Train Like an Athlete

SPRING 2019 (Florida Coast Magazine) – Nestled in a business park in Jupiter, Florida is a place where the ultimate blend of science and fitness is molded and crafted to help produce an athlete’s best performance and correct any golfer’s bad habits. Florida Coast Magazine visited the Joey D Golf Sports Training Center and spoke with “Coach Joey D” Diovisalvi to learn how he helped introduce and combine biomechanics with coaching for touring PGA professionals, other professional athletes, and anyone who wants to improve their athletic performance.

The first impression when entering Joey D Golf is a sense of non-pretentiousness. Golf has long been a sport associated with the privileged, wealthy, “lets do a deal on the golf course” type atmosphere. However, Joey D’s doesn’t have any of that nonsense. There is something very real and focused about the place that elevates the game.

Non-offensive music, mainly popular hits, play in the background and the modest reception room opens up into a very spacious and impressive workout area. Their brand color orange is tastefully dotted around the space with touring PGA professionals’ victory banners hanging on the walls. »

“When we have a touring pro win a match, we get a banner made up for them,” Joey points out. As the coaches work individually on their assigned client, they are confident in their instruction and deliver in a disciplined way. “Excuses and second best efforts from clients are not allowed,” Joey states. “I’m not very accepting of someone saying they can’t workout because they are too tired.”  

How It All Began

When Joey was 19 he fell seriously ill with cancer. The doctors gave him only six months to live, but he proved them wrong and went on to recover. Even though the cancer left, his sense of determination and the will to succeed only grew stronger. This is the passion and the feeling that not only flows through Joey, but spills into the work place, the coaches, and the clients—consistency, determination, and hard work.

Joey D Golf is not only for the professionals, but for anyone who has an interest in improving their game. There is no other establishment that will have an amateur golfer working with their coach next to a touring pro working out with theirs. Both the pros and the regular players are very respectful of each other. “You come here and you get to work,” Joey explains. “You may be next to one of the top golf players in the world, but you each have your own goals. It’s very exciting.” The company’s overall mantra is “We Build Champions,” and that theory is aimed at everyone who takes their game seriously.

“If you look at the guys nowadays on the PGA Tour, everybody’s an athlete—taller, stronger, fitter. The physical fitness aspect of golf is very important. A lot of my success I can attribute to the work I do in here with Joey D.” — Dustin Johnson, PGA Tour Major Winner

After years as a personal trainer, Joey decided to open a gym in Juno Beach. PGA golfer Jesper Parnevik was introduced to Joey by a mutual friend as an athlete who was very active in sports, like cycling and running. “This mutual friend suggested we work together to see if philosophies from other sporting disciplines can apply to golf,” says Joey. That was the beginning of focusing on biomechanics—the analysis of structure and function of the biological system, which has long been used in sports coaching.

The golf world has been historically set in its ways and snubbed fitness procedures like biomechanics in the past. Joey smiles, “At the beginning nobody paid much attention. Really, Tiger Woods was the guy that transformed everything. When he showed up on the golf scene, he was strong, fit, and his play and body really exemplified the philosophies behind biomechanics training.”

Quizzing Joey on his interest in fitness he replies, “Sports, fitness and understanding the human body have interested me all the way back to when I played sports as a kid. Biomechanics became a fascination later when I realized that insight into the science of human movement really changes the way the world thinks about performance and training.” He goes on to emphasize, “Tiger’s approach to fitness gave credibility to what we would ultimately try to do here at Joey D Golf.”

Shortly after working with Parnevik, word spread on how these practiced methods were having results, leading other pro golfers, like Vijay Singh, to start taking notice. Singh wanted Joey to be his personal coach, so Joey sold his business in Juno and set up in Ponte Vedra. Vijay Singh won Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts in 2004 and bypassed Tiger Woods as number one in the world. In 2005 Singh was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame, where he thanked Joey Diovisalvi in his acceptance speech.

Why Jupiter?

Jupiter was beginning to make a name for itself on the golf map, so Joey made the move from Ponte Vedra and has been living in Jupiter for the last 14 years. “With lots of touring professionals starting to move to the area, I felt it was a good opportunity to open a business to provide golf-specific fitness training here,” he recalls. “Jupiter really does have a lot to offer with the coastal access, beautiful beaches, amazing golf courses, and unrivaled weather. Jupiter fits my lifestyle!”

There are numerous golf courses in Palm Beach county, so does Joey have a favorite? “So many great ones come to mind, but my personal favorite is my home course at Jupiter Country Club,” he smiles.

When Joey is not working, fitness is still important, “I love to swim, bike, run, workout, and paddleboard. Spending time with my family is most important; I love to watch animated movies with my kids.”

Assessing the Player

Every step at Joey D Golf starts with an assessment. There are a series of tests to check mobility, strength, balance, and rotation. These assessments help identify the players most problematic areas. Think of it like breaking down a structure and then slowly rebuilding it to perfect form and desired results. Every person that walks through their door has a different training program depending on their strengths and weaknesses and each person is allocated a coach. Joey stresses, “Whether you just picked up a golf club yesterday, or you are number one in the world, golfers all have one thing in common—everybody is trying get one notch better to improve their game.”

Along with regular golfers and touring pros, there are professional athletes from different disciplines that come to train with the coaches. For example, they have several NFL players that are dedicated to the philosophy and fitness science behind the Joey D Golf programs, and they will often be in the facility working on their individual plan.

Pro Coaches

Joey’s workload was increasing, but he didn’t want any standards to slip, so he enlisted the help of other pro coaches who believed in what he was doing. Shortly after, Joey D Golf was established.

Joey proudly states, “We currently have 26 touring pros training with our team, most notably world top 10 ranked players, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Justin Thomas. His resume also features Vijay Singh, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Frederik Jacobson, Pat Perez, Jesper Parnevik, Corey Pavin, Charlie Wi, and Chris DiMarco.”

There are eight coaches, four of whom are always based in-house and four either in-house or on tour with the professional golfers. Director of performance and highly acclaimed coach in the athletic world is Kolby “K-Wayne” Tuiller. Training the likes of world top 10 players Justin Thomas and Michelle Wie, the list goes on to include—Harold Varner III, Bud Cauley, Taylor Gooch, Jessica Korda, Marina Alex, and Austen Ernst. Tuiller also works with athletes like the NFL’s Cody Parkey, Demaryius Thomas, and MLB pitcher Will Harris. Tuiller is known for his positive, fun, and contagious personality, which helps motivate and inspire a vigorous, healthy workout in both professional athletes and sport enthusiasts too. Both Joey D and Kolby Tuillier are listed in Golf Digest’s Top 50 Golf Fitness Professionals of 2017 and 2018.

All the coaches have a high level of expertise, but they stay grounded and focused, treating each client individually with respect, care, and consideration, no matter what their background. Joey has offered the coaches a facility, which lets them hone their skills and develop their careers, so they become as successful as they want to be.

“To compete at the highest level and stay healthy, training hard is no longer an option. And there’s nobody I trust more with my training than Coach K-Wayne.” – Justin Thomas, PGA Tour Major Winner

Many people who golf may already be working with an instructor who has given them advice on what they need to improve on. Coach K-Wayne clarifies, “Many of our clients have an instructor who has told them the areas they need to improve on. We take that one step further and break the movement down, by first of all giving them an assessment that explains where they are getting physically stuck. Then we explain why and formulate a plan to rectify it.”

There is a psychological element to how the body works, with the mind often tricking the player into thinking they are correcting the movement. However, physically, they are not actually changing anything. Special video equipment is used to show body lines and movement to show the player before and after shots of their movement, whether it be a golf swing, a kick, or a throw.

Everything that goes on in the facility is private. People can’t just stroll in and do their own thing. Going to Joey D’s means one-on-one training with an expert program being designed specifically for the individual’s needs. Training is sold in packages depending on the individual requirements—and frequency can range from once a week to every day.

Golf Club Fitting

When it comes to golf clubs, the shaft should be fitted to the individual player. Many factors should be considered including physical geometry, swing speed, material, price point, and construction. Much like going to a tailor for a custom-made suit, one size does not fit all in the golf game. 

Taking this into account Joey D’s offers ClubCraft, a custom golf club fitting center on site, as well as out on the field. Joey emphasizes, “Every golfer should have access to a custom-made club, not just the touring professionals.”

Hit It Great Online Training

For the Summer of 2019, the team will be releasing an updated version of their online training titled, “Hit It Great.” It’s a subscription-based, online program people can access from anywhere. The online training will feature easy-to-follow workouts with Joey and various professional coaches, and there will also be a diet and nutrition section to explore.

Joey’s book, Fix Your Body, Fix Your Swing, was published in 2010 to critical acclaim, and it is still seen as one of the most innovative works in golf specific biomechanics, which explains and identifies the limitations the body may have and how to correct them. Joey highlights,

“It was the right time to write the book. In the wake of the fitness awareness Tiger Woods brought to golf, I felt the world was ready to understand how to view training through the lens of biomechanics and how to get the most of of your golf swing.” There are two new books on the horizon, with the next one being released Summer of 2019 and a collaboration by Joey and Kolby Tuiller to be released Spring 2020.

Joey D and his team work relentlessly on bridging the gap between the ‘Old World Golfer’ and the ‘New World.’ “The great thing is, these tools and techniques can be used by anyone,” Joey explains. “Age, experience, or equipment aren’t a limitation. Golf is just a series of biomechanic movements, and we are all bound by the laws of physics.”

A number of third party establishments, based in places as far away as Abu Dhabi and Korea, have expressed an interest in expanding the Joey D brand, but for now, Joey and his team are concentrating solely on what is important—training players to be the best they can possibly be and building champions.