Joey D talks British Open and D1 Athletics...

Coach Joey D coming to you this week from Palm Beach. It's been a hectic week here in South Florida, getting D1 Athletics up and running. Back on the road next week for the Canadian Open, so I only have a few more days to go pedal to the metal at D1, ensuring we open on time.

Before I jump into what's going on with D1 and GolfGym, let's spend a few minutes talking about the opening round of the British Open - a links course at Turnberry and a very different style track than we're used to seeing. The story yesterday, your leader (for most of the day) 65-year old Tom Watson, who fired an opening round 65. Tom found himself four-over after five today, yet battled back with four birdies and was even after 18. After two rounds, Tom is five-under on the event and enters the weekend tied for the lead.

Most will chalk this up to another feel-good story, similar to the run Greg Norman made last year - but this is no accident. I've had my fair share of conversations with Tom over the years and this is a veteran who is very with the times regarding biomechanics as well as strength and conditioning. Tom is a highly motivated individual and knows how to apply biomechanics to his overall game.

As I've explained several times here, we have four trailers out on a weekly basis -- two physiotherapy trailers and two biomechanics labs (re: strength & conditioning) trailers. The PGA Tour has the same set up as the Champions Tour, so Tom is in there getting after it on a weekly basis. My good friend Kent Bickerstaff, a former MLB guy, has told me first hand that Tom is an absolute superstar when it comes to that application on Tour.

All the best to Tom this weekend. He has his work cut out for him these new two days, but regardless of the result I hope people get the message loud and clear; if you focus on biomechanics and getting your body right, age remains nothing but a number.

Getting back to D1, besides the actual facility I want to share a little with you regarding our modus operandi. We're putting a lot of focus on junior golf, as well as other sports besides golf. Any sport which uses biomechanical applications -- tennis, baseball, lacrosse, etc. Between this blog, and the soon-to-be-built CoachJoeyD.com website, we're going to start doing a better job in the recruitment process of local and national athletes, allowing them to train at D1 and get their bodies right.

GolfGym has done a great job helping me get this thing to the next level. Ken Pierce has been a very innovative individual over the years and we're going to feature all our GolfGym products at D1. Ken shipped me a tennis swing trainer yesterday and the way we've set this up, it's now made it possible for us to mimic every aspect of tennis swing just as the PowerSwing Trainer emulates the golf swing. This new tool allows us to understand and teach the rotational biomechanics of tennis.

A special thanks to both Ken and Vicki Pierce this week for not only supplying all the necessary tools, but continuing to expand into other sports. While the immediate focus is golf-related products, you're going to see this product line grow with more sport-specific training aids over the years. Stay tuned.

Though we'll be going a new direction, the main focus of D1 is to be that be all/end all facility for all the professional golfers I've worked with for over a decade on the PGA Tour, as well as the MLB friends I've made over the years - Nick Punto of the Minnesota Twins, Pat Burrell of the Tampa Bay Rays. The goal is to get all these guys in here during the off-season, focused on the principles of biomechanics.

Back to the grind on this end. I'll try to snap some iPhone pics this weekend before I head out to the Canadian Open on Tuesday. My new guy Chez Reavie is out to defend his title next week, my horse Pat Perez will be back in action and Jason Dufner will be back in action, continuing on with his impressive season.

Much more exciting stuff to come here in the blog. Keep tuning in for all the latest.


Joey D.