Green Valley golf tips: ‘Pilates Fore Golf’ attracting attention

Other than the occasional club thrown in anger or a rattler in the rough, most golfers don’t think of their pastime as a dangerous game.

Nevertheless, there are about 30 local golfers guarding their shoulders, knees, and backs in regular exercise sessions with Mind to Motion (M2M) C.E.O. E.D. “Thumper” Thornton who might disagree with that.

“There were periods of four to five months when I just could not play,” remembers lifelong player and M2M client Jim Murphy, 69, a 10-handicap.

“This is the first time since the 1960s that I have been basically pain free.”

Murphy, who has struggled with back problems since before his 1983 disc surgery, says he couldn’t play two days in a row until he discovered Thornton’s Pilates Fore Golf program about a year ago.

Mind 2 Motion, LLC, is located in Suite 150 of the Madera Plaza on White House Canyon Road (520-829-6925, www.m2mpilatesplus.com).

He and fellow instructor Marilyn Tackitt are certified in Pilates, and Thornton, a golfer himself, is a clinical exercise specialist with 17 years experience in working with special populations and advanced physical challenges.

“I was considering not playing anymore,” Murphy admitted, as he waited for his next exercise on one of six special Pilates machines in Thornton’s studio.

A friend at his church who he says went from a wheelchair back to playing, told him about the program, which focuses on balanced strength and fluidity.

“In essence, we want to stretch the tight body components and strengthen the weak ones,” Thornton states in his brochure.

“If I were to invent a game to screw up the back, it would be golf,” he declared, alluding to Murphy’s progress over the last few months, once he began to believe in the program.

“You have to make a commitment to it,” Murphy agreed.

After a dozen visits, the California native, whose son is a PGA club pro in Denver, was feeling well enough to play once a week.

On the course most every day now, Murphy claims he can once again hit it 250-260 yards off the tee and has had his club head speed clocked to an improved 104 mph.

“I’m much more flexible, so I can drive the ball much better.”

He says he’s been through chiropractors, back exercise programs, doctors, medicines, and three times a week at the gym, but nothing made this kind of difference for him.

“What I’m doing here is specifically to help me with golf.”

He’s sharing Thornton’s time, alternating exercises with Country Club of Green Valley golfer Lee Jordan, 71, who’s reduced his handicap three strokes over the time he’s been coming in to get help in making better turns.

“It’s easier for me to make the swing because of the better flexibility I have,” Jordan said, “and it’s not ‘grunt’ resistance,” he added, referring to the weight training he used to follow, speaking enthusiasticallly while Thornton guided him comfortably through the next movement.

“We start with getting some baseline data,” Thornton explained as he described the initial process of measuring range of motion, gathering the client’s medical history and areas of concern.

Then he assesses what the client’s body is capable of doing without harm.

“I don’t push or pull,” he said. “I walk beside.”

The next step is to get the body moving and “get rid of the ‘I can’ts,’” as he puts it, starting with the feet and core area, encouraging movement at different angles, in different directions, eventually customizing the exercises to fit the individual and what he or she can do to improve range of motion, strength, balance, and flexibility, the keys to more fluid and comfortable swings.

With the shoulder joint, for example, a common problem area for golfers, Thornton explains that the exercises utilize all the muscles, strengthening every part of the joint that gets used in the golf swing, not just one plane of movement.

He and Tackitt inject lessons on body control, breathing, and physical and mental discipline to round out the package now being followed by just as many lady golfers as men.

And, it’s not just the amateurs who are looking for help.

Haven club pro Marty Camacho has been in the program for two years now, restrengthening a right shoulder he had done two years ago.

“I was always hesitant to try it,” said Camacho, who also plays softball with the BAJA guys, “but my wife convinced me to do it, and the improved flexibility has helped me get more distance and better balance at the finish.”

Thornton and his partner believe it’s the best way they’ve found to keep golfers on the course and out of the doctor’s office.

“I’m not a golf pro, but I am a body pro,” he said.

Mike Touzeau is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.