MAUMEE, OHIO-The David Leadbetter Golf Academy, will officially open tomorrow, October 19, a Golf Fitness Laboratory in its ChampionsGate, Fla., location near Orlando using an AboutGolf simulator and proprietary technology developed by the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Center for Sports Medicine. The Leadbetter Academy now joins the Pittsburgh’s UPMC Golf Fitness Laboratory (at The Golf Shop), as the only two locations in the world utilizing these proprietary technological systems incorporated into an AboutGolf simulator.
The UPMC Golf Fitness Lab’s system is a very unique, high-end application-customizing the technological package into the AboutGolf simulator’s framework cost approximately $250,000 and took years to develop-that utilizes motion-capture cameras and proprietary software developed by UPMC’s sports medicine experts.
The UPMC Golf Fitness Lab evolved from research conducted in UPMC’s Neuromuscular Research Laboratory (NMRL), which was established in 1990. The NMRL-under the direction of Scott Lephart, PhD, ATC-performs comprehensive research in sports performance and biomechanics related to prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for sports- and exercise-associated injury.
The UPMC Golf Fitness Laboratory began in 2000 as a research project aimed at reducing golf-related injuries and has evolved into a business providing the world’s most comprehensive evaluation of golf fitness and swing mechanics. The Golf Fitness Lab has the support of many PGA of America teaching professionals nationwide.
"It has been a rare honor for AboutGolf to have worked with Scott Lephart and the UPMC Golf Fitness Lab project for the last three years," says Bill Bales, AboutGolf’s CEO, who also designed both enclosures used at the UPMC Golf Fitness Lab, including the infrared cameras’ mounting system. "They have broken new ground in understanding the golf swing and what the body should do to optimize shot performance and avoid injury. Every serious golfer should take advantage of what can be learned in this system. Tying their project with the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, which will also have access to our latest FlightScope ball- and club-tracking technology, further validates the significance of the UPMC Golf Fitness Lab."
The UPMC Golf Fitness Lab is dedicated to enhancing golfers’ enjoyment of the game by optimizing their golf performance and reducing their risk of golf-related injuries by improving physical conditioning and performance through applied research. It offers the first scientifically validated program to enhance golf fitness and performance. Golf Fitness Lab’s three core components include fitness analysis, swing analysis and launch analysis.
The Golf Fitness Lab’s extensive proprietary database contains swing information from more than 600 golfers of all ages and handicap levels, including many top tour professionals. UPMC uses AboutGolf’s simulator-which provides a very realistic venue for golfers to hit test shots-and customized motion capture technology, to gather muscular and skeletal swing data along with key launch data. Each golfer then has their swing mechanics information compared to the database of elite golfers illustrating the similarities and differences between their swing and that of an elilte player.
The Golf Fitness Lab also conducts a golf specific fitness evaluation focused on strength, flexibility and balance. Combining a golfer’s fitness and swing data determined inside the simulator, the Golf Fitness Lab staff then formulates a list of specific exercises intended to improve the golfer’s golf conditioning. The program allows the golfer to increase his or her swing stability, torso rotation and rotational speeds, and to improve clubhead and ball velocity,
resulting in distance increases of almost 20 yards.
UPMC’s Golf Fitness Lab isn’t a teaching facility. In fact, it encourages program participants to share their launch-data and swing-mechanics reports with their local teaching professional to optimize their golf instruction. However, the David Leadbetter Golf Academy now has the best of both worlds. With the Golf Fitness Lab technology and the AboutGolf simulator now situated at the Leadbetter Academy’s ChampionsGate location-it had previously been located at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort-the Leadbetter instructors can use that data to optimize their students’ instruction on-site.
"AboutGolf’s simulators are an integral part of the UPMC Golf Fitness Laboratory and the total experience we provide to golfers," says Eric Schmitt, administrative director of the UPMC Golf Fitness Lab. "AboutGolf’s state-of-the-art technology and knowledge have allowed the UPMC Golf Fitness Lab to continue to evolve and expand and we look forward to a long relationship with them."
AboutGolf is an 18-year-old Maumee, Ohio-based company that’s a subsidiary of Friendly Software. AboutGolf has produced Microsoft Golf, Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf and World Tours, which is the world’s most widely-distributed golf simulation, and now is the world leader in indoor golf simulator technology. AboutGolf® is a registered trademark of AboutGolf Limited, Maumee, Ohio.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lacy
mb@mblacy.com
Phone: 760-202-1181
AboutGolf Ltd.
1628 Henthorne Drive
Maumee, OH