What Is a TPI Screening and Who Needs One?

Most golf lessons try to change your swing. A TPI screening asks a prior question: can your body actually make the swing you're being taught? If the answer is no, no amount of lessons will stick. This page explains what the screen measures, who it helps most, and how it works at Golf Center of Arlington.

What does a TPI screening actually measure?

TPI stands for Titleist Performance Institute, the golf-fitness organization whose premise is that the body and the swing are connected: physical limitations produce swing compensations, and swing compensations produce inconsistent shots and, often, pain. A TPI screen is the assessment that finds those limitations.

At Golf Center of Arlington the screen consists of 16 tests of strength and mobility. Each test isolates a movement the golf swing depends on and checks whether you can perform it with the range, stability and control the swing needs. The tests are not swing drills and you don't need to bring your game; you need to bring your body.

The result is a map of what your body can and cannot do right now. That map is what makes the next step useful: golf-specific exercises to increase strength and functional ability in exactly the areas that were limiting you, which leads to a more efficient, more powerful swing. For the Titleist program overview at this facility, see the Titleist Performance Institute page.

Why does mobility matter more than swing tips?

Because your body will always find a way to hit the ball, and the way it finds is not always the way you were taught. A golfer who lacks the mobility to rotate fully will make up the distance somewhere else: lifting out of posture, swaying, over-using the arms. Those compensations feel like swing faults, and they get treated like swing faults, but they are symptoms. The cause is physical.

This is also why the screen matters for pain. Compensations load the body unevenly, and the low back is the usual victim. Restoring the mobility and strength the swing needs takes the load off, and the golf gets better as a side effect. The blog post on what a TPI evaluation is and how Arlington golfers can improve their swing goes deeper on the body-swing connection.

Who needs a TPI screening?

Anyone whose swing is limited by their body, which is most golfers at some point. These are the groups that get the most out of it.

What happens during the screen?

The session is hands-on and practical. You move; Tod observes and records. Wear clothes you can move freely in, the same as you'd wear to the gym.

1. The 16 tests. One at a time, Tod takes you through the strength and mobility tests. Each isolates a movement the golf swing depends on, and the results show where you have full function and where you are limited.
2. Finding the limitations. The results are reviewed together to identify which physical limits are affecting your ability to swing the club, and how those limits likely show up in your ball flight.
3. Golf-specific exercises. You leave with exercises aimed at the specific areas that were limiting you, designed to increase strength and functional ability. Do them, and the swing changes your instructor asks for become possible.

How much does a TPI screening cost?

The TPI golf screen at Golf Center of Arlington costs $120. It's booked online through the Titleist Performance page. For context, here is how the screen sits alongside the other performance services at the facility.

Prices as published on golfcenterofarlington.com; subject to change.

TPI screen, TrackMan or a lesson: which do you need?

Three different questions

A TPI screen answers "what can my body do?" A TrackMan session answers "what is my club and ball doing?" A lesson answers "how do I change it?" They work best in that order, but you don't have to do all three.

If you have pain or a fault that lessons haven't fixed, start with the screen. If you're healthy and curious about your numbers, or you're about to buy clubs, start with TrackMan; our guide to what a TrackMan session tells you about your swing explains the metrics. If you're a beginner with no physical issues, a lesson alone is fine. And if the problem is in your head rather than your body, mental performance coaching is a separate service with a free initial consultation.

Who teaches what, and how to evaluate any instructor, is covered in our guide to golf instructors in Arlington.

Who runs the TPI screen at Golf Center of Arlington?

Tod Chasczewski, MS, Titleist Performance Institute Certified Level 3 Golf Coach. Tod pairs the TPI Level 3 golf-coach certification with a master's degree. He conducts the screen at Golf Center of Arlington, reviews the results with you, and prescribes the exercises.

Because the screen, TrackMan and lessons all live at one facility, the results don't sit in a drawer. A golfer can take the screen findings straight into a lesson with Robert Galan, or use a TrackMan session a few weeks later to see whether the exercises have changed club speed and carry. That continuity is the practical advantage of doing the screen here rather than at a standalone clinic.

• 16-test strength and mobility screen, $120
• Results explained in plain terms, with the likely effect on your ball flight
• Golf-specific exercises targeted to your limitations
• Works alongside lessons with Robert Galan and TrackMan sessions at the same facility

Where is the screen done?

At Golf Center of Arlington, 1301 NE Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX 76006, about two miles north of the Arlington Entertainment District and an easy drive from Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving and Grand Prairie. The facility is open Monday–Saturday 8 AM–11 PM and Sunday 8 AM–10 PM; screens are scheduled by appointment. Afterward, the range's 18 covered Toptracer bays and free short game area (with any bucket purchase) are right there for putting your new mobility to work. Questions: 817-469-9005 or play@golfcenterofarlington.com.