How to Train Golfers with Andrew Hannon

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 158. Today I'm sitting down with Andrew Hannon and we're talking all about how to train golfers. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance and movement, package and position their products and and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson, and if you're just tuning in for the first time, welcome. Thank you so much, so much. Glad that you're here. Today I have an awesome interview with Andrew Hannon, who is an awesome new father with a brand new baby girl who's about 14 months old now. And it has been a crazy transition, working 14 hour days and adjusting it to his wife's schedule, daycare schedule, and it has been the best. And honestly, we have been talking about it so since or we talk about it inside of this episode. Andrew talks a lot about his experience on this episode. He started as an athlete in a small town in Kansas and we talked about his transition to Arizona. What he loves about the personal training in the fitness industry is that there's always something new to learn and that is clearly something that is shared inside of this episode. He talks a lot about his process in terms of how he works with the golfer, whether they are professional, whether they do it for fun or the and they want to either increase their fitness, increase their athleticism and or increase their performance. He also talks about how being a new dad has impacted his life and his career. And we're going to want to keep our eyes on Andrew because there are new things coming into the works with him based on his experience. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. What's up, Andrew? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

Hi, Beth. Doing good. Thanks for having me on.

Oh, I'm super pumped. I'm super pumped to dive into our conversation today. So for those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing your work, I'd love for you to please share with us a little bit more about who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

Yeah. So I think we got connected through Compound performances, mentorship. So Kyle and Matt's mentorship, you're doing the marketing material. And like I said, I always love your work. I always get a lot of good information from you. So then we started talking back and forth and I think we've had. I had a call from you. I've used, you know, your service before. Just kind of get some advice and stuff on marketing, social media. So. So for me, I work in Scottsdale, Arizona. I work for a small studio. And our main niche, my main niche is working with rotational athletes, more specific golfers. That's what I've been doing probably the last eight years out here. And that's kind of what a lot of people follow me is just for the golf fitness content, golf performance content. Also some, you know, cool exercises. See, on Instagram, I started kind of, that's kind of how I built my brand. And it's kind of evolved that way. Now it's still the golf fitness stuff, but my world's kind of evolving in the sense that I've been a father the last 14 months. My priorities has changed. So it's just like my golf. I used to play quite a bit. Now I have, I played, probably played three times since she's been born. So it's just like my priorities, my thoughts, my drive is a little bit different. And it kind of, you know, goes into my business as well, where it's just like, I love what I do, but I love being home with my family more. So it's just like I start thinking about other avenues and kind of think, okay, what's next? How can I, you know, still have the drive to. For one, I love training people, servicing people, but, you know, how can I be with my family more? And that's where I. I still try to dive into more online content, look for, you know, marketing to do that and provide services and programs for not only golfers, but, you know, maybe other outlets as well, other people that I want to serve. And I really think try to hit home with some dads as well because I have a little bit more empathy and the work that goes into that, especially if they're a little bit more hands on with family stuff. So that's kind of what I've been doing the past pretty much year and a half.

That's amazing. So I have. I have so many questions. So let's dive in first to golf. How'd you get into golf? Are you a professional? Go. Were you playing professionally? Like, how did you get into golf?

Absolutely not. So I grew up more In a traditional sports sense. I grew up in Midwest in, in Kansas, kind of southeast Kansas and or northeast Kansas. And growing up was this.

Yeah, my husband's from Missouri.

Oh really?

Yeah, yeah.

So I'm on the, I'm on, I'm on the Kansas side. So I want to say Kansas City. That's kind of this. I'm on the Kansas side because there's two Kansas cities. Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. So I grew up in a small town where it's just like kind of sports were for everything like football, basketball, baseball. My dad was a pro baseball player for a while. So that's kind of in the family. And then once I get got more into at the college level again I played basketball and baseball there and focused on my education. And then that's where I got into personal training after my college career was over. And then I just was looking for a niche and that's where, you know, TPI is. Titleist Performance Institute is kind of a certification for golf fitness. I got into that and I just thought it'd be a good avenue for me because I know I like to play. I like to play. Back then when I really got into it, like in my mid-20s, I wasn't crazy good, but the more I learned, the more I kind of played and practiced. Like I can handle myself on the course. Like I'm not awful. And so once I started getting more into it in my professional career, I kind of kind of fell in love with it and thought it was a kind of good niche to get into. It was good business. People that can usually play golf can afford that type of training year round. And now being out in Arizona where it's pretty much everything golf, I mean, we're around probably 20 courses in a five mile radius and we work with a lot of high end country clubs and a lot of retired people that just want to play all the time, but also want to keep their body in check and be healthy and play a lot of golf. So that's kind of where we come in and what I've been doing again past 18 years.

How did you go from Kansas City to Scottsdale, Arizona?

That's a great question. I so living in Kansas, I mean the weather's pretty inconsistent. And again, I lived in Lenexa for about six years after I started, right when I was in my, in my professional career. And Lenexa is just like pretty much a Scottsdale, right? Kind of high net worth people, good suburb area. And that's where I met my wife was at A lifetime fitness. That's where I started my career. So we met at a gym and we were just kind of looking for a move and we're ready for like something different. And we wanted to live by a beach, but then we just thought, you know, we can, you know, visit a beach, be cool, you know, every once in a while. And then I found on like a job search, you know, this. The gym I'm at now was hiring to look for a golf fitness trainer. It's called Premier Fitness Systems, and again, it's in Scottsdale. So I sent in my resume and you know, one of the owners, Greg, sent me or called me like two days later. And it was, it was pretty much like a four to five month, you know, interview process. It flew me out to kind of get to know me a little bit better. And again, this was eight years ago and we decided to kind of make the jump. I mean, we don't have any family, we didn't have any friends out here. We're just kind of ready for that big move and ended up working out perfect.

That's amazing. Okay, so I'd love for you to dive in a little bit for, for us and share a little more about, you know, what are some of the biggest differences that you've noticed when training people who are into golf versus other sports? Like, what are some of the big differences?

Yeah, that's a good question. To bring a little context, our big market is probably, again, people in their, you know, 50 plus range. Again, they're retired, they've been working all their life. Again, they like to play a lot. So again, I think getting into, I mean, they watch the pros and they see what kind of what they're doing with their bodies. And a lot of those guys and women, you know, they travel with trainers now, they have pts with them, they have massage therapists, they have every, everyone going with them. So they see that. And, you know, we just really try to help not only with their golf game, but also just kind of help their, you know, their healthy way of life outside the course. So if they have grandkids, making sure, hey, you know, I want to help you with your golf game, but also get you to move in better and also play with your grandkids when, 10 years from now, you know, so a lot of it has to do with kind of managing and maintaining their, some of their limitations. So with them, again, I'm kind of talking like 50 plus retired type of individuals. A lot of back pain. Sometimes we're really sticky with the Thoracic thoracic spine, neck issues. So it's just like we really try to pay attention to that through assessment process. And again, some of them might see us two to three times a week. Sometimes it's just one. So it's just like we really try to get a good session in for that hour. And usually at that time, especially in the summertime or if they're here seasonally, they're playing that day. So we have to kind of keep in mind, hey, we don't want to beat them up too much to the point where they can't play because that's what they enjoy doing. So it's really managing their load, their expectations and making sure that they can enjoy their time outside of the gym when they're in the cs, but also just any activities they enjoy to do outside the gym. So we kind of try to maintain all those goals as well.

That's amazing. So I'm curious, are you dealing mostly with people who are, are trying to increase their performance in golf or is it pain management?

It's a little bit of both, I think. Again, we not only with the retired folk and people that are, you know, don't play for a living, we also have a bunch of pros as well. So it's again, it's, that's truly two different sides of the spectrum. So I work with a few, you know, players that play for a living. So that's a totally different mindset and approach. So again, obviously they're playing for performance. They're playing to, you know, make sure they're staying healthy throughout the whole season. But then we'll get a few clients that are at that level where they're trying to make it. So again, they're looking for performance or looking for, hey, I'm looking for, you know, a routine that I can do not only to help my golf game, but to hope to get me stronger, more mobile, but also kind of manage some pain as well. So in a way we do it all. But at the point of, you know, we do have a Cairo on staff. So it gets to the point where we have to refer out if something's out of our realm. We have avenues that way. But again, we have a wide range of people that work within just not only golfers, but, you know, gym pop, people that, you know, don't do much outside of the gym travel, you know, again, sticking around with family and, and stuff like that. A lot of gen pop people who, against normal type people that don't, aren't specific with golf at all. Cool.

Can you walk us through your process a little bit? So now you get a golfer that comes in to talk to you. What are, what's, what's the process you carry them through?

Yeah, so in a general sense, let's say someone walks in and again, they don't, let's say they don't play for a living. They're in, they're looking to increase performance with their golf game. But also they might have some limitations or they might have some past injuries. So we'll go through if needed again, kind of the consultation process where it's like, okay, I kind of ask questions, okay, what's important to you? What's your golf game like currently? What do you want to improve on? What are your limitations? Any injuries in the past in this basic console process? And then there are specific screenings that we can use that are related to golf. Again, that's where we kind of learn with tpi. But then we can kind of throw in other systems that have also had success. Whether it's pri, different frc, certain other things we can look at that do relate to golf. Whether it's with range of motion, hip range of motion, again, lower back stuff, we can create some space expansion through that realm if we need to. And then, you know, if there's enough time, it's just kind of given an example. Okay, this is what a workout would look like based on our findings. You know, it could be anywhere from, you know, we're going to kind of start with the cumulative, like a volume phase where kind of we have to build up your aerobic capacity first, build up some range of motion and we might throw in some strength training as well. So it's really dependent on what they need and what's important to them. If usually a lot of them, if it's an older generation, again they're looking to gain a little bit more speed so they want to hit the ball further. So again that kind of takes a different approach of depending on again what their fitness age is and kind of what they do outside of the gym. If they're playing a lot, what type of season is it. So again, that kind of takes a different conversation because gaining speed takes a whole different getting kind of type of adaptation. There's a lot of stress involved. You know, if someone wants to swing fast, we have to train a certain way. And I think it kind of takes a little bit of buy in for them to understand it that it's not just going to take, you know, four weeks of training. You know, it might, this is Going to be a process for, for years to come. So you kind of build up. Cause all they really want to do is just kind of hit it past their buddies and win some money if they're betting out on the course.

Yeah, you said something interesting. I'd love for you to unpack that a little bit. Because you said speed. Because I always, I always thought speed was a strength thing and you're saying it's not. So can you talk me through how you are going to increase someone's speed? I'm also curious. You said increase or you start with aerobic capacity, which honestly, that surprises me for golfers because how much aerobic capacity do golfers really need?

Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there. So first, again, I'm going to be biased because I think, you know, some strength is going to help with speed. But again, based on the individual, it could be a mechanical thing. So depending on if they're working like with the swing coach or someone who specializes in the golf swing, which is something that I don't do, like I understand the golf swing, I understand the muscles, by the cans of it. But someone who's going to break down like certain, you know, position one needs to hit the ball with better contact. Like that's going to take a swing coach and sometimes a technical tweak might help them gain a little bit of speed. And not. It's not going to be a tremendous amount, but it's going to be to the point if they're getting better face contact off the club, you know, that ball is going to go a little bit further based on again, kind of spin radius, launch angle, we can talk about that all day. But that's going to take again a more mechanical approach with their swing coach. Now a combination of both, with good communication between me and the swing coach and the client, like that's where the best results usually come from. But again, it's going to depend on the person. Someone might not need a lot of strength if again, their swing is really sound in the opposite sense, if their swing is really sound like adding a little bit of strength training and this fitness element could take their game to the next level. Now for someone who's a little bit, maybe more restricted, you know, they don't practice as much of this like to play having that swing coach or even that, that golf coach that kind of help with their technique a little bit, then if I throw in again like a fitness element in a gym setting to help them get stronger, to get them in better shape, that's where I kind of throw in aerobic capacity. Because sometimes people just need to move more, right? They need to get more active. And if they're playing two times a week and they're riding a cartoon and they see me one times a week, I mean, that's probably their activity for what, you know, 10 hours a week. And the rest of the time they're either working or, you know, not doing too much. So just throwing in as much movement as possible, throwing in some cardio based stuff. But also I'm big on strength training and movement, unilateral balance, work with different tools, med balls. That's always going to help in a gym setting. And then hopefully giving them stuff to do outside of when they don't see me, you know, to kind of do on their own at home, if they do have a gym, if they do have tools at home, is always good, is always going to help.

Okay, that's, that's so good. All right. So when you're, I know. I, I'm sure that it's very case by case. So it's not, it's, it's, you know, it's, it's not all one size fits all. And so I get that. But I was, I'm curious, do you, is it traditionally a, a position thing when you're increasing speed? Like, what do you, what do you see mostly? How do you, how do you work someone through increasing speed?

Yeah, that's great. Again, like you said, it's gonna be a case by case basis. But I'll try to use an example where, you know, again, especially with the older demographic, which again, I work with a lot, again, they're probably gonna take the most time. So a lot of clients that I work with, like, since I've been out here, I've been working for, with for, you know, six, seven plus years. And we're still trying to get to that point of, you know, getting where they want to be. But comparing them where they were when we started is crazy. Right? Whereas it's like I try to ask all the time. It's like, hey, Rick, for example, like, remember where you were again six years ago? Like, you get so tired after doing like one set of these. Now we're getting through a whole hour and you're fine and you're telling me that, you know, you've been playing with your buddy for 20 plus years and now you're starting to hit it past them, you know, putting that in their mind and their mindset. You know what? I have seen some progress and again they're always going to say it's. Maybe it's not as fast as I want, but I do see it right. And that process has taken. Again, this is basic, especially with those. If I'm seeing them twice a week, which I do, and he's playing four or five times a week and then he leaves for the summer to go to his seasonal home. So I don't see him all summer. So it's just like that's the expectations I have to kind of throw at him just because, you know, again, there's only so much I can do in two hours a week of work with them. So again, that approach is again, you know, range of motion work, strength training work. Again, that can be from, you know, basic stuff, doesn't have to be really specialized. And a lot of I try to hit home. A lot of the exercises I try to prescribe don't look like the golf swing. I mean, they're basic fitness stuff from squats, push, pull, throw stuff, change of direction. It's basic stuff that again, I think a lot of golf trainers try to kind of get in the weeds a little bit where they try to emanate or imitate too much with the golf swing, whether it's with like a cable and try to swim too fast with the cable or do an exercise like that where it's just like, how can we, you know, put together like a full fitness program that also carries over to the course, but also know that this is going to be a build up over time. And again, it's just like with anything. It's a mindset of like, this isn't a quick fix, this is going to take some time if you want to be more aggressive. And then I'm gonna have to see more, more than two times a week. So that's kind of the communication and kind of the approach I take.

So good. And it's a great segue into my next question because I'm curious, what are some of the misconceptions that your golfers come into the space with you thinking, like, what are some of the things that they, that, you know, you really have to shift their perspective on?

Yeah, I think with golf it's funny, I think with any other sport you watch the pros play and in your mind you think, okay, there's no way. These are why, these are professional athletes. Right. With golf it's a little bit different because there's all shapes and sizes out there on the course from someone who's, you know, 5, 7, 130 pounds, that bombs it, you know, 320 to someone who's, you know, 6 5, who looks like an athlete but is a. He's a golfer and, you know, still bombs it, you know, 340. You know, they kind of see that on TV or on the course, and they think they should be able to do that at that level, not be out there with them on the pga, but they, they think they should be able to do that with their swing when they're playing on the course, and they wonder why they're not getting it fast enough and they've been, you know, practicing and playing for. For years. Or in the opposite sense, where a lot of younger players, where, you know, they see what the winner did last week, they kind of look at their routine and they think, okay, I need to do that or the next winner the next week, okay, I'm change up my approach and do what he's doing or what she's doing. So it's, it's. It's a constant tinkering, right? Because there's so much information out there just with like, anything where, you know, there's swing tips and there's way to practice and there's a way to work out, and there's ways. There's different equipment you can use. So a lot of. With all that information, there's so much tinkering. There's so much. It's an easy way to try something different if something doesn't work right away, right? So with my job, you know, it's kind of the same thing where they might bring in an article that, you know, might be a different principle and philosophy than mine from a, from a magazine and wonder why we're not working on this type of thing where it's just like, you know, they're showing me of, you know, the number three golfer in the world and what their workout looks like. And I'm just like, look, you play twice a week. You don't play for a living. And, you know, you don't have six people working at you at one time. So I'm only one person. So it's just constantly reminding them, like, hey, this is going to take time. You know, those guys, those girls are the 1% of the world. They might make it look easy on tv because it is, right? That's why they're out there, the best in the world. So it's just constantly reminding them, like, hey, where your game at right now? Like, you're a good player. There's some out there that aren't a good player that think they should be, but I try to make them and try to improve their performance just by, hey, let's get you stronger. Let's get you healthy, and you have goals outside of golf, so let's work on those two, and that usually carries over to your game, so let's just kind of focus on that.

That's so good. So I'm curious, in your opinion, what is the 1% difference when it comes to golfers? Because I hear that a lot in terms of, you know, people saying the athletes are the ones, the top 1% of the 1 of the 1%, essentially. So I'm curious, you know, what is it for? You know, because when I'm looking at it from a spectator point of view, it all looks the same. It's just everything. You know, there's no. There's no. It all looks the same to me from someone who's, like, just having a good, you know, do it playing for fun versus someone who's playing, you know, for professionally. So what that person, the 1%, would you say?

Yeah, I mean, I could just come from experience because I work with those types of players, females and. And males, and just, again, it's just different. Again, they might look like a regular person, but then I've played with a couple of them before, many a times, and again, it's just. It's just different from the point of, like, it's with ease. It looks like they're not even trying. And just their mindset has to be so different, whether they're playing for a million dollars or practicing. Right? Whereas, like, my mindset or if I'm playing with my buddies, it's just like, okay, I'm not. I don't want to lose this ball to the right water or, you know, I'm playing from 40 yards up compared to, you know, some of the pros are playing from crazy amount of yardage, depending on the. On the hole that, you know, I have to hit it to a specific area, and it seems easy where for them, they're thinking about, okay, what's my shot shape gonna look like? Where do I want to position myself to get to the green a little bit better? Like, I don't think about those things. Right? They do. So, again, the mental part of the game is this. Again, I think that separates them from regular players and amateurs is this mindset of, you know, every shot, how they work on their game. And again, a lot of the pros, I mean, they practice, you know, four to six hours a day. You know, a lot of people don't have time to do that. That just play for fun. So that's just a big difference between, you know, really understanding one's, you know, mechanical sense, One's one swing, you know, then going into, okay, now I have to go to my. My trainer and then get good night's sleep, and then I have to travel to the next course or the next state on a red eye the next day and travel for, you know, a couple days. Haven't practiced. So it's just like the underestimate of how much stress and how much toll in the body those pros take just based on travel and, you know, playing throughout the day. Practice is like, I think it's really underestimated on really how hard it is and then be able to go out and perform and shoot six under, which is a crazy score where it's just like a lot of amateurs, you know, that I play with are, you know, decent players. But for me, I shoot like in the 80s, which is like 12 over. So just that difference of mental mindset, how much toll takes on the body and how hard it really is to be good at that game. Is this different?

Yeah. So I'm also curious, in your opinion, do you think that this is a skill and, you know, because I know a lot of it is mindset, do you think this is a skill that can be honed, or is this a skill you're born with?

A little bit of both. I think if you look at some of the great players right now, like, they were playing since they were, you know, six years old, like, some of the top players, like, kind of run down, you know, you know, Scotty Scheffler, Justin Thomas, John Romy. I mean, they were good for a long time, and it started when they were really young compared to, like, other sports where, you know, you might have a basketball or football player that kind of, you know, they're, you know, they're good and like, maybe, you know, high school and they really peak in college and then they get drafted, all that stuff. But a lot of these golfers, like, you know, they're good at, like, a young age. Like, I think Tiger ruined it for everybody just because everyone's trying to take that road of, you know, he was good when he was three years old, and then he won the amateur, you know, us Amateur six times in a row. And then he went from being the best in the world for six straight years and then leave the game, come back and still be dominant. So I think, you know, that takes a different type of person. I think you're born with it a little bit depending on someone's background and environment. Right. So a lot of good players nowadays, it can kind of grow up in that setting. Like their, their dads were golfers or their swing coaches, or they grew up in a kind of the country club setting or back in the day the, you know, golf was. It's still kind of a rich person sport. You know, you get someone to kind of work their way up where they caddy and they practice, they kind of grind, you know, they kind of. It's more of a work ethic thing, and then it's kind of have the drive to be better. But again, I think it's such a. It's such a skill that needs to be focused on. And, you know, I'm still big with, you know, multiple. At multiple sports as you're younger, but a lot of these players that are the best in the world now really started at a really young age. And then they kept continuing to improve their game as they got older.

I love it. So you also talked about, you know, the environment being such an important key component of the, you know, of the sport and really just in general. So I'd love to circle back to one of the things that you actually started talking about, you know, when we started recording, which was the impact of what it's now like as your environment's changed, what it's now like to be a dad and how this has, you know, influenced your career essentially, and how you have brought that component to your profession.

Yeah, thanks for transitioning to that. I think. I mean, that's. That's been a main priority again last 14 months, just with, you know, me and my wife, because. And not that we. This is kind of. Not that it was a plan, but it's just like we're kind of, I think back with how I grew up with my friends. Like, they all got married and had kids pretty early. Like, I'm 36, I'll be 37 next month. So I think in a traditional culture sense, we had kids late in a way, but based on how I kind of had wanted to live my life, kind of had solved my future for myself and for me, my wife. I mean, my parents had me at a young age. I have three siblings on top of that. So not that we struggled, but, you know, I kind of saw and I learned and I grew in that type of environment where it's just like, not that I wanted to struggle and have kids and not like, again, that we didn't struggle, but it's just like we wanted to have an established base and kind of build our career in the beginning and then really make sure we can provide and be there for our kids when we were ready. And again, 14 months ago or even two years ago when we were expecting again, it's kind of right around that Covid time so we can say we had a Covid baby. So again, that kind of kind of changed our mindset again of, you know, okay, we have to prepare for something like this again if it happens, you know, with the world and stuff that's going on, but at the same time be able to provide, teach. And, you know, I think we've kind of learned through our experiences that we can provide that now. So transitioning on how that's affected, know, my job, you know, before she was born, it's just like, you know, it was at the gym at 5am and home at 6pm, right. And my wife was kind of the same way. It was like we didn't see each other for 18 hours of that day because I leave, I come home, we have dinner, and then we went to bed. So it's just like, that's just kind of how we wanted things to be in the beginning. And then once we knew we were having a child, it's that changed where it's just like, I want to be really involved. I was lucky enough to be in a situation where that's possible, where it's like, I worked away. I worked up enough and established a pretty good base where I do have the flexibility to be involved. And with our schedule, my wife works from home, and we are lucky enough to have a care provider that really helps with our schedule. But I'm not here as much. But that gives me time to think of other things I want to work on, whether it's the online space, you know, still have clients that give me kind of security and certainty with income, but also taking risk of what I want to kind of work on next and involve my family with it and making sure that our daughter is kind of involved with that. And we're teaching her the values of, you know, hard work, but also like just being. Being part of her life. So that's kind of how things have kind of shifted compared to like, work, work, work and be home, sleep and repeat.

Parenting is the hardest job you'll ever love, right? And it's one of those jobs that no one teaches you how to do. No one goes to school to learn how to be a parent. And yet it's one of the biggest responsibilities raising A human that people have. Right. I mean, at least that's what it was like for me. Right. As a mom of two young girls. So I get it when you say that. Right?

Yeah.

And I'm curious for you, you know, when, you know, with your dealing with your, you know, now that you have this experience that no one prepared you for, how have you also brought it into your. Into your client's world? Have you helped them see the importance of, you know, you know, putting themselves first and at the same time helping them be more present for their kids and, like, prioritizing their health and how that is just so important. Like, how have you been able to incorporate that into your world?

Yeah, I think. I think it's kind of flipped in a way where it's just like, a lot of clients I have, you know, have grandkids or they have kids already. Again, they're kind of in that, you know, 40 plus range. Yeah. So they've kind of helped me in a way to the point of, like, I have a client. He has. He has four daughters, two in college and two in high school. So it's just like, kind of see how he interacts. I mean, he runs a huge business, but he's always involving, like, his wife with things. When they travel, you know, they're always kind of having family days. They. They all come to the gym and work out with me, or if they don't, they have their own appointment with me. So it's like, I see that and it's just like, you know, that's. That's kind of cool to see to the point of, like, I've seen the opposite end where it's just like, you know, you have father or mother so ingrained in the business, and the kid comes in and he just. He feels and looks miserable. But I try to, you know, uplift through, you know, fitness and working out and staying active just to kind of keep them engaged with, you know, stuff they're interested in. And I think the digital age has really, you know, we can go on and on about phones and attention and parents paying attention to kids, but again, that's one thing that we really try to hit home. Even if she's 14 months old, you know, be engaged with her, eat at the table, not being on our phones as much, even around her. Because, like, if I'm being straight up, I talked to my client the other day. Like, my goal for her and for myself as a father is like, 18 years from now. Like, I don't want her to have an only fans Page like that's my only goal for, for her to have some sort of. Or even just think about her self worth in that way. Always respect your mother and disrespect yourself. And if it's just like if that, if I can complete that task without her having any interest of diving into that sort of realm and it's just like I've hopefully successful or had success as a father and teaching her those things.

Oh, the digital age is the wild, wild west. You know, my husband and I talk about this all the time and it's funny because our kids are 6 and 4 and we'll see people in her age who already have things like iPads and cell phones and we have zero tech upstairs. Zero.

Yeah, great.

No, even like no television.

Right.

So upstairs is like right. So it's like I'm, I'm on that same page. The digital age has like made things kooky.

Yeah, well, it's tough because it's like we're in it. Like that's part of our job. Right. So being able to, you know, involve them a little bit but not too much with the consumers. It's like we try to use them as, you know, as a type of business outlet or even as like a quick hey, let's take a picture and post it. And might get a lot of likes from it. Like again, it takes a lot of discipline. Even like you said in our part is to be able to still do our job. We have to use the digital age because it is the future. You have to use our phones for our work. But it's just like how can we still educate? Like hey, this is something we, you, I use for work, like when you're older. We're going to be able to utilize this more when you get older, but there's going to still be some restriction with it. I think there's so many ways that you can, you know, have some sort of privacy with it. If someone decides to give their six year old an iPhone or iPad, there's so many ways to be able to positively constructive in a way where it's a learning tool and not just like a freelance way to get information that.

You probably don't want them to see 1,000%. And I think that it's important to address because you talked about it. So I'm just going to open this up to and reiterate it. Is that, is that what we're really looking at essentially is a holistic approach because we have to deal with the mental health component. It's not about the kids not having access to tech because just like you said, tech is the future. But it's about building a resilient mind essentially and about making sure that they are prioritizing their health, including their mental health, which is what the impact is we're seeing in kids, I think.

Yeah, yeah. And just talked with my wife a lot. Just the influence of sometimes what these kids consume. Right. Where it's just like when we were growing up our influence was, you know, teachers, parents, friends, you know, we did some stupid shit as, you know, boys in high school and junior high with my friends all the time. But it's just like we're still no outside and engaging with people and connecting with them in that way. Whereas, you know, it's so easy now to have so many acquaintances online, whether it's through video games, whether it's through social media, whether it's through whatever stream you want to look at. But it's just like that's still not a true connection. And that's where I start to learn more with, with business. It's just like we can get complacent with how we interact online and how we gain business online. It's just like sometimes I do miss that one on one or personal connection of running a seminar or being connected through people like in front of me instead of just always looking at the screen. So it's just like I see how that can impact my brains. I can't imagine how it impacts a six year old brain on how to kind of decipher that stuff when you're younger and trying to, you know, learn and make friends and stuff like that.

Yeah. So now, as you know, with this new influence in your life, how do you. And you have really nailed it in the golf community. So I'm curious, what's next for you? What do you see your business evolving to?

Yeah, I think the more I learn and again, it's just trying to read up on different things. Right now what I'm kind of focusing on is for myself kind of learning how what's kind of next with my relationships, whether it's with my family or with my parents and you know, how I've kind of perceived myself in the past, which has been, you know, work hard, you know, kind of quiet personality, but it's just like I don't want to be labeled as that anymore. So it's like diving into books where it's like I've been reading this book Personality isn't Permanent by I think it's named Dr. Been Hardy, whereas It's like being, you know, introverted in a way is. Is, you know, kind of has a stigma because it's just like I've kind of labeled myself as that for a long time. I've kind of used it, you know, to kind of get out of certain situations where it's just like I have to start seeing my future self and what I want that to be. I've kind of used that as a. As a crutch in a way to kind of get out of certain situations or social situations or. But in the end, like, I know kind of my limit with certain things in that aspect. So it's just like I know kind of how to decide my way through social settings and through work. I know what the energy it does for me, but at the same time, like, I have to kind of expand that horizon if I want to kind of take the next step, whether it's in my personal life or career. So I kind of learned those things on, you know, just anything from. From speaking to more presence in. In whether it's online space or in person space. And it's kind of taking outlets that way. And it might be with golf, it might not be. Like I said, I haven't played a long time. It's not like I lost interest in it. I just don't have time to play right now. So it's just like, to be able to kind of live it but also still be, you know, an expert in it. Like, I still feel like I have to, like, do the thing to be an expert in it. I haven't been doing a thing to make it in a simple sense. So it's just like, not that I lost interest or that I'm bored with it, but it's just like I'm kind of thinking I'm what's next with, you know, my career? And again, it might not be the fitness space. It might be. It might just be a different way of teaching. So those are kind of the brain me kind of spitting that out and the wheels turning, you know, as we sit on this call. That's what I've been thinking about.

Oh, that's. That's amazing. So I can't wait. We'll just have to keep an eye on you to see what comes up next for you.

Yeah.

I definitely want to be mindful of your time, so I will ask you this. If you could go back to your, you know, if you were going back to your younger self or, you know, what would you say to someone who was new, starting out, and is like, interested in getting into this career? What are some of, like, the big key takeaways that you would tell someone who was new into the fitness training space?

Man, that's a good question. I think that I can only go by experience because I think I was lucky in a sense, where I started at the perfect situation, which was, you know, put yourself in a situation where, you know that. Not that you're going to have success right away, but, you know, you kind of have to grind to get where you want to be. So it's getting. Whether that's, you know, I started a big box gym, which is. I look back at it now, it's probably the best thing ever happened to me just because, you know, I had a good leadership quality there with people I worked under. I made a lot of good friendships, and I learned a lot about just put myself out there, but also learned about selling, learning about, you know, numbers, schedule, different people to work with. And in that type of environment, setting, like, you have members at your disposal and you're able to kind of talk to people, but you're also kind of forced into, like, certain situations where you might not have done if you were starting out on your own or starting in, like, a smaller gym. So I'd say if someone's getting into this, you know, find either, you know, somewhere that's a big box gym or somewhere you know, that has good leadership, and they're going to kind of teach you all about the basics, from scheduling to selling, and put you kind of out of your comfort zone. But also even work with people you might not want to work with. And again, it kind of puts you in their shoes of whether it's, hey, I want to work, sports performance, but you're giving me these weight loss clients. Like, it kind of gives you a different perspective of, okay in this environment and especially in this demographic. This might be the route for now, but I'm kind of research on what I need to do to get where I. Who I kind of want to work with. So it's just always kind of learning. But kind of put yourself in a situation where you have avenues you can go to get advice, mentor, but also kind of work your ass off where it's like, okay, I can be here for 12 hours a day and I'm okay with it as long as there's, again, the priorities are there, there's no family involved, or, again, you kind of have other things you need to focus on. But I think that'd be kind of the first step.

I love that it's Great insight. Okay, so for those of you who want to come hang out with Andrew, where should we send them?

Kind of talked about the digitally so much, but it's just like I still spend time on Instagram. I mean ando pfs. That's where I kind of do most of my communication and answering DMs and comments and that's where I keep most of my content building and posting. So that's probably where you can reach me the best.

Okay, cool. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. We'll make sure we link all of that up in the show notes and I really appreciate Andrew. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today.

No Beth, thanks. Thanks for your time.

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