Ben Shear is mentioned at the 16:00 in the video below:

http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/10/25/donald-player-of-year/index.html

“He’s so much more flexible, stable and explosive,” Shear stated about Donald recent success. “We’re not trying to get into a long-driving contest with Dustin Johnson. This is about maximizing Luke’s potential.”

Once branded as a player whose inability to win symbolized what’s wrong with pro golf, Luke Donald is closing in on No. 1 thanks to an exhausting new exercise regimen and a diary he keeps to motivate and challenge himself…

…Donald struggled throughout 2007, failing to win on either side of the Atlantic. Things went from bad to worse at the ‘08 U.S. Open, where he shredded a tendon in his left wrist. He had season-ending surgery, which meant missing the Ryder Cup. (He had gone 5-1-1 in the previous two.) During the recovery time the Donalds enjoyed a vacation to Sardinia and innumerable trips to Wrigley Field. Unable to swing a club in anger, Donald continued to perfect his chipping and putting. But he also spent a lot of the downtime brooding. “It gave me time to reflect on some things I was doing wrong,” he says.

Donald was still playing his way back into shape when a final-round 67 lifted him into a tie for fifth at the 2009 British Open. What should have been the high point of his recovery was soured by a story that ran in The Telegraph a few days after the tournament. Barker Davis of The Washington Times, who was moonlighting for the English paper, called Donald “… the personification of what’s wrong with professional golf,” pointing to his paucity of victories while noting that Donald had, to that point, “collected over $15 million in prize money for such an indifferent effort.” A too-clever headline writer coined the phrase LUKE DONALD DISEASE OF UNDERACHIEVEMENT.

Donald was stung by the critique, even as he acknowledged that he’d like to have more tournament victories on his résumé. Says Goss, “The wrist injury was pretty scary—it forced Luke to face his mortality in the game. He did a lot of soul searching and I think his love for golf was rekindled. He came back dedicated to seeing how good he can be. And then the criticism that followed, well, that added more fuel to the fire.”

On a muggy April afternoon, two days before the Heritage was to begin, Donald stood in a Hilton Head gym and couldn’t quite swallow a smirk. “Let’s get this over with,” he said.

He was being put through his paces by trainers Ben Shear and Craig Knight, part of an ever-expanding team that has spent the last year and a half laboring to eradicate Donald’s eponymous disease. Since autumn 2009 Luke has replaced his brother as his caddie, hired the performance coach Alred, welcomed a daughter, tweaked his swing and signed on with Shear and Knight. He first worked with the trainers last November, when they subjected him to a series of diagnostic tests heavy on exotic, golfcentric exercises. Knight’s recollection of that first encounter: “Oooh, he flunked that, that, that and that.” Donald has been working out six days a week ever since, dutifully quantifying his progress in the black binder. Now it was time to show off for his trainers. Donald snapped off 50 push-ups, whereas five months earlier he had expired at 31. Shear set up a 10-inch step that Donald had to jump atop again and again for 90 seconds. In November he almost passed out after 38 jumps. This time he summited 85 times, his heart racing at up to 170 beats a minute. Donald grunted through more than a dozen other tests of his strength, stamina and flexibility, and his numbers skyrocketed.

Shear looked on like a proud papa. “He’s so much more flexible, stable and explosive,” he said. “We’re not trying to get into a long-driving contest with Dustin Johnson. This is about maximizing Luke’s potential.”

Donald has become noticeably more muscular, which inspired Jane Park, one of the LPGA’s sassier personalities, to recently tweet, “I never realized that Luke Donald had such a ghetto booty.” Beyond eliciting electronic catcalls, Donald’s fitness has helped his swing, as his trainers consult regularly with Goss to address any of Donald’s biomechanical needs. Beginning last winter Luke has successfully ingrained more width in his backswing, less bow in his left wrist at the top and a more proper sequence on the downswing, leading with his legs. “This is the best I’ve ever swung the club,” he says. “I’m longer now. That’s due to the gym work and more speed because my swing is more efficient.” Donald declines to estimate how many yards he has picked up but says, “I can see it compared to guys I’ve played with over the years.” Donald cut off his woofing with a self-conscious smile. “I’d still like to hit it farther, but I do believe now that what I have is good enough.”

Read more about fitness expert Ben Shear and Luke Donald…

Besides winning the last two PGA Tour events, what do Rory Sabbatini and Luke Donald have in common? Their Strength and Conditioning coach, Ben Shear.

Sabbatini just won the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens this past weekend, and Donald won the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship the week before that. They are two of many PGA Tour Players with whom Shear trains performing 3-D Biomehanical Analysis, conducting thorough golf fitness screens and customizing workouts. Shear approaches each athlete individually creating a program that addresses physical limitations allowing his clients to outperform the most elite competition in the sport.

Shear, who is Director of Performance Training at Athletic Edge, recently took on the role of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Back 9 Tour Services, an elite service provider to PGA Touring Professionals.

Ben Shear and Jeff Banaszak were recently featured at the World Golf Fitness Summit 2010 in Orlando, Florida. Ben and Jeff discussed Isometrics – Golf’s Hidden Source of Power.

With over thirteen years experience working in the golf industry, Jeff Banaszak has been named to the national advisory board for the BACKtoGOLF Sports Medicine Network, served as chairman of the NSCA Golf SIG executive council and is currently a member of the Medical Advisory Board for TPI. As president and founder of Back9Fitness, Inc., Jeff created a unique company that specializes in products and services to improve your golf game.

The Director of Golf Performance at Athletic Edge, Ben Shear has worked with golfers for 10 years – touring professionals to amateurs – and is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Back 9 Tour Services. He is a TPI-certified Biomechanist, a Level 3 Fitness Instructor, and Muscle Activation expert. Shear lectures on golf fitness and has presented on swing mechanics and performance training to the NJ State PGA, as well as the Better Golf through Technology Conference at M.I.T. He has been featured in numerous magazines, including The Met Golfer and The PGA of America’s Professional Guide to Instruction, to name a few. Shear is a golf fitness expert for PTontheNet.com, the world’s largest education website for personal trainers, and is the associate editor of the Journal of Applied Golf Research. His facility is ranked one of the Top 6 Strength and Conditioning destinations by Rodale Press, publishers of Men’s Health.

Ben Shear and Jeff Banaszak discuss Making Mobility Gains Stick in the following Podcast:

Golf Mobility

Ben Shear is showcasing some of his golf fitness exercises on Jim McLean’s instructional website. Jim McLean is known as one of the Top 50 Golf Instructors in the Country. His new website is geared to providing top-notch instruction to golf enthusiasts all over the world. Shear’s first episode is about Golf Mobility.

Watch It Now!

Every month a new fitness show will debut on TheGolfersNation.com. The shows are based on full length DVD’s that Shear has available for purchase on PlayGolfStrong.com.