110: Danger lies in the Extreme with Liam Hennessy

This week I am very excited to announce our guest, Liam Hennessy. Liam is one of the legends in the world of strength, conditioning, and golf fitness.  He works as a sports performance scientist and consultant, and has worked with some of the greatest athletes in the world, from many sports, including Padraig Harrington.

In this episode, Liam shares some of his incredible stories on his journey, including his early days pole vaulting for Ireland to some of the adventures he’s had while working with Padraig.  It is these experiences and “experiments” that have helped him discover and develop his work with his clients.  Always searching for new ways to learn and find out what works best, Liam is a constant student and teacher.  And while some of these stories venture in the “extremes,” Liam cautions that often, we jump in too quickly and want results so fast that we forget about the fact that performance is a process that can’t be rushed.

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Liam Hennessy’s Background

• Dr. Liam Hennessy is the Academic Director of Setanta College. He is a qualified Physical Education teacher, Exercise Physiologist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has spent over 20 years working full-time in sport.
• Liam was previously the Director of Fitness with the Irish Rugby Football Union, a position he commenced in 2000. At the IRFU he headed a staff of 24 full time coaches. His role was to develop a world class system of player support within the areas of Strength and Conditioning, Injury Rehabilitation, Sport Nutrition and Medical Care.
• Liam is also Fitness Coach to Padraig Harrington having worked with Padraig for over a decade now.
• He gained his undergraduate degree in Physical Education and English from Thomond College in 1981 and from there he completed his Master’s at Loughborough University before going on to complete a further Master’s in Clinical Physiology.
• Liam was also an international athlete, competing over 50 times for Ireland at the Pole vault. After competing he became national jumps coach. Liam also had the distinction of being Irish team manager at the first world junior Athletic Championships in Athens in 1985.

Highlights from this Episode

• Liam’s background growing up in Ireland, and how he went from Irish hurling, to pole vaulting, to sports performance science, and eventually into golf.
• Liam’s take on plyometrics and heavy lifting to prime yourself for strong performance.
• How he came to work with some of the top athletes in the world as a performance consultant.
• Why golf is the most explosive and dynamic game from a performance perspective.
• The biggest mistakes golfers make on a regular basis.
• Liam’s views on recovery, and why nothing is as important as sleeping well.

CaddyShack or Happy Gilmore?

Happy Gilmore

Who would you like to spend a day on the course with?

Christy O’Connor Jnr.

What are you excited about in your near future?

How we can use technology and science to help us in sports performance, and how to simplify the process.

Where to Find Liam Hennessy:

More Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Hennessy_(coach)

Setanta College: https://www.setantacollege.com/usa/

Setanta College Advisory Board: https://www.setantacollege.com/about/our-people/