Interview with the Golf Fitness Guru

We recently sat down with Mike Pederson, the author of
The Ultimate Fitness Guide and owner of PerformBetterGolf.com.
Mike is an athlete and fitness expert and is considered by most to be the top golf fitness expert around.

Here's what Mike had to say:

BigDogEat: We know from your site that you have an extensive and very impressive background in physical fitness. Tell us how you got involved in golf fitness.

Mike: That's a great question! Fitness has been my life. I was personal training in a gym at the age of 16. Then went on to get my degree in exercise physiology.
I also started weight training for sports when I was only 10.
I was kind of a freak back then.Then came golf. I became obsessed!!
I'm sure some of your readers and even yourself can relate to that. I bought every video, book, training aid and even paid $250 for a single lesson from a 'so-called' celebrity instructor.
What a WASTE of money! That's a whole nother story.Then the light bulb went off!
Man I can play golf to a 5 handicap and have done fitness all my life. Why not train golfers exclusively. To make a LONG story short, that's how I came to become a golf fitness professional.

BigDogEat: You have quite an variety of golf fitness products, including amembership to your site. Tell us a little about the membership area and what's included.

Mike: Over 4 years ago I decided to to put all of my knowledge online for in the format of a membership (subscription) website at www.golf-trainer.com I have put my sweat, blood and tears into that site now for over 4 years and can truthfully say it is the Number One Golf Training Site on the net.This site has the equivalent of over 300 hours of my time, labor and knowledge.
There are hundreds of golf-specific exercises, online video demonstrations, step-by-step instructions and over 2 dozen complete golf fitness workouts.You also get personal access to me via my
Golf-Trainer.com members forum. Which a lot of people take advantage of and that's just fine.
At the time of my launch back in 2001, I was the first and only online golf fitness site, and now as business goes, I see several sites with my exact format
(actually the site owners were members of my site...go figure) cropping up now.

BigDogEat: So tell us, Mike. What's in your bag? Do you play the latest and greatest thing out or more of a "tried and true" kind of guy?

Mike: I broke down this year and bought Callaway X-16's and a new KingCobra 400cc driver.
I've actually lost yards on my driver, butit still goes consistently over 300 yards so I'm not complaining. Scotty Cameron putter, although I still miss 3 foot birdie putsoften :
(The oldest club in my bag is my "bread-and-butter", 10 year oldKing Cobra (non-titanium) 3 wood that I can count on hitting it 280 and in the fairway.

BigDogEat: We're lazy about reading (LOL) so we really like the fact that you offer your golf fitness guide on DVD. We also noticed that the DVDs are offered in 2 series, Beginner and Intermediate.
Can you tell us a little about the differences?Mike: I decided to put out these dvds at www.performbettergolf.com at the urgent requests of my members who wanted more stuff but in different formats. So I put together a Novice DVD Set for beginning exercisers, then my Intermediate DVD Set for the average fitness level golfer and my NEW Advanced DVD Set is coming out in 2 weeks. It is a real 'ball-buster' of a workout.
I told my wife after filming that if anyone does this workout and says they didn't fell it, I would fly them personally here to Scottsdale and take them through it myself. LOL. 3 different dvd sets based on current level of fitness.

BigDogEat: You have a membership areas exclusively for female golfers. Are the excersize techniques for men and women really that different?

Mike: They are not too different, but women have more of a strength issue rather than flexibility. So that is addressed more with my www.fitgolfforwomen.com site. There are also many more lower body exercises throughout the programs due to the fact women golfers (not unlike many men) have to improve the strength of their lower bodies to improve stability. And also based on feedback I received, they want to shape their legs anyways.

BigDogEat: From a fitness point of view, what do you think is the single most important thing a guy could do to improve his swing (if you had to pick just one of course)?

Mike: Rotational flexibility with out a doubt. I see so many golfers who can't make a turn. Especially the older golfers. If they did just a few stretches and strength exercises in regards to rotation, they would be amazed!

BigDogEat: Besides fitness, what do you think is the biggest factor in improving your game?
Is it better equipment, psychological, mojo golf balls...etc?

Mike: Golf is the whole package. You need to have a strong (and positive) mental approach, equipment is okay, but a little over-rated if you ask me. Having sound swing mechanics is critical.
If you don't know where your body and club should be throughout your swing, you will have a very difficult time with consistency and even distance.

BigDogEat: Mike. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and keep up the good work!

If you want to find out more about Mike's products, you can go to performbettergolf.com
To find out more about mike's book, The Ultimate Fitness Guide, click HERE