A St. Francis Xavier University Human Kinetics professor is not only making news internationally, but he is garnering top recognition in the world of golf.
Winner of the 2022 US Open Matt Fitzpatrick has credited StFX University professor Dr. Sasho MacKenzie with transforming his ability to generate clubhead speed, which ultimately played a role in winning one of the top titles in golf, the US Open.
The professional golfer says Dr. MacKenzie’s speed training system called “The Stack” worked wonders for his long drive. The program is basically a weighted club that has different weight levels to allow the golfer to do overload and over-speed training. It can be paired with a training app which builds programs customized to the golfer. Dr. MacKenzie is the co-founder of The Stack System, along with his partner, Marty Jertson, who is the VP of Fitting and Innovation at Ping.
Dr. MacKenzie has also been Mr. Fitzpatrick’s biomechanics coach for the last several years and worked with the US Open Champion and his coach, Mike Walker, since. “Matt is a very accomplished golfer but needed more distance off the tee and that was my primary role.”
As part of his efforts with Fitzpatrick, the StFX professor attended the Masters to assess his driving at one of the biggest tournaments in professional golf. Since Dr, MacKenzie is located in Antigonish, he can coach Mr. Fitzpatrick virtually using the The Stack app.
Dr. MacKenzie works with several PGA players and coaches, as well as being a researcher and professor at StFX. He has been an engineer consultant for the golf company Ping and he is a biomechanics advisor and software developer for another golf company called Footjoy.
He has published over 20 golf-related articles in a variety of journals.
This research is, in part, made possible by the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.
