This time of the year is always bittersweet for me and most avid golfers. As the season comes to end, we can continue playing golf but we know it comes with a price. The late-season elements mean we have to endure cold temperatures and often difficult conditions.

Yes, I am back! This summer has come and gone and the golf season is heading into the home stretch. I hope your game is going well and you are remembering to do your flexibility training and warm-up routines.

My summer has been very productive. I first started by installing a par-3 in my back yard. Yes, I have brought the course to my house. With a 2-year-old and a wife who will be expecting any week now, time has certainly been scarce. I have 78 yards — a nice wedge shot that is cornered with boulders on the right side and a backside trap that makes landing on the green almost impossible. However, nothing is impossible since I got my first hole-in-one at my own course! I had witnesses, too.

My summer continued to be filled with greatness as the Travelers Championship came to town. This is always a great week for us here at the gym since a lot of the golfers and caddies use our facility. One golfer who I was fortunate to have stop in was Bubba Watson. It was interesting to see how hard Bubba and the rest of the golfers have to work to continue to be the best. I was able to pick Bubba’s brain a little and he offered great insight into the game as well as his training.

In July, I was asked to play in a Celebrity Pro Am at Lake of Isles. What an experience. It started Sunday with a practice round and continued with a first round Monday and final round Tuesday. The course was plush and filled with plenty of tough holes that made things difficult at times. Our team, I am proud to say, took home the championship with honor.

During all of this I was able to play a couple rounds each week, and with my home course thrown into the mix, I was able to get out and play at least three times per week. I think we all know that the more you play, the better you will be — or should I say, the more consistent you will be as well.

What really helped my game was taking lessons and increasing my flexibility training. I decided to seek instruction and I was fortunate to get hooked up with Ron Dellostritto of Wethersfield CC. Ron has changed my game and has helped me enjoy my round a lot more. Little tweaks, as we all know, can make a huge difference.

The other big thing that has helped is flexibility training. I started taking a yoga class once a week. I have seen a huge difference in my body control as well as my follow-through. I always had an issue coming through the ball due to lack of flexibility.

Now, you are probably all thinking, wow, Pete has taken the summer and reformed his game and is now ready for the Tour. Not quite. Perhaps with a few more lessons and a few more rounds at the backyard course and I will be ready to challenge Bubba and the rest of the Tour!

I wish you all the best as fall golf is around the corner. It’s simply the best time to play. I will be back soon with more exercises that will be sure to take strokes off your game.

By now, I am sure you are all biting at the bit to get the clubs out and start playing again. I find myself Web-browsing and viewing different courses around the country and imagining myself shooting the round of my life. And I might have a slight addiction to Tiger Golf on the Wii. This is one way I keep myself in golf mode during the winter. The other is through my training and workouts.  

We have discussed in previous blogs how to start and formulate a training program that will best suit your needs. If you have not started, now is a great time to begin with the traditional New Year's resolutions of losing weight, getting healthy, eating better, etc. Now is the perfect time to start!  

The importance of balance and overall body control as it relates to your game is essential. Keeping your body balanced is a key factor for the development of a good swing. What I like to do when I am working with my clients is cut the body in half and work one side at a time.

For example, instead of doing a dumbbell bench, I would make the adjustment of having the client concentrate on doing one arm at a time. This will improve overall muscle balance and core strength and also help you concentrate on the stabilization of the upper body. You can use this method with not just your bench press but other exercises as well. Another way to improve balance is to do one-legged movements. This will help in stabilization of the ankles, knees and overall body as well as help increase core strength.   

One thing that I remind my clients all the time is the importance of bringing their movements through their core. There is a difference in just doing an exercise verses really concentrating on how the movement you are doing is positively affecting your body and the concentration of the movement traveling through your body.

In golf, the swing has to travel through the body. In almost anything we do there is a load phase taking place. For instance when you get up from sitting in a chair, the load starts in the legs and travels through the body until you are standing. With the golf swing the load travels from the legs through the hips into the core and out the top. I try to relate this example to my clients while they are exercising. If you can master this movement and technique, it will help lead to a more stabilized core, which in turn leads to a stronger overall body and a better athlete.

Well, I am going to get back to my Tiger golf game on the Wii. All the best to you in the New Year. Be sure you are focusing yourselves each day on what your goals are for your off season!

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Pete Asadourian, and my job is to help athletes prevent injuries, become stronger and enhance their overall athletic performance. I am a certified golf fitness instructor and also a certified personal trainer. I have worked with thousands of athletes over my 11 years in business and have helped each one of them increase performance and decrease the incidence of injury.

Believe it or not, as a golfer you are an athlete. Whether I am training a professional athlete or a grade school athlete, my philosophy in training remains the same: Train the athlete functionally. It is important that we treat ourselves like athletes. That means taking care of your body and mind. This it will translate into an absolute benefit on the golf course.

Through this blog I will be teaching you functional exercises that will translate movements of the game as well as some great tips on proper warm up, workouts that can be done while on the road, diet, nutrition and more to help you get distance off the tee and take strokes off your game! I'll bet that got your attention.

As for me, I love to play golf. This month has been great. I played in six tournaments and still have two more to go! Autumn is a great time of year, so anytime I can get out and play I will. I can't imagine not being able to play golf. Unfortunately, many of us have injuries that prevent us from playing. But a lot of these injuries can be prevented simply by proper conditioning. That's where I can help.

It doesn't matter if you're a high handicapper or a scratch golfer, training and conditioning are important and can improve your game. This past summer during the Travelers Championship, Bubba Watson came to my facility, Future Fitness Sport Specific Training in Cromwell, to work out. Two days later, he hoisted the winner's trophy as tournament champion.

I hope to offer many practical tips and suggestions to help you, especially now as the off-season approaches. This is the time to get your body ready for next season, to put yourself in the best golf shape ever. Good luck!