Peter O’Keefe’s TPI Training Regime Ahead Of European Challenge Tour Season

Irish pro, Peter O’Keeffe is going that extra mile with his pre-season training in the hope of winning a European challenge tour event in 2013.

O’Keeffe begins his season on the European Challenge Tour in March in Nairobi and having sampled life on the tour in 2008 and 2009, the 31 year-old believes he is now more experienced, fitter and ready for a tough six months which will see him live life out of a suitcase travelling all over Europe.

In preparation for the Challenge tour O’Keeffe, who just missed out on qualifying for a European Tour card at the final qualifying stage in the PGA Catalunya Resort in November has hired a professional golf fitness coach to take him to the next level in terms of mental and physical fitness.

For the past six months Luke Dennehy of Dennehy’s Health and Fitness, in Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland has worked with O’Keeffe completely transforming his physical training routine, while also working on the mental side of his game.


Dennehy is one of the busiest fitness coaches in the country and his new golfing qualification (Fitness for Golf) which is PGA recognised will see a lot more work come his way as professional and low-handicap golfers seek his advice, but for now it’s O’Keeffe who is benefiting the most.

“The training I do with Luke Dennehy is so advanced, and it relates directly to my golf which is hugely important for me”, Peter O’Keeffe said.

Dennehy, who is one of only a few fitness coaches in the country to have this qualification, did his training in Philadelphia with the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) and he is hoping to add to this qualification next month when he will either travel to Germany or the UK for more TPI training, focussing on swing analysis.


“There are only a few coaches in the country that have my qualification, and most of those guys would be golf professionals who coach golf,” Luke Dennehy said.

“My background would be performance enhancement â€" that’s my original qualification. Going to Titleist and working with them helps me apply my fitness expertise to golfers.”


Golf physical fitness training is probably one of the newest styles of training out there, and O’Keeffe is glad that someone like Luke has the qualifications and training expertise required to help him improve his game.

“For this type of training to be available to me here in Cork is so invaluable. Luke is excellent at what he does, so versatile, and has something new for me everyday to keep things fresh.
“The gym is also a fantastic facility so overall it’s an ideal set up for me to learn and improve. I began working with Luke midway through last season, and it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made.

“Basically, I heard he was part of TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) and that immediately caught my interest. We train together five times a week, and although at the beginning it took a lot of hard work, especially the work I do on a swiss ball, I am now used to it and enjoying the challenge, but this particular exercise took a lot of getting used to, and a few bad falls but at the end of the day it helped me hugely.”

The Swiss ball training is new to Peter and it’s an exercise designed by Luke to help him become more balanced and stronger on his feet when he drives the ball.

“It’s like building a house, you need a solid foundation before you do anything else,” Luke Dennehy added.

“I start training from the bottom and work my way up. Ankle stability is the number one thing I work with.

“If the ankle stability is wrong, everything else can be affected. From the moment you swing, if you’re stability isn’t right it can throw your core body position off balance.

“When working with Peter, who has a large frame and is 6ft 4’, there are specific training drills needed to be done.

“In golf we know there’s no such thing as the perfect swing, but what we can do is train the golfer’s body so that he gets the most efficient swing for his body.”

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