How improving his fitness and a new training system helped Scottie Scheffler become world’s best player

Scottie Scheffler’s incredible success over the past two seasons has been fueled by record-setting ball-striking. It’s led many to wonder what his secret is and how he’s been able to put up numbers that haven’t been seen since Tiger Woods.

Scheffler’s combination of power and accuracy explains his unmatched success since 2022. He owns eight PGA TOUR titles, including the 2022 Masters and the past two PLAYERS Championships. The 27-year-old arrives at Augusta National this week as the unquestioned favorite after back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS, and a runner-up finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

“Right now, he’s doing juuust fine,” said Randy Smith, Scheffler’s long-time swing coach. “... It’s really easy right now to not teach and it’s been that way, honestly, for about a year and a half.”

Scheffler led the PGA TOUR in Greens in Regulation in 2022 and 2023 and is atop that statistic again this season. This season he also leads the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Tee-to-Green after finishing first in those metrics in 2023, as well.

While Scheffler has made it look easy, there’s always a large amount of work behind the scenes that goes into such success. Scheffler is no exception. His work in the gym was key to unlocking his very best.

Getting back on track

Despite having worked with Dallas-based chiropractor and performance coach Dr. Troy Van Biezen since he was 14, like many golfers, Scheffler was more reactive in his training rather than proactive. That changed during his sophomore season at the University of Texas, when back pain forced him to withdraw from multiple tournaments.

“I think that was a wakeup call for Scottie that if you want to be a good golfer and you want to play pain-free, it’s time to start taking golf seriously and start doing a lot of things off the golf course,” Van Biezen said. “That’s kind of where it clicked. Ever since then, he’s been a beast in the gym.”

Woods, of course, was an influence. He brought an unprecedented focus on physical fitness to the PGA TOUR. It was crucial to his success and inspired many to follow his example. For Scheffler, his fitness regimen not only helps prevents further injury but also improves his flexibility, mobility, strength and endurance.

He and Van Biezen would do metabolic training, hypertrophy and strength training, and cardiovascular exercises like speedball work, skiers, rowers and Wattbike. The increased endurance paid dividends, especially in those crucial moments late on Sunday afternoons.

“We’ve just gotten to a point where I’ve been able to get rid of a lot of the aches and pains I used to deal with when I was in college,” Scheffler said, “and I’ve gotten to a place where my body I feel like is really healthy, and so we’ve been able to build some muscle and endurance from there. But it was a long journey to get to a point where I was in balance for a long enough period of time where we could actually start building a little bit of muscle.”

How GolfForever became part of Scheffler's routine

Looking to gain a further edge on the competition, Scheffler and Van Biezen also began utilizing GolfForever and its popular tool, the Swing Trainer, during off-weeks in 2021, leveraging the training regimen on TOUR for the first time ahead of the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open.

After finishing T20 at Torrey Pines, Scheffler liked how he swung the club that week, so GolfForever became part of his routine moving forward. He earned his first PGA TOUR victory weeks later at the WM Phoenix Open, starting an incredible stretch where he won four times in six starts, including the Masters, and reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Scheffler believes so heavily in the benefits of GolfForever that he is now an investor in the company.

“Between the app and tools like the Swing Trainer, GolfForever is a great training system," said Van Biezen, who also serves as GolfForever’s Director of Performance. "It’s high reward, low risk, which is important because it has great benefits with a low risk of injury. It can deliver tough workouts if you’re someone like Scottie, but it’s personalized with some easy-to-do things that are perfect for golfers who don’t move well or are in pain. It’s a lot of core, a lot of glute, just a lot of stability stuff, integrated functional stuff.

“It’s challenging the body physically but also neurologically as well. It’s been good. I can’t say enough. It’s been a really cool thing for us.”

Stable Scheffler reaps benefits

Scheffler’s increased stability and mobility makes it easier for him to reach the desired positions in his swing. There are fewer manipulations or compensations. In fact, Smith declared “we’re working on nothing” ahead of the Texas Children’s Open. Scheffler was a putt shy of forcing a potential playoff in his quest for his third-straight PGA TOUR victory this season.

“I’ve got three things, maybe four, every time I check when I watch him hit balls,” said Smith, who started working with Scheffler when he was about 8. “I can’t think of too many times where I’ve even brought them up. … He does it automatically and goes back to doing exactly what he should be doing.

“Even if he’s off a little bit, his hands are so good. Best hands I’ve seen on a player in my life, bar none. They’re so good that they can correct any flaw he puts into the golf swing.”

Scheffler’s meticulous hard work is paying off with his training in the gym, as well.

“This offseason we didn’t really do a huge focus on anything, we just maintained what we built over the last few years,” Van Biezen said. “A little bit was more or less letting him decompress because it’s been a crazy few years with him on the PGA TOUR.”

Scheffler’s hard work in the gym helped him reach the pinnacle of golf. And stay there.

For more about GolfForever, visit the website at golfforever.com.