We are thrilled to announce the upcoming arrival of a new SMART Clubhouse in the Northern Suburbs of Chicago, unveiling our highly anticipated third location with plans to open its doors in the Summer of 2024. This highly anticipated expansion will bring SMART Golf & Fitness Instruction’s renowned expertise and cutting-edge facilities to Northbrook and surrounding communities. As an industry leader in golf improvement, SMART is committed to delivering a world-class experience to enthusiasts of all skill levels. This state-of-the-art facility, spanning almost 12,000 square feet, is set ..read more

Where It Comes From and How to Train It Speed. Everyone wants it in the golf swing, but few really know how to train for it, or really want to put in the actual effort it requires to attain it. It’s a hot topic right now, and for good reason. The faster you’re able to swing the club, while maintaining optimal strike patterns, the further the ball goes, which very obviously puts you closer to the hole leaving you a shorter club into the green. So how does one go about increasing their speed? Is it through speed specific training with speed sticks? Is it through strength training? Is it by just ..read more

What are the key movements that determine club head speed? Club head speed has been one of the fastest growing aspects in golf in recent years. Since distance gains are linked to lower scores for golfers of all levels, it is no wonder why this has become such a focal point in golf. Club head speed determines the maximum distance possible on a swing given optimal launch conditions. Increasing your club head speed will increase the highest potential distance on a well struck shot and will lead to lower scores. In this article, I would like to address three key areas of this concept that link you ..read more

It’s an early Friday morning, and you are driving your regular commute of about 20 minutes to work. You talked yourself into a half day of work. You proceed to sit and work hard for 4 hours daydreaming about the round of golf you will be heading to soon and with high hopes of shooting your new low! With pep in your step, you walk out of work and get into your car to drive to the course, about 35 minutes away. Barely arriving on time you walk right up to the first tee and….. Whack! First ball is out of bounds. You proceed with a couple bad holes. Some would say “I just need to warm up” but othe ..read more

How More Consistent Sleep Can Lower Your Scores The average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night to optimize cognitive function. Less than 7 hours or disrupted sleep can result in a number of negative outcomes. Cognitive function aside, poor sleep or lack of sleep affects mood, metabolism, and even motor function. Playing your best golf requires a good attitude (mood), plenty of energy (metabolism), good decision making (cognitive function), and swing execution (motor function). Imagine trying to play well when the 4 biggest factors in your ability to perform are being adversel ..read more

3 Things to Always Have With You On the Golf Course As a native of beautiful Santa Barbara, California, the sun was as consistent as Tiger’s Sunday red. Through those years growing up in California and the last 40 years as a golf professional, I’ve had the pleasure of being outside, promoting the game of golf. However, through those years, sun protection was never my first thought while playing or teaching. Similar to many golfers, applying sunscreen tended to be a once-a-day occurrence, that turned into an afterthought for the remainder of the day. As I start a new chapter in my professional ..read more

As we near the beginning of Summer and golf season is pretty much in full swing, now is a great time to consider checking the specs of your current equipment or even purchasing new and improved clubs.  At SMART Golf & Fitness Instruction we are heavily involved in the club fitting process in golf and believe this is a sure path to success. When getting fit properly for a set of golf clubs, we will take you through a series of measurements to ensure the equipment you are playing with is the best equipment for you. Just as you would be fit when buying a suit, the same holds tr ..read more

With the ever growing membership and additions to our fitness staff at our Lincoln Park Clubhouse, real-estate in the gym was in high demand. With more members utilizing the gym, working on their off-season goals, alongside our team of 6 trainers, we thought creating a more usable, efficient gym space was in the cards for 2021. Simply put, our existing setup had been outgrown.  Our main objective was to create more training areas throughout the gym, all while maintaining a relatively small footprint. We wanted to keep the walkways open, and not over clutter the area with bulky stationary ..read more

There are 26 bones in each foot.  There are 206 bones in the entire human body.  This means a quarter (52) of the bones in your body are in your feet.   If the foot wasn’t important, it would just probably be one big bone.   The foot is arguably one of the most overlooked and underappreciated areas of the body when it comes to fitness training.  I’m hoping this article will provide some insight on: How the foot is structured The foot’s dual role The feet in the golf swing How the Foot Is Structured As I stated before, the foot/ankle complex has 26 bo ..read more

Twist it, turn it, flick it, push it, pull it… are we talking about the game BOP IT or the game of Golf?  Whether you are an avid golfer in the single digit handicap bracket, or a beginner learning the basics of how to swing a golf club, we can all agree that golf is a difficult sport. Not only is it difficult mentally, but physically. The golf swing is one of the most demanding 3-dimensional movements that demands precision.  We walk, we sit, we jog, we live in a very sagittal world. The sagittal plane is where the body is divided into right and left parts. This is the most common p ..read more