Mike Adams: Outliers Don't Exist in Golf
Welcome back to another edition of the Edel Podcast. Today, we have the pleasure of sitting down with my longtime friend, Mike Adams. To this day, Mike continues to mentor both students and teachers. He’s a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and has worked with the majority of the Top 100 Teachers.
I ask Mike what biomechanics means to him. He says it’s “It’s the study of human movement and how people move in time and space.”
Mike got started in the biomechanics sphere when his wife retained a ski injury. The doctor that performed her surgery, Dr. Steadman, worked alongside Dr. Chuck Dillman who was the biomechanist for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team. “Dr. Dillman and I became friends and started working on projects together.” Through a lot of time and toil, the pair came up with different body types and how they relate to the motion of swinging a golf club.
As time wore on, the pair, with the help of Dr. Ned Armstrong, developed a “testing system to find out what students could and could not do.” This revolutionary process screens players for six things: wingspan vs. height, middle knuckle to elbow, elbow to shoulder socket, right hand grip, external shoulder rotation, and lower body pivoting. The screens “give teachers a blueprint to move forward with their students.”
When Mike describes the Ultimate Golf Lesson, he recounts the first one he did last year with Terry Rowles. The event also featured some of the leading authorities in biomechanics and how their research and findings relate to golf. He used force plates, video, launch monitors, and three-dimensional technology. The premise was that “it’s better to test than guess.”
Mike and I both maintain that it’s vitally important for the teachers of today to take these measurements and properly apply them to their students. Where teachers get into trouble is trying to fit all their students to a single methodology. That’s why these scientifically backed screenings are so valuable.
In order for teachers to continue to improve their craft, and in turn get results for their students, they have to be continually learning instead of repackaging information that already exists.
Mike and his partner Terry Rowles are about to release a new book. It’s based on the two Ultimate Golf Lessons. Their goal is to write the “the most extensive golf instruction book ever written, backed by science.” If you want to become a better instructor, this book is a must read.
Terry and Mike are also hosting a webinar that starts in February. In the webinar, the industry’s best biomechanists and instructors are going to explore all the quantitative information they’ve realized. It’s not meant just for instructors, however. The information is accessible for players of all levels that have a desire to improve their game.
I ask Mike what he wants his legacy to be. His response is that “I contributed to helping people get better.” Pretty simple and modest for one of the game’s greatest teachers.
This podcast is chalked full of game-changing information so be sure to set aside a few minutes and give it a listen.
As always, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us at the workbench on the Edel Podcast. We’ll see you next time.