124: The Lead Leg Secret That Separates Tour Pros From Everyone Else with Russ Manalastas

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

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