Nervous System Optimization with Dr. Sean Drake | PGA Players' Podcast #21

Join host Aaron Goldberg as he sits down with Dr. Sean Drake, a leading expert in athlete performance and nervous system optimization, for an unfiltered conversation on building resilience far beyond the golf course. Dr. Drake shares his personal journey through adversity, reveals why recovery is about more than just physical modalities, and explains how emotional well-being shapes elite athletic performance. This episode offers candid stories, practical strategies, and actionable insights for anyone looking to elevate their mental and physical game. Whether you're a touring pro or passionate about personal growth, you’ll find fresh perspective in this honest exploration of what it really takes to thrive at the highest level.

Chapters
(00:05) Building Trust and Athlete Relationships
(03:30) Personal Journey and Mental Health Challenges
(06:05) Emotional Resilience and Modality Transformation
(12:45) The Athlete as the True Modality
(17:05) Intensive Programs and Emotional Breakthroughs
(20:53) Customized Routines and Team Dynamics
(24:20) Breathwork, Regulation, and Intention
(27:40) Adapting Protocols for Schedule and Travel
(32:38) Testing, Adopting, and Optimizing Modalities
(34:49) Maximizing Recovery Within Limited Time

Follow Dr. Sean Drake
• https://www.instagram.com/drseandrake/
• https://drseandrake.com/

Connect with and follow us
• Website: https://www.athletefamilyoffice.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awmcapital/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awmcapital/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1NxpK21N1vKWEExC45YEA
• X: https://twitter.com/awmcapital
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awmcapital/

Creators and Guests

Host

Aaron Goldberg

Former Professional Golfer and Private Wealth Advisor, CFP®

What is PGA Players Podcast?

Join Aaron Goldberg, CFP® - a private wealth advisor for AWM Capital and former professional golfer with the Korn Ferry and PGA tours - as he discusses weekly the most important business and financial news professional golfers should know.

Aaron Goldberg: Hey everyone.

Welcome to the PJ Players Podcast.

I'm your host, Aaron Goldberg.

Today we have a great discussion
with a friend of mine, Dr.

Sean Drake.

This is somebody I've learned a lot
from over the left past few years,

and I'm excited to share it with you.

We're gonna hear about his background,
his story, where he's at today, and what

he does with his professional athletes.

As well as athletes of all kinds.

But what we really wanna talk about is
how it relates to professional golfers

recovery, uh, nervous system optimization.

These are all things that are a little
bit more in the limelight for pros.

Now, this is something everyone's
talking about, but I really want

to take a deep dive with Dr.

Drake on how he's come to.

The protocols that he uses
today and why it's so important.

And I think the biggest question
that I have and that I want to hear

him talk about is the why behind it.

So Dr.

Drake, thanks for being here.

Appreciate it.

Uh, thanks.

Uh, I'd, I'd like to start with how,
how we got here today on your side.

Dr. Sean Drake:

Well, a lot of text
messages back and forth.

Um, you know, obviously huge Avian fan
and you know, when we got to this point,

I think it comes down to a couple things.

Number one, um, trust and rapport.

Rapport is really important to me.

And you know, when I met Eric
originally and a BM and I started

to like, you know, look at, look at
the energy and the frequency of the

company and the man that he is and who
he has around him with his brother.

And you know, it started to
trickle in like I was never

supposed to be back in practice.

You know, I was at OnBase U with Greg
Rose, you know, titles, performance

Institute, doing our research, doing our
care for our guys there and our females.

And you know, 2020 happened and
all of a sudden, you know, we

went online and so I came to
Scottsdale to learn how to skydive.

Ended up, you know, staying
here, opening a small clinic.

This kind of blew up into what we're
at now, and I'll tell how we got there.

But the minute that I met Eric, I
realized that this is a man of God.

This is a man of humanity, and he really
truly wants to transform each and every

player that he works with, not just like.

From a financial standpoint,
from a generational standpoint.

And that's where we came together and I
said, you know what, I'm, I'm behind you.

I'll do whatever you need.

Let's go.

And so that's how we got here.

Um, when it comes to the PGA athlete or
the golfer, you know, I would've never

gone into golf had it not been for Dr.

Greg Rose and titles,
performance Institute.

If you wanna work with golfers,
you have to do that, in my opinion.

And you can argue swing all day long,
that's not what I'm trying to say here.

But when you understand physical
limitations of your athlete.

Then you can better help them be the best.

Where I've come to now is
understanding the energy of the

athlete, and that's, that's what this
podcast is really gonna be about.

And it started with my own
journey in 23 after my divorce

where I got super depressed.

Now, I had all these modalities in
my clinic prior, but I was using

them from a performance standpoint.

I was saying, okay, how
do I give them athletes?

How do I get more range of motion?

How do I get more capacity?

What I didn't understand was
the neuro emotional side until

it happened to me, myself.

And so I went from, you know, I have
a dad who's special forces, and I have

a mom who's supplying the military.

And so I've got two, you know,
dichotomy of energies going after me.

One's, you know, very A type.

Everything has to be dotted,
everything has to be crossed.

And my dad's like, no.

Resilience is everything.

So understanding how
to stay calm and chaos.

So when we look at the word
recovery, I actually don't

use that word in our clinic.

Um, because we are not a recovery
center, if you want that, there's,

my buddy owns Optimize here locally.

There's a lot of places you
can go to get on modalities.

When we're working with you, we're
fine tuning where your limitations are

inside your nervous system and building
capacity within that, using modalities.

So I get divorced or I'm going through
a divorce, I'm depressed as heck.

Um, to the point where I was suicidal.

I was on my bathroom floor
with a Glock in my mouth.

And I'll never forget this day because Dr.

Greg Rose called me at that very moment.

He was checking on me every
single day during that time.

And he is like, look, I,
I hear it in your voice.

Something's off.

I need you to drive to somebody's house
and I'm gonna give caner a plug right now.

So Brian Kane, so I drive
to his house, right?

And, and he works with a
lot of our players as well.

And I get there and I'm, I'm broken and
I'm, you know, 220 pounds down to 150.

I.

I literally like, he just like him and
his wife and just basically like coddled

me and held me and like I just sat there
at his kitchen table and our other buddy

walks in and he's like, Hey, I think you
should sign up for the Tempe Ironman.

I'm going to.

And I said, and my brain
goes, dude, you're one 50.

You can barely get off the couch.

You're making it to the clinic during,
you know, a spring training off season

to get your guys through and then
you're going home and you're crashing.

And I'm like, whatever.

I took the credit card, put it down.

And it was really when I started to
understand how to use the modalities

from emotional standpoint, not
just a a quote recovery standpoint.

Like, I'm not just getting on
this modality now to feel good.

I'm getting on this modality to
transform who I am on the inside.

And so instead of using high GPMF, which
is pulse electro magnetic field therapy,

I started to use lower gauss mats because
I could, I could lay on them overnight

and get that energy capacity in my system.

So when I woke up in the morning.

I was ready to start
doing something active.

From a depression standpoint, since
we're talking about golfers, golfers

and tennis players are two of the
most depressed athletes out there.

It's not talked about very often,
but mental health is a massive

issue on the tour, and it's
so hard to get there, right?

Like they're the top, you know, everybody
on the mini tours can play at the PGA

level, but it's what's going on in between
here that really allows them to go there.

And so.

As I started working with these modalities
and started using the cold plunge, instead

of saying, Hey, I need to be in there for
11 to 12 minutes for brown fat, you know,

to go and to get my testosterone right.

I was using the cold plunge more from
a emotional correction standpoint.

So when I'd get a different
thought in my mind, a depressive

thought or a frustrating thought.

I'd get in the cold plunge as quick as
I could catch my breath and get out.

So I was using it for
micro, you know what I mean?

Then I was using the sauna instead
of saying, Hey, I'm getting

in the sauna for quote detox.

I was using the sauna to build capacity
within my own self, saying, oh man, okay.

Setting a time limit of 20 minutes
and at 20 minutes I didn't, I wanted

to get out, but I was like, no, like
push yourself a little bit further.

So I started to build
this energy capacity up.

Then I started to realize, okay, I
use the hyperbaric, not necessarily

as getting in there to say, Hey, I
need to get oxygen to help out with

inflammation and help my body heal.

I used it as my safety and my
cocoon to work through my emotions,

to have a place where it was just
me and my own inner thoughts.

I started to use vibration more
from a standpoint of just stimulus

of saying, okay, I am safe.

I am calm, I am powerful.

I started to use our light system
to work the, the neuroplasticity

within my brain of those emotions.

And so like, what I started to really
do is create a neuro emotional clinic of

building resilience in the nervous system.

Not just saying, Hey, I'm using these
modalities because they feel good.

So once I got to the Ironman
Day, you know, I'm sitting

there on the starting line.

I'll never forget this, you know,
and I'm, I'm like, and if you've

ever seen an Ironman, a lot of
people go out at once, right?

And you've got heats and
you've got all these things.

And this relates to the PGA
player, because you never

know where you're gonna be.

You know, starting on a
certain day, they're gonna put

you in a different position.

But it's your prep that prepares you
for those moments, for who you're

gonna be playing with and what's what
course you're gonna be playing at.

And so I get to the starting line, I
jump off, and within like literally

probably 300 yards, I get decked in
the face like Mike Tyson punched, and

I'm sitting there and I'm like, dazed.

And I'm like treading water.

And this girl comes over in the
kayak, Hey, do you wanna hold on?

I'm like, no, I'm good.

IU because of all the regulation I did
from within during this training on

these modalities, I knew I was safe.

I knew how to, I knew
how to course correct.

Right?

So if you have a bad shot, how quickly can
you course correct within, not necessarily

in that moment, but already within.

So then I get to the bike
and I do the first loop.

And out here, um, in Tempe, you've got the
Beeline, which is a long, fricking way.

Down on, um, inside Scottsdale and on the
second lap, I'm coming around and somebody

holds up a sign that says, who hurt you?

it brings up all the
emotions of the divorce.

It brings up all the emotions of
the anger, and I'm just like crying

on my bike and I'm screaming and
I'm, and then I get to the beeline

and 20 mile an hour more wind.

So now I'm getting my butt kicked, right?

Like, I'm like, oh.

But it was just, you gotta keep going.

And the philosophy from when I hike
Kilimanjaro Ole Poey is just one step.

Just one pedal.

Just one thing, right?

And so you got people coming by.

And what's so amazing about Ironman
and, and I tell all my golfers that

it's so important to understand the
resilience that it takes to do an

Ironman, but it's a community sport.

You're individual, but
everybody wants to see you win.

And so often when we're in, we're
in golf, we, we beat ourselves up.

You know what I mean?

We don't have that, that circle around
us telling you, Hey, man, keep going.

Like, you're out there by yourself.

You know, you're, you're,
you're fighting every shot.

Yeah, you've got your caddy, but in
reality, you've got yourself and it's

like, you gotta know, let that shot go.

Keep it going to the next thing.

Like Vision 54 taught me a lot when I did
their program on really how to do that.

So then I get around the third loop and
wind's picked up another 15 miles an hour.

And so like, I'm just getting
my ass handed to me, right?

Sorry.

And I get to the running portion.

First of all, I only train for three
months, and my buddies are like, I don't

know if he's actually gonna make it.

And so I, I get into the run,
I'm running an 11 minute pace.

My buddies who are there, Michael
Kowalski, I'm gonna give him a shout out

on this too, because I would not have
made it through this Ironman without him.

Brian Kane, the rest of my buddies, Mason.

Um, but it's a team aspect and
this is why it's so important

to this topic on the PGA golfer.

But then I get to the run, I'm 11 miles
in and there's this like guy in front

of me going super slow and I try to
go around him and I jar my hip again.

I step in a hole.

And I recently injured my about
seven months prior at Tony

Horton's house from P 90 x.

And if you ever watch his videos,
he's got people that come out there

and do crazy workouts with him.

Well, he has this rope that you climb.

Two stories.

Then you climb over and then you get
these pegs and you come down, well,

I missed the peg and I came down two
stories on my hip, and so I re aggravate

this at mile 11, and I've gotta keep
going because at the end of the day,

it's, it's not about giving up, right?

It's the capacity to bounce
back, recovering, even thrive

in the face of adversity.

That's the definition of resilience.

Every single athlete I work with,
I make them memorize that because

at the end of the day, it's
not, it's not about this moment.

It is about everything else you've
endured to get to this moment.

It's about, okay, don't
worry about what's next.

That can't even happen yet.

Like, you've gotta be
present, you've gotta be here.

So then I'm in the run and I'm
going, and like I, at that, I

honestly, I felt like the most
loved person that you could imagine.

I had, you know, PGA players
out there watching me.

I had pro, you know, baseball players
out there, wa coming to watch me.

So many patients, so many friends.

It was probably the most
loving experience I'd ever had.

And so as I'm getting through to the
finish line, I sprint through the finish.

And if you ever run an Ironman,
take the finish and slow down for

your first one and just enjoy it.

You know, I, I grab the medal, I go to see
all my friends and my family, and they're

all like, Hey, you know, congratulations
on the, you know, finishing.

And it wasn't about the
finish for me, right?

It was about the story and the
journey of how I got there.

And so I get done with the Ironman
and I'm like all the emotions

that came up during that race.

Are the emotions that, you
know, my guys on the KornFerry

are going through right now.

My guys on mini tour, my
females that are on their tour.

Um, like I, you know, I sponsor
Ashley mean, who is the a SU Golf,

you know, grace Summer Hayes,
who's, who's about to come through.

Uh, you know, I've been blessed to work
with, you know, Tony au Winham Clark.

I can go down the list of players,
but if you go, if you come in my

office, I don't post my players
online to create credibility.

Like, my thing is, is that I want you to
be your best when you're in here with me.

And so when it comes to
modalities, you are the modality.

I want you to realize this.

You are the modality.

All these energy systems around
that we'll break into in the rest of

this podcast, enhance that modality.

But if you've got anger, if you've got
frustration, if you've got sadness that

you haven't dealt with, it's gonna show
up in your performance on the course.

And so that's really where we can step
into this next part of, of what I do.

As I have athletes that I have a one day,
a three day and a five day program that

guys will fly into or females, and we will
completely reset their nervous system,

and you're being moved from modality
to modality to modality, to modality.

We're working the body, we're doing
breathwork we're doing different types of

things, and it's because here's the deal
is you can't just commit to one modality.

Like this is where I think a lot of
players go wrong, is they get excited

about something that feels good.

But it doesn't create
proper change, right?

Like there are certain things that I
say like, yeah, it's awesome you have

blank, but are you thinking about blank?

And so, and if you're not, you're behind.

And when you're traveling week to week
and you're traveling, you know, state

to, to different state, country to
country, you're in different time zones.

You're, and the thing is, you've
gotta prep for those time zones.

So this is where modalities
become a true form of training.

Not necessarily recovery

Aaron Goldberg: Yep.

I, that's amazing.

I mean, so much to unpack there.

Uh, don't want to gloss over anything.

Uh, appreciate you being candid with your
story and you know, everything you've gone

through, um, the depths of where you're
at with depression going through divorce.

Um, but also the triumph of being able
to train for an Ironman, pull out of it.

You know, some of the key takeaways
I have from that, it takes a team.

You wouldn't have been able to do
that without your friends, your team.

Uh, we've been lucky enough
to have Brian Kane on here.

Um, he's awesome.

He, uh, also a friend, uh, one of the
greatest motivators I've met, uh, in golf.

It takes a team.

You are the, the golfer or
the only one hitting the shot.

But we all know how many people
it takes to get you out there.

Uh, when you're inside the ropes, yeah,
it's you and your caddy and you're the

only one that can pull the trigger.

But before that, there's a lot of
people that are helping out, and I

think that's why we see when, when guys
win, especially for the first time,

so much emotion come out, even from
guys that aren't emotional or don't

seem like they'd be emotional, is it's
everything that it took to get them there.

And I think one of the
common comments you hear is.

Hey, I know how hard I work,
but I know how hard everyone

else worked to get me here.

Whether it's parents, whether it's
coaches, whether it's trainer, caddy,

whoever it is, wife, girlfriend, and it's,
it's, they understand what it takes to

get to the tip of the spear to get them
out there to perform at their highest.

I think what's really cool, and what
I want to continue to talk about

is some of these mod modalities,
you know, whether it's cold

plunge, sauna, PMF, any of these.

They're fantastic.

They've helped players, even non-athletes.

I'm gonna call myself
a non-athlete at this

Dr. Sean Drake:

Well remember that if you have
a body, you're an athlete.

Bill Bowman

Aaron Goldberg: I, and I love that.

I love that.

Um, okay, let's say, uh, retired
post-professional athlete.

How about that?

Uh.

But a lot of these are great for what
they are with, but if, if it's not,

sometimes it can be a bandaid to the
symptom and not the, the root cause.

I mean, I've talked about this
with a lot of people I know I.

Uh, Janet Alexander, somebody that, you
know, also worked at TPI with Greg Rose.

I mean, she was probably the 10th
or 15th physical therapist trainer

type person that I went and saw
after my multiple back surgeries.

And I was in so much pain still
and I couldn't get through it.

And I, I, I don't know what kind of
depression I was in at that point, but.

I was in so much pain and
she literally saved my life,

getting me out of that pain.

Um, but understanding that she
can gimme all the stretches in

the world, but we gotta figure out
what's actually the root cause of it.

And I think not understanding kind
of the emotional aspect of it is

playing with it least one hand
tied behind your back, if not both.

Um.

As we go into this next part is starting
to talk about, you know, some of the

modalities and some how you operate these
1, 3, 5 day, uh, what'd you call it?

The retreats.

Dr. Sean Drake:

Well, I don't like the word retreat.

I'm gonna talk

Aaron Goldberg: Okay.

Yeah, that's, I don't wanna misquote it.

So what did you say they're called?

Dr. Sean Drake:

No, you're not misquoting at all.

Because a lot of people, often
when they do retreats, they don't

set up integration and plan.

And so the, I I don't want
people thinking when they come

to work with me, this is fun.

Like this is not a, this is, if
you, if you think you're coming out

here to have like, you know, an easy
experience, don't show up, you know?

And like Ali Carter from USA softball,
she, she lets me talk about this,

but you know, she called me before
she was gonna go back to Japan to get

ready for the next Olympics, right.

And I'd worked with her prior with USA
softball, she's obviously the UCLA.

And she wanted me to work with her foot,
and she'd had been having some issues.

And I said, ally, I go, I
gotta be honest with you.

If you're flying out here to
work with your foot, yeah, I'm

gonna help your foot, but that's,
I, I don't wanna work with you.

And she goes, what do you mean?

And I said, if you're gonna come out
here, we're gonna change your life.

You're gonna run through an effing wall.

And she's like, she was hesitant, right?

And then she's like, you know what?

I'm in.

I'll be there on day three.

She's like, I wanna run
through an effing wall.

And it, it was, and it, but it
took, it took three days to break

down these walls of this just like
years of stuff that's built up.

And when you're, when you're driving
at the highest level, like look at

Lindsay Vaughn for instance, right?

Let's talk about a recent case and
you know, I know Lindsay from working,

you know, a lot of the old ski events
that I used to, and one thing that

I really have always admired about
her and when she was dating Tiger

was, you know, he came in with her
and, um, we're on the PGA podcast,

so why not put the story in there?

One of the things that I really, truly
admired about her and I still admire

about her, is that she never gives up.

And you know, if you've got a dream
on tour of any part of tour, you're

just getting started in golf.

Don't give up.

You know, it's, you gotta have this
resilience and you've gotta have this

mental capacity, but you gotta be able
to fricking manage your emotions in a

safe environment to be able to let go.

Like you, we hold onto so
much, especially in golf.

And, you know, one of the things
that, and, and here's the funny stat.

So I, I cold plunge every single
person that comes in my clinic, right?

And my, my cold plunge is
not a normal cold plunge.

I have a orozco.

I keep it at 32 degrees.

I'm not here to play games.

I'm here to change your life.

And, you know, it's interesting to
me, I've probably put a hundred,

you know, PGA slash mini tour
players through only four of 'em.

Made it through two
minutes on the first try.

Compared to MLBI, I'm at like a
98% compared to my fighters, I'm

at like a hundred percent right.

There's a difference, understanding
the chaos of a situation and staying

calm because so often on the PGA
and, and as you're building up, and,

and I see this a lot in my clinic,
is it is, you know, who's next?

What's next?

What's better?

What's the grass is greener.

And so a lot of guys jump from play, you
know, PTs to chiros, to PTs to chiros,

to ATS to these things because they
don't, they don't give time because

there's, they, they, there's, I wouldn't
want to call it the word impatient,

but they have this like, ability to
be like, I can go to somebody else.

I can do the next best thing
I, you know, and they have the

financial opportunity to do it.

So in golf, you really have to say,
number one, and it's a, this is a

question I ask all my mini tour guys.

I'm like, do you really wanna play golf?

And it's amazing how many guys have
retired from golf when they really realize

that they're not doing it for them.

And they're like, you know what, I'm,
I'm just doing this because my dad, my

coach, you know, I've been good at it.

Right?

It's not truly their passion and when
you're trying to become a professional

athlete, it has to be your life.

Like, you know, obviously God
first family and then your sport.

But it has to be it.

You have to live and die.

Like I was just having a talk
with one of my MLB guys who's

in here for spring training.

And he is, and I'm like, and I'm
asking all my guys this year this

question because I'm doing a data test.

I'm like, why do you
keep coming back here?

And they're like, you never stop evolving.

You always have something new.

You're always bringing something newer
in to make sure that I have an edge

across the other guy on the field.

And you know when, when you're working
with a professional golfer, you know,

you've gotta have your team and you've
gotta have your programming routine.

Brian King talks about
this heavily, right?

To me now I'm entering
in the modality routine.

Like, you know, you Gotter, Scoble on
the wall, Josh Hater, Corbin Carroll,

like all three of these guys run my
protocols and programs, and there's a

reason why they're the best of the best.

Number one, they already have the talent,
but it's what they do behind the scenes.

It shows up when they perform.

And so as a player, you have to,
there's four things that I ask you.

Number one, where are you at
emotionally on a scale of 1 to 10?

And I, and I'm like, no,
bs like, where are you at?

Where are you at mentally?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you
at spiritually on a scale of 1 to

10, and where are you at physically?

Within those four answers, oftentimes
I can really figure out what to go

after, because here's the deal, if you
don't believe in a higher power, or

you don't believe in yourself, we've
automatically got a distrust, so you don't

trust yourself when you're out there.

So I've gotta, I've gotta frickin
break you down into safety and calm to

get you to believe in yourself again.

Once you can see that you can believe in
yourself, you can frickin do anything.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah,

Dr. Sean Drake:

And so that's really where it
comes down to, like you are

the modality, you are the abil.

You can do anything, but you're
also your biggest limitation.

Aaron Goldberg: a hundred percent.

I think this is a simplistic way of
looking at it, but I look at it even

as up until say 10 years ago, only
one or two guys have shot 59 broke 60.

And now all of a sudden, it happens
almost every year because that cap

got lifted where everyone's, not
everyone, but people are doing it.

It's like, well, if they
can do it, I can do it.

I believe now that I can do it.

And now it starts happening all the time.

And it's the same thing with college
players playing well on PGA tour events.

Okay, I saw that guy do it.

I saw that guy win.

As a college player, I can play well
it 10 years ago, that wasn't the case.

And it's same thing with yourself.

If you can't see it in your mind before
it happens, it's not gonna happen.

Dr. Sean Drake:

Well, I was a miler, right?

And you look at Jim Ryan when he
broke the four minute mile and you

look at exactly what happened, post
that, and now, and now you have women

breaking, you know, these records.

So to me, I truly believe that, I don't
even think of the word optimization.

I'm like, where's your capacity?

Like your off season shouldn't
be just spent working the body.

It should be spent on building
mental and physical and spiritual

resilience and emotional resilience.

If you can have all four of those
above eight, I can take you and

turn you into a fricking superstar.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah.

Dr. Sean Drake:

If you are missing one of those,
you are going to fall, period.

It's gonna happen.

It's a matter of when and how and why.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah.

No, it's, it's funny.

One of the questions I was gonna ask you
today that we've already been talking

about the most is, you know, when we
talk about some of these, you know, I'm

gonna use the word recovery modalities.

Are we just treating physical symptoms and
trying to whether feel better and recover

or rehab an injury or something like that?

Or are we actually helping.

Kind of the mental and
the resilience side.

Obviously we've had a ton
of conversation around

Dr. Sean Drake:

it comes down to intention.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah.

Dr. Sean Drake:

At the end of the day, it doesn't
matter what you're doing, right?

What is your intention while you're,
you doing whatever you're doing?

Like, I make everybody, like every, every
single room or everything I'm working with

you on has a different breath work, right?

I have my guys do breath work
on tour, like I give them very

specific breath patterns to do when
they're in a hard case, easy case.

Before, after the round.

So like a quote, come
down, parasympathetic.

I have a sympathetic breath work we
do prior, but at the end of the day,

the, the, the most free modality
that you have is your breath.

And if you can own your
breath, you can own your life.

Yahweh, right?

Like God, like Yahweh.

It's a breath.

It's so at the end of the day,
breath work's number one to me.

If you don't know breath work and you
don't understand breath work, you've

gotta own it because it, that's how
you regulate your nervous system.

And then from there we can add
mechanical stresses of vibration.

We can put PMF in there.

We can go ahead and use light,
sound, water, heat, and we can

play this accordion of your nervous
system based on where you're at.

But if you can't regulate off your breath,
that's, that's where we start number one.

Aaron Goldberg: It is huge.

I've.

I never focused on breath and not to
relate it to my golf, but I'll even

relate it now to being a parent.

Like I feel myself losing
control with the kids.

And if I remember to breathe, it doesn't
take much, maybe three, five deep breaths

and I can feel an instant difference.

The key is remembering to do it, but

Dr. Sean Drake:

well, here's the thing, right?

If you go into a stress situation for
anyone listening to this, use this.

Don't do it while you're driving,
but like close your eyes.

Find a either love or something you
are super grateful for in your body.

Breathe in the nose.

Six seconds hum on the way out.

Six seconds.

Do that for 15 minutes and
expand that, that frequency.

It's gonna shift and change
your nervous system instantly.

Aaron Goldberg: That's amazing.

Yeah, no, that's great.

One of the things you hit on is, okay,
post round, pre-round, having different,

uh, breath work series to, to work off of.

How, how do you differentiate if we're
going into specific modalities or specific

things that players can think about and
work on off week versus tournament week,

practice day versus tournament day.

Obviously there's tons of variance.

You even talked about it with the Ironman.

You know, might have an am start, might
have an afternoon start on the weekend.

You might be, first off, you might
be, hopefully your last off, um, off

season versus middle of the season.

How are we thinking through
those different parameters?

And then to tee up the following question,
'cause it may be different answers or

different things to think through is.

As we get towards summer and guys
are starting to go to play over

in Europe and there's gonna be
bigger time zone differences.

Right now we're recording this the
Monday after Riviera guys are leaving

the West coast, going to the East coast.

Yeah, it's a three hour difference, but
they're, I think players are semi used to

adjusting for that when we're adjusting
from the US going over to Europe for

Scottish Open, the open championship,
anything else they're playing over there.

Those are big differences.

How, so starting with the first questions
on the variance of your schedule,

how are we thinking through that?

Dr. Sean Drake:

So let's start with o off week
leading up to a big week, right?

Aaron Goldberg: Okay.

Yeah.

Dr. Sean Drake:

What do you need to be your best
on, on, on like the, that week when

you're there to perform, let's say,
like a, a, a master as a player's?

Like what do you need?

I am asking you,

Aaron Goldberg: I, you need to be,
have, you need to be rested with

energy and you need to be focused.

Dr. Sean Drake:

Stop right there, right, so the week
leading prior, I'm gonna charge your

body up as much as I can with the
highest amount of energy possible,

using a high gas mat, using some
heavy breath work, working on some

motional regulation, building massive
capacity with the coal plunge.

Um, so what I'm doing is I'm,
I'm creating you to have the most

resilience when you get there.

So as your energy capacity comes
down, you're still higher than you

would've been, had you not, right?

The other thing that I'm doing
is, depending on where your time

zone is, I'm prepping your body
seven days prior, so we're getting

you onto a different sleep cycle.

We're getting you onto a
different like focus cycle.

We're getting you on a
different training schedule.

And that we don't do this with everybody,
but some guys that have adopted it

have really seen some massive benefits,
especially when we're doing a European

rider or we're doing something like that.

I'll be like, okay, cool.

We're gonna prep out
two weeks ahead of time.

So we're training the system
to be ready when we get there.

Um, USA hockey did a really good job
of this in Milan, and you saw it in

the men's and Women's Golds this year,
and I know one of their performance

coaches really well and they, you
know, they were so in tune with getting

ahead of the time zone and focused.

And so you've gotta really start to
think, and, and I teach this to a lot

of physicians and, and people on the
speaking tours right now that I coach,

is we're in different cities every week.

Like, you know, my schedule, I don't
know where I'm gonna be sometimes, but

I could be in three cities in one week.

But what I do is if I know for a
fact I gotta be in New York and then

I gotta be back on the west coast,
I'm gonna go to bed at this earlier

time, get up and get a workout in,
and start getting my body prepared to

be prepped for that next time zone.

So it, it really comes down
to understanding oxygen.

Like, you know, nano v's.

A big thing that I'm recommending
to a lot of my players right now.

And like, you can do 20 minutes
on that, it's gonna increase your

HRV while you're rested, while
you're sleeping at your barracks.

Massive.

It's just hard to travel with.

Um, the thing I love right now is
breathing in CO2, so carbon genetics.

Um, so when you breathe in CO2,
you're creating stress in the system.

And then you go throw nano V on top
of that, you can, you can literally

replace every cellular oxygen system
in your body in a TP like that.

And these are easy things
to travel with, right?

So on, on the other

Aaron Goldberg: Will you
explain what nano V is?

Dr. Sean Drake:

Yeah.

So nano v think of it
like activated air oxygen.

So it's light activated frequency.

Um, and as you're breathing it, it
is creating a, a, your mitochondria

to have more ATP so you can carry
more oxygen so you can actually

have a better result in the system.

So you're decreasing inflammation.

You're, you're increasing
the ability for your hormonal

patterns to actually regulate,
and then you're recovering faster.

Since you love the word recovery,
I think you're building resilience

on the other side of this.

Red light's a massive thing for me, like
I used Fringe red light now, like I, I

helped another company for a long time.

I'm backing Fringe, I'm backing
Chroma, um, which is a, a portable,

very high powered red light now.

Um, every one of my
players is non-negotiable.

I'm like, get your fricking budget.

Get it, you know, they've got, and the
thing I love about Fringe, they just

came out with a, um, red light yoga mat.

So you can literally roll this thing
up, you can lay on it at night.

You can lay on it pre-round, post round.

Um, so when you start to think
about energy capacity of yourselves,

that's a good thing as well.

Um, Reax, which is a tool that
you can use, a vibrational

component, so as a neurological
component, vagus nerve stimulator.

But it also has a mouthpiece.

So you can be working your cranial
nerves and your eye movement, which

is gonna improve, improve your
performance and your function.

Zen bug, which is a vagus nerve, auricular
point, um, ultrasound, which I actually

love more than some of the electrical
stimulation ones that are out there.

So these are how I regulate
my, my player's nervous systems

through the vagus nerve.

So again, if I've got a guy that's
into the week, if he's high stress,

I'm gonna bring him down a little
bit, you know, using a zen butter

or reax or something just to get
his regulation down in the morning.

Then I'm gonna put him in a high intensity
breath work and bring his energy capacity

back up right before he goes out.

So, you know, you gotta, it's, it's a
really, like, what are we going after?

How quickly can we adapt?

So you, you gotta learn your athlete too.

Like some guys can adapt really fast.

Some guys that takes him a
little bit of extra time.

And then what are they willing to do?

So.

Aaron Goldberg: no, it's, that last point
is great in terms of every athlete's

gonna be a little bit different and
how quickly they adapt or how they res

probably respond to certain protocols.

How, what's a, what's a good way for
guys to start vetting new, new, uh,

types of protocols or, or test them out?

What, like a lot of guys are gonna
be hesitant to test something

new tournament week maybe.

So how do they test it out?

Non tournament week.

Dr. Sean Drake:

So Greg taught me this, and I think
it's so important, like even with

spring training right now, like I'm not
making massive range of motion changes

in these guys because they're, they're
gonna become a baby giraffe, right?

Like, you never f with something
during a tournament week.

You always do it in the bubble.

And, um, you know, I coach on this, you
know, you can hire me obviously, and I can

help take you through, get you discounts.

A lot of companies now are
not doing free product.

I wanna make that very clear.

And I don't blame 'em.

Like, you know, we had this
influencer like boom, and then all

of a sudden it didn't return back.

And so now it's getting harder and
harder to get companies to back certain

athletes unless you're invested in it.

And on the other hand too, it's like
you can buy the modality, but if you

don't understand how to use it for what
you're using it for, it's just a wasted

tool or it's actually hurting you.

And you know, I would say depending
on where you're at, make sure

that you get an assessment with
somebody to know where you're at.

Get your blood work.

Dr.

R is phenomenal with this.

You know, I've taken a sports medicine,
functional medicine course, and ours

been a mentor of mine for years.

Like in 2020, him and I were actually
supposed to open a clinic in Lake

Nona together, but then the, you
know, COVID happened and then

we couldn't get the lease done.

And so I ended up here, and then
it blew up to where we're at.

But, you know, you've gotta
have your blood work looked at.

You know, most men on the, on the
mini two have low testosterone now.

And with the rules, you know, you
can't just take testosterone, but

there's plenty of other things you
can do to boost testosterone, right?

Like Vasper.

So we use Vasin here, which is a blood
flow restriction device with cryotherapy.

So as you know, 40 degree water going
through in 20 minutes I can do two hours

of stress while all of a sudden I drop
your cortisol, I increase your growth

hormone, your testosterone goes back to
normal, and now you can perform better.

So when it comes down to it, like,
you know, hydros, I think hydros,

I'll have to get the actual name.

But there's a BFR suit now.

Chase, Latner is like one of
the main guys of the company.

Um, I have a lot of my PGA guys, you
know, warming up with that suit on to

create that blood flow restriction to get
more blood flow into the muscle so you

have more power output and then you're
gonna, you're obviously gonna, like,

you have a better, you know, recovery.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah, that's awesome.

I think, what about because
time's such a limiting factor,

especially tournament week and like.

Whether it's, you know,
again, let's use Riviera.

Let this past week of, from when we
were recording, uh, as an example,

they didn't finish round one.

So guys are finishing
in the dark at 6, 6 30.

They gotta get up real early
to start their next round.

They, I think they restarted at 7:00
AM which for most guys, that means

they're on the training table by 5:00
AM so they don't have much time to, to

get home, get something to eat, get to
sleep, get even a decent amount of sleep.

What's like the best bang for their
buck in terms of even trying to recover,

come down from that tournament round,

Dr. Sean Drake:

So that's

Aaron Goldberg: and then be able to
get right back going the next morning.

Dr. Sean Drake:

get a vagus nerve stimulator,
like a zen bone or a reax.

Get your body into regulation.

Do the breath pattern, the six
seconds in humming on the way out.

Six seconds.

Set a timer, 15 minutes.

Visualize your game for the next day.

And then let it go.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah.

Dr. Sean Drake:

you can control, like you've
gotta let it go and say, okay,

I, I've done everything I can do.

I'm gonna give this to God, or
whatever higher power I have,

and I'm, I'm gonna go to bed.

Um, if you've got a low
guse mat, get on it.

If you've got a high guse mat, get on it.

Um, and then go to bed, like,
and there's green light out there

that's really good for calming.

Um, you know, Tom from Roscoe Forge
has come out with his own green light.

He's got, you know, eye masks as well Now.

Um, there's so many things that you
can do that you can stack, like the,

the key is to stack so that, you
know, I can do more with somebody in

one hour than most people can do with
them in like three weeks because of

the way that we can stack systems.

So get an NOV, you know what I mean?

Like, have a red light pad, you
know, so you can stack all these

things and do a 30 minute treatment.

Go to bed and be ready for the next day.

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah, no, it's awesome.

I mean, I think, you know, coming out
of Torry Pines a few weeks ago, Justin

Rose wins and he's one of the few guys
in his mid forties that are, you know,

full status on PJ Tour now, whereas.

10 years ago, it's very common that
a, a ton of guys in their forties are,

are the best players in the world.

And, you know, there's a big feature
on his recovery RV or whatever it was.

Um, but it had cold plunge and hot,
hot plunge and a, a red light sauna,

red light, um, all sorts of things.

And it's like, you know,
reading a lot of the comments,

it's like, yeah, that's great.

One, if you have the resources to
have that traveling around with you.

That I think we can get to, and you've
touched on it, like there's a lot of

things that you can bring with you
and travel with that that can work.

Um, but more importantly, if you
have the time, like they showed that

the feature was like, Hey, this is
what he did after his morning round.

It's like, well, yeah, he can,
after a morning round, he doesn't

tee off till the next afternoon.

He can spend two hours in his recovery rv.

That's totally fine.

But what about the reverse, the reverse
of that, where you tee off in the

afternoon, finish at six o'clock and
you're gonna be up early the next morning.

You don't, you're not.

Spending two hours in a recovery
room or whatever it is, is

probably not your best use of time.

But there is a, there is a fine
line probably, and I'm not trying

to say what is and isn't the best
use of time, but there's, there's

gotta be somewhere to sleep.

And so do you spend, is it an hour?

I think everyone's gonna be different.

Most likely, and I'll let you
speak on this, but finding that

the, the tipping point of like.

What's necessary, what's gonna help?

And then where am I gonna get
diminishing returns, where I should

actually just get, go get more sleep?

Dr. Sean Drake:

Okay, so my argument on that side
is that that is worth your time.

'cause you're gonna get a
better sleep process, right?

If your body's regulated, you're
energetic in the sense of being back

to at least baseline, you're gonna
get a better sleep pattern anyway.

So, like, you know, I'll have some of
my guys, they'll get on MLB at like

11 o'clock at night and I'm in town.

I'm working on them till 1:00
AM you know, for two hours going

through all these modalities and
protocols and working on the body.

And then I put 'em to bed and like
I wake, I wake nine o'clock, I

get 'em ready for the next start.

So I think it always comes down to,
you know, what's the ultimate goal?

And if you do only have a limited amount
of time, how can you maximize the energy?

How much, how much can you maximize?

The opportunity and then get them
into bed as quick as possible,

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah,

Dr. Sean Drake:

they wake up, how quickly can you energize
them and get them back into refocus?

Aaron Goldberg: Yeah, no,
it makes a ton of sense.

And you know that quality sleep
is gonna be better over quantity.

I mean, you, you touch on the MLB guys
and, you know, finishing at 11:00 PM you

know, one thing you were touching on in
the beginning of the podcast, and Eric,

uh, speaking of Eric April, my partner at
a WM and one of our founding partners, um.

He, you know, as I've learned more and
more about the baseball athlete side, like

I know the performance side, but I, you
know, the ins and outs of their routine,

it ends up being fairly similar to golf.

It's just everyone has
their own adaptation.

They're playing 162 games.

I'm, I should do this math on, you
know, we, as a golfer, you're probably

playing close to 30 events, four
rounds, an event that's 120 days.

You throw in the practice days, the
amount of days you're playing and

all on the field is fairly similar.

So the routines have variance,
but the, the routines are fairly

similar if we take out the hours.

And so finding those, you know,
commonalities there has been

huge to be able to, Hey, how
do we find best practices?

For the highest performing athletes, no
matter what your sport is, whether it's

baseball, whether it's golf, whether
it's football, whether it's skiing,

whether it's, you know, just running a
company, you know it, a lot of these.

And so it, it's been super interesting
to hear the, the different strategies,

but then also the commonalities.

Dr. Sean Drake:

A hundred percent.

Aaron Goldberg: I can talk
to you about this all day and

obviously that's why you're here.

Um, I'm gonna stop it here
because this is great and I know

some people are gonna be like.

You know, I could also listen to this
for two hours, but I don't want to, we

don't create two hour podcasts on this.

So, um, really appreciate
your time on this.

Uh, if somebody wants to find you,
reach out to you, where are you at?

What's the best way to get to reach
out to you or hear, hear more about

what you're doing at Modern Athlete.

Dr. Sean Drake:

So they can reach out to modern athlete.

They can follow me, Dr.

Sean Drake on Instagram.

PMF Pilates is my wife.

You know, she's a big part of my clinic.

She does all of our Pilates rehab.

We have, you know, uh, guided manual
PMF that we use in our clinic as well.

So we do a lot of different work in here.

Um, but yeah, we can do that
and that'd be the easiest way.

Aaron Goldberg: Nice.

If we come in, do we get
to meet od and the dog?

Dr. Sean Drake:

Oh, Odin's always here.

Yes.

Aaron Goldberg: right.

I mean, that, that's as big of a plug
for me to get in there as, as anything.

Dr. Sean Drake:

I love it.

Aaron Goldberg: Nice.

All right, Dr.

Drake, really appreciate it.

Uh, if anyone has any questions, reach
out to him, uh, via what he just said.

You can reach out to us through
the PGA Players Podcast.

Uh, as always, thanks for
listening and hope this helps.