About Michael Dutro, PGA (the Force Plate Guy)

Like most young people, Michael wanted to be like his dad, and more importantly, beat his dad at anything that they could compete at. After seeing his father play golf and witnessing the passion that it invoked, he was hooked. As fate would have it All Seasons Driving Range would open in 1994 about 1.5 miles from Michael’s home. From that moment on, Michael could always be found either at the driving range or next door to the driving range at Green Valley Golf Course which was an executive-style course. 

Michael won several junior golf tournaments as a junior player before moving to Kentucky during his Freshman year of high school. Michael was an average high school golfer and had offers to play Division 1 college golf, but due to his father having terminal cancer, opted to stay close to home and attend the University of Louisville. After the passing of his father, Michael moved home and enrolled in the Professional Golf Management Program at Eastern Kentucky University where he graduated with the inaugural PGM program and earned a bachelor’s degree in general business. 

Cutting his teeth as a PGA Member and working as a club professional, Michael quickly found himself in the role of General Manager. At this point, Michael discovered that the club professional life wasn’t his calling or passion and decided to leave the industry. While in transition, Michael moved to Michigan and began a new professional career. It wasn’t long before Michael had the itch to get back to golf, but this time, it would be on his terms. 

It was Michael’s wife Buffy that helped Michael understand that he wasn’t in love with the golf industry, rather was in love with coaching and teaching the game of golf. Not long after that, Michael was teaching every minute that he wasn’t working at his day job which eventually led to the opportunity to join a teaching and coaching academy. Michael had never been around a golf academy, nor had he been introduced to technology like Trackman, but he knew that he had an opportunity to learn and grow as a coach. 

As the youngest coach at the academy, Michael quickly began shadowing each coach and learning more and more about the golf swing. One of those coaches who better understood Trackman and data would take Michael under his wing and introduce him to the “The Golfing Machine” by Homer Kelley. For a young coach who wanted answers, this was the genesis to a lifetime of learning and asking better questions. 

Over the next three years, Michael would grow into one of the more successful coaches at the academy and eventually purchased a Trackman. Once purchasing the Trackman, Michael pursed and became a certified Trackman Master certified coach, 1 of 87 in the world. However, with his newfound insights, Michael knew there was still more to the puzzle, and in 2019, purchased his first set of force plates from Smart2Move. 

Using force plates and understanding the theory in addition to having a working understanding of the human anatomy proved to be very difficult for Michael who did not have a background in this subject. Luckily, Michael was introduced to Mr. Mike Adams by Smart2Move and a new level of understanding and relativity was unlocked for Michael. While Michael knew there was a lot of work to do, he also understood that there was a light at the end of a very long tunnel. 

In addition to quickly upgrading from the 1D Force Plates to the 3D Dual Force Plates, Michael also began to travel extensively to work with the best PHD’s, MD’s, and Biomechanist in the world to better understand the movement of the human body as well as the reactions between the body and the club, and the body and the ground. It was during this time that Michael decided it was time to try something different and founded Measured Golf. 

Measured Golf created a permanent space for Michael to grow and develop while providing athletes with premiere sport-specific training space. While the facility continues to grow, so does Michael’s presence in the niche of Ground Reaction Forces and golf coaching overall which leads to opportunities to present and teach all over the world and to some of the finest athletes in the world. 

Michael can be found most days at his “driving range” with his beloved dogs by his side following the same passion that he found as a young man.