinging harder explain the physics of that and give our listeners a sense of the difference it's hard for a lot of amateurs to understand that yeah I think I think people when when they try to swing hard I always try to swing faster.
SPEAKER_01:I do it so I don't know if I talked to you Jesse about this but but I think of for me I don't work well like my brain doesn't calculate like the clock like it's a nine o'clock it's nine o'clock eight iron it's a it's a 10 o'clock night wedge it's you know I don't do well with that so I what I what I do for me is I and I think about that Justin with with that question I think it's more about cadence uh a lot of people try to rip it from the top they try to create the speed here and that's not where it's created it's it's almost like when I got to spend some time with VJ last year um you know he's got such an elegant golf swing it's it's long it's flowy he's 62 years old moves still moves really well outside of him having some feet problems over the last few years that's why he plays in Hokas but you know I want him you know I not only him he's always done it but just to see it gather and let it fall and let the body kind of wind up and and get that spiral line up you know so there's no slack. So we're winding that spiral of that you know fascial lines motion lines whatever you want to call it from the trail foot all the way up to the SC joint and winding it up getting our arms away from us and letting it fall in front of us. And it's it's a lot easier said than done but a lot of guys try to swing hard from the top instead of letting it wind up and just and just feeling that and that's one of the things that's sometimes uh the some guys are wired that way they just they feel like they have to muscle it and force it I don't I don't force anything in my golf swing. The only thing I do is I get my arms I I I'm so mobile now. I've gained probably 12 to 15 degrees of range of motion using Rotex and what I do when I reach back and I literally if I get a little bit too jumpy or yankee from the top I I don't hit it well and I'm slower than it is when I let it gather and let it fall. So and still that's still fast but it's like my cadence if I'm trying to rip it my cadence is going to be more explosive off the ball like if I'm trying to hit a 230 yard six iron compared to a hundred and eighty five yard six iron those the cadence is the the swing is going to be almost the same length probably a little bit shorter at 185 compared to 230 but the cadence is going to be much more explosive on the way back it's gonna match up much better. It's not going to be slow and then rip it it's it's more I try to get people to feel more of a uh a smoother cadence or a three to one ratio you know so that's that's how I help people and and some of these guys are wired that way they you know they get that I just want to rip it I want to hit it so hard while hitting it hard and and swinging fast are kind of it it's kind of a a fun thing to figure out with certain players um but but yeah I I've I've been able to do that with the cadence of my golf swing and and just keeping it rhythmic but also fast and explosive I I suppose it's like throwing about 10 feet versus 200 feet your back swing's going to be faster at 200 feet yeah yeah absolutely but it's not it's not the same cadence back Justin and then you know my my cadence is is different from 185 to 230 so and and my stock six iron is like 210 so it's not like it's 240 or 260 like some of these other long drive guys. Like you can't I'm a player first. So my mentality is always player first long driver second. So when I go play golf I'd much rather hit uh like I hit a couple nice little knockdown uh irons with you uh yeah uh at at Cyprus so it was you know I'd much rather hit it softer than harder and you know hit a couple like nice little knockdown like that little wedge I hit on 18 it was I had like 135 and and I hit a uh a beautiful I thought flighted armsy wedge and it spun off a green going jeez this the green is brutal but uh but yeah I would I've had that more of a controlly kind of when I play golf and just a smoother uh rhythmic golf swing that's kind of how I that's the player I turn into I don't want to hit a pitch and wedge 200 yards like like it it doesn't help me you know Ed uh um well I think what a lot of people don't understand
SPEAKER_00:About swinging harder or more efficient, creating more ball speed, more leverage, is that if there's any sort of maladaptive program in their body, say, you know, they've got a bad low back, or you know, their hamstrings are tight or their shoulders are bound up, that the nervous system is gonna have that governor. Like it's like no matter what you do, no matter how you train, your nervous system is not gonna let you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So um talk a little bit about what the Rotex plates do for that very phenomenon because I'm experiencing this now as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. So the Rotex plates, uh, and it's it's almost like it's one of those items or one of those things in life that's too good to be true, but it's not. I mean, we've seen tons and tons of items saying that claim things and this and that, and and the oh well, yeah. Or of course it doesn't work the way they said it was because it's too good to be true. Or I love it when um somebody says, I have the rotex plates, they don't work. I'm like, well, I can promise you you're not doing it correctly. You know, you're not doing it with intention, you're not doing it the correct way, probably just going through the motions, just like the golf swinger practice. You have to be the one thing I stress uh is you have to be so intentional when you work on this stuff. And that's when I got better. When I when I when I said, okay, it's quality over quantity. I don't need to go hit 500 drivers, I don't need to go work out for three hours a day. Let's get it to where it's it's really intentional and everything is just locked into what I'm doing, and then I can kind of free up after that, go recover, go sleep. But the Rotex plates, I have a four and a half minute uh routine on Rotex that I do every time before I hit golf balls. And through these five exercises, I do extremely intentional, and even to this day, I've been doing it for three and a half years. And even to this day, when I do it, my heart rate gets right up to 120, 130 plus, and my body just it starts buzzing. Once I finish that fifth exercise, I grab a driver and I'm at 200 ball speed within a couple swings. And when I do that with players and they still don't believe it, like I've done it in front of tour players, they like want to know how I warm up and this and that. I say, well, yeah, it's the warm up. The warm-up should be warming up the body, getting the body activated, getting it primed and ready to swing a golf club. It's not, you know, going out doing a couple stretches and then grabbing a wedge, hitting 10 wedges and hitting six nine irons and eight, seven irons. And that's not a warm-up, in my opinion. My opinion, the way I do it, the way Doc uh showed me how to do it, it's with full intention, get the body ready from head to toe and everywhere in between. And I can grab a driver at 55 years old, Jesse, after I do those five exercises and go 200 ball speed within two or three swings, maybe four. And the first swing is usually, you know, I'll I'll kind of I won't go full out, even though I can. Uh I'm probably 127, 128, and 190 the first swing, and then I'll go 195 and then you know 198 or 200, and then I can just let it eat a little bit. But but I'm at golf course speed swing one with a driver after I do Rotex. And that's the proof is in the pudding, you know. And I'm not I'm not 25 years old, I'm 55. So a lot of these guys on tour, uh, you know, it would be very, very beneficial for them to just take my advice, even if you don't, you know, whatever. But getting the body ready is so important, not only from a from a golf swing perspective, being ready to play, getting that central nervous system jacked up and ready, primed, uh, and I'm pushing the one thing with Rotex is I'm pushing the limits of my rotation, my mobility. So if I'm doing some of the exercises I'm and I'm rotating uh ISO ISO holds for three seconds at 140 degrees, I'm never gonna rotate that much in my golf swing. But if I'm training that if I'm if I'm isometrically holding that for two, three, four, five seconds, doing a certain movement, then I know in my golf swing, I'm going to stay within those parameters, right? So we get hurt when we when we pass the point of you know of that uh that mobility. If if I you know if I can only rotate 90 degrees, and let's just say I slip and uh or something happens, I go 110 degrees. Well, there's a there's a pretty good chance I'm gonna get injured in some capacity. So I'm training the limits, and I've done that for three and a half years to to stay within the limits. So when when people say, Oh, how's your back? I'm like, it's good, how's yours? So uh, but uh that's it's it's really not rocket science. I'm just I listened to a an expert on the body. He showed me what to do, and I was mindful enough to say, yeah, I'm gonna do that because A, I want to I want to hit it far, I want to swing fast, I want, I want my body to move efficiently, and I want to play good golf, and uh, and ultimately I want to stay healthy. I mean, it's it's not it and Rotex is about to blow up. I mean, it is there's a lot of people reaching out. Doc's been getting you know more orders and more orders. He didn't, he does the most sales he ever did in one year. And the cool thing is, I I don't I don't get paid by Rotex. Um, I I am so appreciative of Doc giving me uh his basically I went to I went to med school, so to speak, for my golf swing. He taught me uh a lot about the body and and how I move and how the the efficiencies of my golf swing and and why I've never been hurt and why you know certain things happen from the inside out. And as a coach now, as a speed coach specifically, uh and golf swing, I've learned that wow, there's a there's a lot of people that just don't understand movement, like proper movement. That's why like coaches, they really I think it's really important. Thankfully, I went through the whole process with doc, but I think as a golf coach, if you're coaching people to swing the golf club, you should have at least a general knowledge of the body and and what's going on and why certain things happen and why certain things don't happen. And I think you know, from from that perspective, I'm I'm very grateful to Doc for helping me understand the body from the inside out and how I create speed so I can coach that in other players.
SPEAKER_00:Boy, that's a great answer, Ed. And for those who aren't familiar with Rotex, because I just started my Rotex journey, you and I talked about it, Ed. Yeah um and what what the translation to the golf course is that my body is telling me that it is safe to go ahead and make a good strong pivot. Like my movement is oilier. You know, we talk about like how if if somebody could just watch Sam Snead uh in his his rotation, um and and and these devices train the nervous system to give you the green light to not only pivot efficiently, but to move with more freedom because it is going with the body's natural rotational whatever. I mean, like I said, I'm at the beginning of this journey, but um I'm sure the listener is gonna be very interested in in these devices. And I and I'm gonna tell you guys, both personally and uh the listener, that when I jump on those plates for you know five to ten minutes before teeing off, I don't have to hit a golf ball.
SPEAKER_01:Right, you don't. Literally. If you do it correctly, Jesse, you do you don't have to warm up.
SPEAKER_00:I don't have to hit a golf ball. My body feels my body feels more ready to go after a seven-minute Rotex warm-up session than doing the scenario that you said, doing a few stretches, hitting 10 wedges, and going through that normal progression. And I mean, that's where you and I connected about Rotex right away. And I I think especially those who are uh who are advancing in age, this is just gonna reteach your body that it's safe. Yeah. Efficiently.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, 100%. It's all about efficient movement of the body. Like, I don't like I I don't want to get injured, right? Like, I I literally when I go, even after doing a Rotex and grabbing a driver and kind of doing a speed school or working with a tour player, do Rotex, grab a driver. I'm never worried about getting hurt ever. Like, I'm not that's doesn't even enter my mind. So, you know, if I can do that in my mid-50s, imagine if we got juniors doing it consistently. And and the thing is, the the problem is I see I see them sitting in gyms and I see them gathering dust places, and I see some people on them that aren't doing it correctly. The hard thing is to get people to say, hey, you know, this is like the holy grail, it's the it's the cherry on top. If you understand how to use these, and it's not that difficult, you know, it's going to change your life. It really did for me. And uh it got me up to 156 and 228 ball speed. You know, I was never there after before 2022. You know, I hit 150, but but moving forward doing road text, that was the fastest I'd ever been in 2022. Uh used started using them 16 weeks before the world championships in 2022, dominated, got to 225 ball speed for the first time ever, and then hit 228 in December. And just by the whole, like you said, oiling you might my my swing feels oilier. It my body feels like it's oiled. Exactly. Uh it just gets your body ready to move, and that's the ultimate thing that we want to do in our golf swing. And it's it's just been it's it's incredible. And I well, every time I get every time I do a speed school or work with a player, I would say 90% of them order it because once I show them and I get my hands on them, putting them in certain positions, and I'm very, I'm very intentional when I said no, we got to get here. And I I you know, I'm able to put them in certain positions. They're like, Oh my god, I've never felt that before. And then they start swinging, and then they they see the speed jump up, and then we kind of add hits into their speed driver, and then all of a sudden it's like, man, I I feel awesome! Like, of course you do, because you're finally warmed up, your body is finally activated. It's it's you know, it's prime to go swing a golf club. So, and that's the beauty of of Rotex, and it's just it's incredible, really is.
SPEAKER_02:With that, let's switch gears and talk about the hits system, yeah, the good stuff, yeah. The good stuff, right? What's the genesis of the hits? Like, there's no lack of speed training equipment on the market, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so with the way we kind of look at it, I this has been in production from late 2017, early 2018. So we're going on almost eight years now. And the way it happened, Justin, was uh, you know, I I bought into the the swing it air devices and I bought a system called the uh power golf system, which was three clubs, uh kind of speed sticks, and you know, swung those for three and a half years. And you know, I I when I think about it almost makes me like cringe because um here I am, you know, like the whole air swing, speed swing thing on um uh on on the market today. We feel like they're not even competitors because they they're not we're doing something completely different, you know, and we're actually hitting golf balls at speed. And the way it holds the whole thing kind of started. So I swung the sticks for uh three and a half years trying to gain speed, never really gained much speed. The only thing I gained was sore wrists, uh sore elbows, uh shoulder here and there. And you know, I'm like, gee, I'm and once I really thought about it, I'm like, I'm trying, I'm taking advice from people that hit it like 260. I'm trying to hit it 400 yards, win world championships. So what I did, not not to be funny, but uh it's true, right? And the way I explain that is hey, I I'm not going to invest a million dollars with a with a financial advisor who's broke, right? Um I want to I want to go to someone who's been there and done that for the most part. You know, I'm not gonna hire a mobile detailer whose truck is filthy, right? It just I want to go to a guy who who knows what it feels like to swing fast, to to hit it far, to hit it, and it doesn't have to be 150, you know, what mid-120s, 130 even. So, and and once I kind of went through that three and a half years of swinging uh at air, didn't really gain anything outside of you know tendonitis in both elbows, woke up one morning, I couldn't even straighten my arms, and I'm like, I'm done. Like it just doesn't make any sense. And once I really I took like two and a half, three weeks off, and I'm like, I need to do something, like I'm not, I know I've got more in the tank. So what is it? I'm swinging those things faster, but it's just not translating to the grid. Like and I had a little bit of success during that time, but it wasn't like I knew there was so much more in there. So had a bunch of drivers laying around. I'm like, well, what about hitting balls? Like being reckless, like really pushing the limits of speed, hitting balls. I'm like, what a concept, right? So so I started doing that. I had a bunch of drivers laying around, kind of made some different weighting systems and stuff like that. And and one of the things that I thought about was, well, if I look at every other sport on the planet, I'm like, D would you ever would you ever see Lino Messi kick at nothing as fast and hard as he could to try to gain speed and power in his leg? Of course not. Would you ever see it? Yeah, would you would you ever see uh an NFL kicker kick at nothing to try to go from 56 to 61? No. Would you ever see Serena Williams or uh you know Roger Fetter throw up an imaginary tennis ball and try to hit it as hard as you possibly can? I mean, that's the concept, right? Speed training. I mean, they're they're they're training for speed, but there has to be there has to be impact, you know, and it just made sense. I'm like, well, what was I doing for that time frame? Like, and then I started gaining, you know, a mile an hour here, mile an hour and a half here, two miles an hour here, another mile. So I went from the low to mid-140s to the low to mid-150s, and it just it skyrocketed. I dominated from 2018. I won over 15 events, uh uh three world championships, uh, oldest winner of a world-long drive event out in California at 47 years old. And it was just one of those things to where I have to keep this quiet because I know that this is the future of real speed training. So, and I developed the system, I developed the product uh with the help of some people designing it, help getting my design in my head onto paper, and that's a little bit smaller head. It's right here, high-intensity impact training system. So uh it's kind of what it looks like. It's a little 360c cc head. You older guys would like that. It's uh it's a really nice looking head. This one's kind of beat up. I've got about 3,500 hits on it, and it's the fourth version of the driver. And you know, I had a good friend of mine, Justin James, testing it for me. He's an absolute tank, you know. So cracked a few heads, I cracked a few heads, so it's got a weighting system to where it's got a couple light screws, a couple heavy screws that are in the in the head, and we can go light, medium, heavy. And I I perfected the weighting system in 2022 uh when I had some time, especially through COVID, kind of playing with some different stuff. I tried everything from really light to really heavy and everywhere in between, settled on this one, and it's been nothing but uh but incredible for uh for the product. And then we just shot for six hours yesterday some of our elite people who are uh who want to be coach for it's like an eight-week speed you program on uh hitsgolf.com. And it's gonna be really, really cool to help people understand hey, this this is the way to do it. This is this is how you know we go about speed training here from experience, from a guy that can hit it 400 yards, that's won three world championships, that knows uh a lot about speed and and how to create speed, not only from a swing perspective, but body and and club and training. So that's kind of what we put together here. And it's it's nothing short of like my my head is still like, man, I can't believe this is finally reality after keeping it so quiet. A lot of people, I can't believe somebody didn't do this beforehand. And every tour player I talk to is like, yeah, we we don't really like swinging it air, it just doesn't make I'd rather hit my driver. And even if it's if it's the hits driver or your driver, the whole concept of creating efficient, sustainable speed is hitting something. The body needs anticipatory muscle contraction at impact. So when you hit something, the body braces for impact. That's what the bracing effect is the energy goes into the ball, not the body. So, and if if I just swing something as hard as I can with no resistance, withn't with no impact, it it's almost like you're hyperextending your wrists and your elbows every single swing because there's no impact. You know, you're bracing for impact. If somebody, if you got a you know, six foot two linebacker that weighs 245 that runs a 240, if that runs a four 540 running at you, are you just gonna stay there nice and limp and you let him hit you, he'll break every bone in your body. That you're gonna brace for impact to kind of safeguard yourself, right? It's the same thing with with swinging a golf club. That's why it's so important to hit golf balls at speed. You know, it's just you know, when you really think about it, and when I bring that up to people, they're like, Yeah, actually, that that makes sense. I'm like, well, of course it does. What other sport do you see? Well, you're gonna see a boxer throw a right hand as hard as he can at nothing, throw out his shoulder, you're gonna throw a wiffle ball as hard as you can. Of course not. Uh, so that's the concept. Uh, it's worked like a charm for me. And you know, for the last 16 to 18 months with players, uh, they're loving great feedback so far. We just got him in stock a week and a half ago. So it's been a lot of fun getting it out into people's hands and just the case studies that I've done and and just seeing the results. And again, it's not look, speed training, you have to hit something. You know, air swings just don't work. Uh, a lot of people have gotten injured. We've got three to four hundred emails of of people who've gotten injured, whether it be a wrist, a shoulder, an elbow, an oblique, and some of them catastrophically, you know, some of them tore stuff, surgery. And it's just not when you really think about it as an athlete, you know, there there has to be some type of impact. And I'm sure, hey, uh maybe those have worked for some people, uh, but from a sustainability uh aspect for the body, for your your golf swing going forward, I can still swing at 150. Still, and I have Haven't really speed trained at all, maybe twice in the last year, three times. And I can still that that speed is still there because of what I built in my system. So that's uh that's the story of the hits driver.
SPEAKER_02:So, what can our listeners expect when they buy the hits system? What kind of setup do they need? Do they need any extra gear, special gear? So just a driver that hit at the range.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Justin. There's different levels to it. There's uh there's just the hits driver, you get the protocols, you get a couple stretching stuff like on the like to warm up. And then there's the hits plus, which is like kind of like the mid-tier. Well, it's a little bit more expensive, but you'll get certain uh coaching uh through videos. And then there's the hits elite, which is uh, you know, it's more of a an investment than anything. It's eight weeks, it's a video every week. You're gonna be sending in videos of your golf swing, talking about all the stuff we chatted about. We talk about Rotex, you can add Rotex to you, and I think you know, for 400 bucks, Rotex is just like I would pay 4,000 for that thing. And again, just to tell your listeners, I don't get paid by Rotex. You know, uh Doc gave me an education, so that was our trade-off. I'm like, I will push this, I believe in it 100%. And and people that know me, I don't I don't have a lot of uh endorsements just because and I get people reaching out every week. Hey, we have this product, we'd love for you to try it. And you know, and the answer is no, 98% of the time. So I'm only gonna endorse a product or use a product that I really believe in, that it actually helps me, that I think it can help other people. So uh Rotex has been the cherry on top, like I said before. And and so that hits elite level is more of a, you know, I'm your personal coach for eight weeks, and I'm gonna guide you through and and help you uh get through. Some will be faster than others. Obviously, it's it's different with everyone, but uh you know, I'm not gonna sit here and say, Oh, you're gonna gain 20 miles an hour in 16 weeks. No, it doesn't work that way. Um, there's a potential to gain anywhere between five and 15, which I've seen. Uh, and it just depends on your athleticism, it depends on your uh on your health. It just it depends on a lot of factors. But if you start training the limits and start pushing up the ceiling of speed week in and week out and month in and month out, you are going to raise your your floor. So it's not like you're gonna gain 10 miles an hour, you go from 115 to 125 on your high end. Uh, you're not still gonna be swinging at 110 on the golf course, you're gonna probably swing like 117 or 118 on the golf course, and that's just the it's the same thing as working out. If I go to the gym and let's just say I can bench press 165, my max for one rep is 165, day one. And my goal is to do 225, and you know, whatever time frame that is, I don't really like to put time frames on anything, but but the way it kind of sets is uh, you know, eight to sixteen weeks or up to 16 weeks. So I do 165, maybe the next week I can get 170. So I'm gonna keep pushing every single week, right? Until and maybe do some half reps with like 205 and maybe put a bar there, getting a squat rack, and maybe go down six or just to feel that feel that weight, be all man, that's that's heavy. So, and then all of a sudden, in three, four, six months down the road, I finally built up enough strength to do 225. So now I go back and I do 165, I can rep that thing out for like 12 to 15. Like I can't believe I could only do this once six months ago. And it's the same thing, it's about pushing yourself, pushing your limits. The problem is a lot of people have done it the wrong way, have done it um uh just inefficiently, right? So, so I've figured out a way to do the same thing, hitting a golf ball, which is, in my opinion, the only way to speed train. And indoors, like the the equipment they'd need is I I prefer doing it indoors into a screen or a net, just because a lot of people get married to ball flight, especially good players. They're like, Oh, I hit it in the toe, I hit it left. I I don't care. Like, I the this speed training is speed training. I want the only number I care about is that club ed speed, uh, that tile on the screen. So it's all about moving that number up every week. And some some weeks it's not gonna go up. It might go down a half a mile an hour, but just you know, just like anything in life, right? There's peaks and valleys, and there's kind of side I went through two months without gaining a gaining a mile an hour back when I was speed training, and then all of a sudden I was like 1.7. I'm like, okay, so sometimes you kind of hit a plateau and you're like, uh, well, maybe I'm just not no, I never thought that way. I'm I'm gonna keep pushing and pushing and pushing. Took me nine years to hit my goal of 225. I started at 196. And part of the problem with people is they get to like you get a guy that's swinging, you know, 102 and 150, 151 ball speed, and they want to swing 180. Okay, well, you got some work to do, right? But what I did uh at the time, I was 134 club, 196 ball speed in 20 in November of 2013. My ultimate goal was to get to 225. I knew if I can get to 225 with my golf swing and my ability to swing a golf club, that I would have a really good opportunity to win world championships. What I did was I made many goals. So 225 was out here, right? What do I need to do in that in that time to hit that goal? So my my first goal was 200, okay. My next goal was 205. My next goal was 210, and then it was 215, and then 220, and then 225. So, but it took me nine years to hit 225, and I never stopped. I mean, it's just it's an ongoing keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing. That's why when you keep working out and you stay consistent and disciplined, you can pretty much, you know, as long as you have the drive and the and the want to do it, you know, there's a really good chance that you're gonna hit it as long as it's not so far out there to where, you know, all the guys who aren't very athletic, um, you know, want to swing, you know, 180 ball speed and they're at 147 now. Well, you know, let let's go, let's let's try good go to 155 first. Yeah, that everybody's goal is to swing 180, right? Every everyone wants to hit a 180. Some people are just not going to be able to do that based on their athleticism, based on their body type, based on uh you know a few other factors. But we can maximize what you're able to do for sure. Like if I had people saying, What are you what are you out of your mind trying to go to compete against these young kids when I was 43, almost 44? And I'm like, nope, watch me, watch me, watch what I'm able to do. Because I've been through some life experiences and and some tough times, and and uh I built that grit, right? I'm like, okay, watch me. Just sit back and watch and grab your popcorn while you're at it. So that was that mindset, and it's not a cockiness, it's not uh I'm a you know, I'm not this egomaniac, but I'm just like, okay, you doubting me, great. I love it, absolutely love it. Just just watch what I do. And I was able to use that along with the grit that I built built up to you know perform at an extremely high level when it mattered the most. And I think that's that's all you ask for. And when you pull it off, you're like, man, I did it. You know, I I did it, I did what I set out to do. And you know, a lot of that is mental training, emotional training. Uh, the physical is there. Like, we see tons of athletes in all sports. Like, how can this guy not make it? I played with with players who never played on the PJ tour. Absolute studs, and I'm sure you guys have seen the same thing. Kids that are just world beaters that had our mental midgets, uh, so to speak, like from the emotional side, they hit one bad shot and they're ready to throw their clubs in the lake and they're four under. Like, what are you doing? You think you're not supposed to have bad shot? I mean, I've seen tour players snap, hook it, hit it fat, shank it. I mean, it's just part of the game. Just gotta be accepting of everything. Sorry, I went on a rant there.
SPEAKER_00:It's all right. That's all right. Well, go ahead, Justin.
SPEAKER_02:No, I I just wanted to ask Eddie to let our listeners know where to find out more about him, the product.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Justin. It's uh the website is hitsgolf.com, h-i-i-tsgolf.com. And all the information is there. There's a bunch of videos, there's an unboxing, there's all kinds of really cool stuff on there. There's different levels. Uh, they can also reach out to me on my Instagram page, uh at FastEddy480, uh, and then at hitsgolf, H-I-I-T-S golf, uh on Instagram as well. So it's been getting a lot of traction, you know, a lot of uh a lot of tour players are reaching out and and wanting to wanting to use it because they, you know, they know they know that that I mean the the air swing devices have been out for a while, and just you know, I just I just disagree with it from my own experience. And that's that's speaking for me. It's not like something I read somewhere or something, hey, I I I saw this guy or I talked to this guy. This is from my experience. My experience was very negative with those things, and it took me three and a half years to figure it out, you know, thinking I'm doing something wrong. Like, why isn't this working? Why is it my body was screaming, you know, stop, stop, stop. And finally, my elbows were like, Yeah, you're done. And then I was able to figure it out.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome, Matt. So good. Thanks for coming on, bud. What a great, what a great conversation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Uh yeah, that day at Cyprus, man, was uh well, you were you were the highlight of the day. I know, you know, I hit a couple good shots, but but it was so much fun walking the fairways with you at Cyprus, and it's just such an incredible place, you know. It's just and it's the first time I played it, and and to have you and Mike and RJ and uh it was it was absolutely incredible. It was it was the best day I've ever had on a golf course. It's just so much fun. Uh, even though you know I hit a couple of bad shots, but but I didn't even care. Like, and that's kind of the way I've been for the last few years, like my champions tour event. And and and if I can just expound on one point, if that's okay with you guys. Go for it. So uh turned profess or when I when I started playing again in 2020, 2021, COVID, and then there was no Q school in 2020, and then I was gonna go to Q school in 2021 when I turned 51. And uh, you know, friends with Graham McDowell and Graham uh helped me get an exemption of the 2021 uh peer insurance out at Pebble and Spyglass. So, you know, played in probably 10 or 12 mini tour events, hadn't really played a meaningful round of golf since the second stage of Q school in 04, so it's been 17 years. And and this, I think this will really help out your listeners from when it comes to golf swing and practice and then the mental side. So uh get an exemption, get the call uh with Steve John, what a wonderful guy he is, and gives me an exemption to play in the peer insurance, uh, pebble and spyglass. So I get out there the Saturday before, literally like a little kid, never been out there before. And uh so excited. Uh, some of the guys, I knew some of the guys on the champions tour. Um, and I got to play with uh Doug Barron in the practice round of Pebble, uh Kenny Duke and uh and Tim Petrovic. Uh and just it was it was so surreal to be out there, it was so awesome. And I played there and then a practice round at Spyglass, played with Tommy Armor the third, hit I think I hit five or six iron in the practice round into one. Like, whoa. So I saw Marco Mira and John Cook walking across walking behind number two. I can't remember what hole that what they were going to, but they're like, What'd you hit in? And I think I hit five iron, and they're they shipped their heads, so uh it was just a cool experience. And then, you know, shoot 200 MPCC in the practice round or in the um in the pro am, did a little um exhibition on the range for all the sponsors and stuff. There are probably 100 people there or so 80 to 100 people, and uh playing solid, swinging well, driving it well, and and just kind of everything was kind of flowing nicely. And day one was was uh pebble beach and warmed up great. Uh got to meet uh got Bob Estes was hitting balls next to me, and Bob actually he actually stopped hitting balls that morning at Pebble and went to sit down. And he goes, I I just can't hit balls next to you. He goes, It's it's embarrassing. He said something like it's embarrassing or something. I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, just I'll just I'll just start, I'll finish warming up when you're done. So um, which I thought was kind of fool. He's such an awesome guy. I got to know Bob a little bit. And uh go out to the first first tea, feeling great. Uh they announced my name and literally the adrenaline hit. And I felt like my arms weren't even attached to my body. Like I and I got a little hitting a little three-finger four iron out there in a wedge. I mean, it's such an easy opening hole. And I pull hook a four iron out of bounds, right? Hit skank a four iron out there somehow, hit a fat wedge short of the green, fat a chip, make a 30-footer for six on the first hole. Right. And my I'm just literally I'm blowing up like just like, but I nothing bothered me mentally and emotionally, right? I was like, okay, here we go. Made a great putt. Let's go to number two as a par five, make a good swing, pull hook a driver out of bounds, hang on to one, heel, cut it into the bunker, have a bad lie, kind of hit it out maybe 50 yards, hit another fat like seven iron or eight iron short of the green, make eight. So I start out double, triple. Three, I hit it way right, actually hit a good second shot, caught a little flyer, hit in the back bunker, hit a good bunker shot out to about six feet, just missed it. So I go double, triple, but I'm six over after three holes, and I'm not even upset. And this is this is the this is the time to where I'm in front of lots of people and playing in front of all these people, and it didn't even bother me. If this were 20 years ago, I would have been like, I am so embarrassed. I can't believe I'm doing this. I what am I doing out here? So just the work that I had done with Paul on the mental side, mental and emotional side, had really I that was like the proof. Like the the wheels were off early. Like I never even got started. So I go and shoot 45 on the front nine. I have to put one in the bunk around seven because it hit the top of the lip, came down underneath. I couldn't even get a wedge out. I had to put it out five feet, make a double on seven, double on nine, shoot 45. Can't remember the last time I shot 45. So go to the back nine. Okay, okay, I'm sort of some calming down a little bit. Let's shoot under par in the back nine. I know I'm swinging well. I know you know everything is is a little different, but let's go shoot under par in the back. Let's start with a good swing on 10, hit a good swing on 10, I hit a wedge to this on 10, make birdie. So I go, I'm even par on the back nine, going into 18. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna take it a little bit left of the tree and rip a driver. And it was a smidge into the wind, kind of went into the wind off the left, and I hit it really hard, but I started at about 15 yards right of where I was looking to hit it somebody's backyard. So grabbed the three wood, another one. So I make six, I make birdie with my second ball. So I shoot 82. Um, I think I was tied with Peter Jacobson for for last place. So after I put it out on the last hole, I wasn't, I was, I was excited. I was like, man, I'm I'm what an experience, right? Being in my first champions tour event, my first major event in 17 years, I got this opportunity to come out here. Absolutely beautiful. If that were 20 years ago, I'd have been like, I stink, I'm gonna withdraw, I'm gonna, you know, just very immature. So I come full circle, right? And that's how much it that's how important that mental side, emotional side is to handle yourself when you're playing in a big event. Next day, spyglass, okay, okay. So my wife and I went to dinner with some friends, and and I was just like, man, what a cool experience. Even though I shot 82, like, okay, nobody cares. Like, honestly, I used to think that everybody cared what I shot. Like when I was playing, like nobody real nobody cares. So uh we go to dinner. Okay, so this is what I did today. Everything was going a million miles an hour once they called my name. I'm going to use that. Okay, so I know what's coming tomorrow. So when I wake up, everything is gonna be like nice and slow and and and kind of get in a state of flow early when I get up. So I get up, eat slow, brush my teeth slow, shower slow, drive to the golf course with plenty of time, warm up, kind of just kind of just enjoy embrace everything, right? So I go to the 10th T at Spyglass, and Spyglass is a lot harder than than Pebble, as you guys know. So go to the 10th T. They announced my name. I felt the adrenaline a little bit, but I kind of knew it was coming. So I just took a few extra just long, flowy uh practice swings with my driver and went out and I shot 68, shot four under par, tied the lowest score of the day uh on that golf course, and it was you know 57, 58 degrees, kind of blowing about 10 miles an hour. It wasn't an easy day to play, especially that golf course, and drove it nicely. I I didn't really do anything special. Um, you know, I went I hit seven iron into 11 par five, and I I buried um I hit you know a couple off uh off the golf course, not off the golf course, but kind of I had a chip back in on the par five. I think it was number uh sixteen or fifteen. 14 so 14 hit a little right, kind of kind of wiped it a little bit, had a chip out with a seven iron, uh hit a nice little recovery shot, hit a nine iron up there about 10 feet, make it for birdie. But anyways, went through that round, and and guys, I'll tell you, and I had the same demeanors I did the other day when I shot 82 compared to the 68. So, so the the your listeners that are watching this, I don't care how many balls you hit, I don't care how fast you are, I don't care how great of a putter you are, if you don't get that in check and and accept everything at a at a high level, you're never going to reach your maximum ability. I turn I went 82, 68 and and spyglass. I wish I had another round. I wish the 82 was a practice round. But that was the experience, right? I needed to go through that. And a lot of the players were coming after me, uh coming up to me afterwards, like, man, what a great round! Like we we knew you were a good player, but geez, like wow. So, just from that aspect of how far I'd come managing this, and you know, when we were younger, they didn't. you know we didn't have sports psychologists. I mean my parents could barely afford to send me to the US uh junior amateur, you know? So it was it was one of those things to where I couldn't play in any AJGA events. And it it just you learn by doing you the only way you can't you can't sit there and assimilate or just like hey this is a four footer to win the masters. No you'll know what that feels like when you get in that position. You can't you you can't practice for that. You know you just can't do it. And the only way to do it is to actually get out there and compete and uh and go through it. So you learn how how do you react how do you react physically mentally emotionally and and that would that's that was a great lesson for me how far I'd come after all the work I'd done which is a skill to get that in the right uh right headspace.
SPEAKER_02:You're here what a what a wonderful lesson to close off this uh podcast interview. Can't thank you enough for spending your morning with us Eddie yeah I'm sure listeners will benefit a lot from this session and we'll reach out to you to learn more about hits and your protocol for increasing their club hit speed.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you thank you my friend I appreciate it