117: Playing Better Golf by Hitting from the Opposite Side with Padraig Dooley

Today I am very excited to announce our guest, Padraig Dooley. Padraig is the owner of Drive Golf Performance, based out of Ireland. He is a former Irish international amateur golfer who went on to play in several professional tours, and is now passing on his experience to golfers as a PGA professional.

His work is focused on the mission of getting golfers to play better golf. He does this in a number of ways, through things like fitness and mobility, having fun while practicing, swinging from your non-preferred side, and many others.

In this episode Padraig tells an entertaining story involving an elephant and a few people in the trunk of his car – more on that in the episode!

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Padraig Dooley’s Background

  • Has a degree in mathematics and statistics.
  • PGA professional, TPI certified, Trackman Certified Professional, Irish international, EuroPro Tour and Challenge Tour professional.
  • After his playing career, he decided to shift his efforts to helping others improve their game by sharing his experiences.

Highlights from this Episode

  • Padraig’s approach to coaching, and how it’s different to most. He likes to focus on having fun and focusing on the better aspects of a golfer’s game, rather than just the weaknesses.
  • Swinging from the ‘wrong side’. We go into the (well documented) advantages of playing left handed as a righty, and vice versa. Padraig found in a study he conducted that not only swinging, but hitting from the wrong side improved a golfer’s ball speed from their preferred side.
  • We go into other benefits of swinging from the non-preferred side, such as bodily symmetry, hand/eye coordination, injury prevention, and more.
  • Playing golf in Ireland, and the best way to go about organizing it. Padraig’s brother John, actually offers golfing trips to Ireland as a concierge service.

CaddyShack or Happy Gilmore?

Caddy Shack

Who would you like to spend a day on the course with? 

Arnold Palmer at Cypress Point

What are you most excited about moving forward?

Padraig’s main mission is to help people shoot lower scores. This winter, he’ll be conducting a ‘push-up study.’ He’ll get golfers to do 20 push-ups, 3 times a week, to see if that improves performance.

Where to find Padraig Dooley:

Website: http://www.drivegolfperformance.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DriveGolfPerformance

Twitter: @podgedooley (Padraig)

Twitter: Drive Golf Performance

Concierge Golf Tours in Ireland: http://www.conciergegolf.ie/

 

To continue the conversation and ask any questions you may have, head over the 18STRONG Facebook page.

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