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Mike Pedersen
helps to educate golfers of all ages and all
walks of life. Author of the four GolfTrainer
on-line books and has designed all the customized
golf-specific strength training, flexibility
training, and cardiovascular exercise programs.
He has trained and educated people in exercise
and nutrition for more than 17 years.
Mike will be here every
month exclusively for you - providing golf
fitness recommendations, over 90 exercise
instructions and video demonstrations, customized
programs, golf fit tips, golf fitness profile and
assessment, and much more!
APRIL, 2001
THE MISSING LINK
To improve
your golf performance and longevity, not only is
it important to have the right equipment and a
good teaching professional, but also an improved
level of fitness. As I mentioned in a
previous article, most of the professionals on
tour are participating in golf-specific
conditioning programs to enhance their game and
prolong their career. If you want to play
better golf and reduce injuries you should do the
same. Regardless of your age, gender, or skill
level, participating consistently in a
golf-specific exercise program can greatly
improve your golf game, as well as your quality
of life off the course.
A
golf-specific conditioning program consists of
resistance training, cardiovascular conditioning,
and functional flexibility. Most golfers do not
use resistance training because they do not know
the best way to apply it to improve their
game. Working with your teaching pro to
improve swing mechanics is a great way to improve
your golf game, but by performing proper
strengthening and stretching exercises you can
enhance the learning process and also prevent
over-use injuries.
Improving
your fitness level can generate greater distance
with less effort for a more consistent ball
flight. This, in turn, will lower your
scores and increase your enjoyment of the game.
Before you start a golf-specific conditioning
program, you should assess your current level of
fitness and any physical limitations you may
have.
To play
optimal golf you have to improve your
cardiovascular conditioning. Playing golf is not
enough to improve your aerobic
fitness. Having an improved level of
cardiovascular fitness will enable you to
maintain your energy levels, fight fatigue, and
stay mentally focused for 18 holes.Walking,
biking, stair-stepping, and running are great
examples of cardiovascular exercise. If you
have not exercised for a while, 15 minutes 2-3
times per week at a comfortable pace will improve
your current aerobic level. Being aerobically fit
will increase your confidence, which is what golf
is all about.
Functional
flexibility is a very important component to
improving your golf swing.Flexibility is the
range of motion around a specific joint. It is
not however, how "loose" your muscles
are. If you have decreased range of motion in any
joint, especially the shoulders, hips or low
back, your swing may not be mechanically sound or
efficient.
Realizing
your personal limitations is a good starting
point to improving flexibility and golf
performance.Just swinging a golf club a couples
of times before you play is not enough to improve
your flexibility.The aging process causes loss of
elasticity in tendons and ligaments as well as
muscle.
Remember to
always warm up for approximately 5-10 minutes
prior to stretching.This will increase your body
temperature to allow muscles to lengthen without
potential for injury.Combining these components
in a golf-specific conditioning program will have
you shooting lower scores and playing longer.
Remember,
your body plays the game not your equipment.
Contact a fitness professional or athletic
trainer who specializes in golf-specific training
to take the next step.
Wanna get in better shape
for golf? Ask Mike, your Golf Fitness Expert.
Submit your questions below & he will try his
best to help you.
Return to Golf Fitness MAIN MENU
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Mike's
athletic career spans more than 30 years and
culminated in Track and Field where he was
regionally (Pac 10) and nationally ranked in the
javelin from 1982 to 1987; Mike made All Pac 10
in 1983. After graduating from Oregon
State University with a Bachelor
of Science in Exercise Physiology,
he moved on to decathlon competition and was a
nationally-ranked decathlete for Canada from 1987
to 1989. Mike has been certified by the American
Council on Exercise since 1986. He worked as
fitness director of a major health club chain and
has had his own private fitness business for 13
years.
When his
track-and-field career wound down, Mike picked up
golf recreationally, then became obsessed with
the game. "I bought every video, took every
lesson I could, and read books to understand the
golf swing." Mike's passion for the sport,
plus his ongoing interest in fitness, brought him
to his career as a Golf Fitness Professional.
At first,
Mike began studying the golf swing just to
improve his own game (he plays to a single-digit
handicap and can consistently drive the ball over
300 yards!). Then he began applying his knowledge
of anatomy and biomechanics of the swing to the
individual golfers he works with. He has run the
Golf Fitness program at Desert Mountain Golf
Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the
premier private golf clubs in the United States
with five golf courses and a sixth in the works
as well as a state-of-the-art fitness facility.
Golf
Fitness Author, Teacher, and Coach
Mike has
given many seminars on Fitness for Golf to
golfers at all levels and of all ages as well as
to teaching golf pros. He has written extensively
on this subject, and published articles include
"Get Fit To Play Better Golf" (Sun
Golf Magazine) "Golf Fitness: The
Missing Link" (Arizona Golf Association
Magazine) "Play Consistently for 18
Holes" (Sun Golf Magazine), and
"Hit It Longer And Straighter" (Arizona
Golfer).
"My
goal is to educate golfers of all levels,
including teaching pros, about the benefits of
having a more flexible, fit body for playing
optimal golf through golf-specific strength and
flexibility training. Spending hundreds of
dollars on equipment and lessons will provide
minimal improvement unless the physical
limitations of the golfer are addressed."
E-Mail
Mike Pedersen
Visit
Golf-Trainer.com
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