Forum Member Review: Fit For Golf 2.0 App

You shouldn’t lift weights if you’re a golfer. You’ll get “muscle-bound” and destroy your range of motion. You’ll screw up your swing. Outside of maybe a little cardio, working out isn’t necessary and is probably counterproductive for golf.

Remember when people used to actually think that? (If you still do, this may not be the article for you.) Take one look at the growing number of athletes and physical specimens on professional tours and college programs and it’s clear this old way of thinking has been debunked. Blame the equipment and the ball all you want but there’s no doubt the distance increases the game is seeing owe a lot to the fact that golfers by and large are getting bigger, stronger and faster.

Amateur golfers have certainly noticed and are increasingly seeking to get in better shape in the hopes of lowering their own scores. Among the many tools that have emerged to help golfers achieve that goal is the Fit for Golf training app by Mike Carroll.

Carroll recently launched Fit for Golf 2.0 with an all-new user interface and new training programs. Six MyGolfSpy Forum members got to test and review the app. Their feedback and results make a compelling case for any golfer looking to improve their performance on the course as well as their overall health and fitness. What’s more, Carroll just released a significant app update that incorporated much of our testers’ feedback and we’ll recap those improvements and upgrades at the conclusion of this article.

Key Highlights

• Performance: Testers lost weight, reported improved mobility and gained distance after following their Fit for Golf program
• Customization: Testers raved about the new “Program Matcher” feature that allows users to find their ideal training program based on available equipment, time, goals, physical condition and more.
• Likes: Testers enjoyed the demonstration videos and the flexibility of the app to accommodate different training circumstances.
• Dislikes: Some testers wanted a more in-depth start-up tutorial and some identified a need for additional features and fixes.
• Updates: Carroll is continuously updating and improving the new app.

About Fit for Golf and Mike Carroll

Mike Carroll is a strength and conditioning coach who specializes in golfers. Originally from Ireland, Carroll began working as a personal trainer and coach with a wide variety of clients in 2011. In 2014, he acquired his first Titleist Performance Institute certification and began catering to golfers under the name “Fit for Golf.” In 2016, he brought his services to California at Hansen Fitness for Golf and launched the first Fit for Golf online program in 2017. Seeking to improve on the original app, specifically the user interface as well as the training programs, Carroll released Fit for Golf 2.0 in early 2024. Carroll serves as a strength and conditioning coach for several players on the PGA Tour and other professional tours. He’s a scratch golfer and regularly posts videos documenting his own golf improvement efforts to his social media channels.

Performance

The Fit for Golf app is for anyone who wants to improve their overall fitness and golf ability. I do mean anyone. If you’ve let yourself go a bit and want to reclaim a past fitness level or perhaps fight off Father Time and reclaim lost distance, the app can help you. It’s also a fantastic app for guys like me who might be guilty of “bro-sciencing” their way around the weight room and could benefit from a professionally developed workout program. Whatever your fitness background, one thing is clear: Carroll’s workout routines absolutely work. Our testers saw gains in physical performance, weight loss and on-course distance.

“I was swinging in the 82-84 range. My Rypstick average numbers went from an 80 mpg average…to 92 mph on July 4, and single swings have been recorded as high as 97.  Weight, I’m down from 195 to 187…” — ILMGolfNut

”My average driver distance has increased from 265 to 270 yards since starting FFG, and all of my other clubs have also seen a roughly 5-yard total increase as well. I selected the Velocity program with the goal of increasing my clubhead speed, and I did. Over the course of 12 weeks, I put on roughly 4 mph of clubhead speed…” – taylorjonasher

Tester MaxEntropy reported losing 10 pounds, decreasing body fat two points and seeing a five-mph gain in swing speed during the testing period. Tester Subdiver lowered his handicap during the testing period, which he attributed to improved range of motion and mobility in his leading arm, hips and lower back.  It’s safe to say Fit for Golf workouts work.

Customization

One of the key features of Fit for Golf 2.0 is a new program selector. This feature gets after one of the main downfalls of relying on an app versus an in-the-flesh personal trainer. A trainer can assess you, your lifestyle and other factors and prescribe your ideal training program but an app requires you to select how you’ll train. Carroll’s new app fixes that. The new Program Matcher will ask you your goals, how much time you have to train, your fitness background and what equipment you have access to along with several other questions. The outcome is a workout prescription customized and optimized for your goals and schedule. The Program Matcher proved to be a very popular feature among testers.

“I find the app very intuitive to use and I really appreciate the Program Matcher. As a person who does not work out that often, I would not know where to begin without the matcher telling me what to do. At the very least, it would be a struggle to figure out what I wanted to do. It’s like having a personal trainer on my phone,” — MaxEntropy

“…the app is like having a trainer that develops an evolving program based on your specific goals. The variety and ability to tailor the program to personal circumstances appears well thought out and offers extensive options…and Mike’s program offers the ability to substitute in case of a physical limitation…” — Subdiver

Likes

Carroll’s workout routines clearly work and he’s created an app that allows users to figure out which routine they should be doing. What else did our testers like? Plenty. 

The inclusion of demonstration videos for each of the exercises was highly valued by several of the testers with less experience in the gym. Subdiver remarked, “As a person with a wide range of fitness experience I found the videos to be helpful in the beginning and as a reminder when something didn’t quite feel right when doing an exercise movement.”

The flexibility of the app and the programs was also a noted plus. ILMGolfNut said, “My favorite part of this app is the flexibility. If you want to do all your workouts in a gym you can. If you want to do them at home you can. Even if you end up using a lot of hotel fitness rooms like I did, you can still make it work, especially if you stick your bands in your suitcase. You could probably do a combination of all of the above. If a particular exercise bothers your sore shoulder, you can substitute something more shoulder-friendly.”

Dislikes

Despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback, there were a few criticisms. While most testers found the app easy enough to navigate, more than one lamented the lack of a “how-to-use’ tutorial.

“Probably the only slight complaint I would have is that the setup process doesn’t quite highlight the app features as well as I would have liked. I kinda fiddled around with it and found out (most of) what it would do,” – ILMGolfNut

“The Dashboard starts as a blank slate, and as an exercise novice, I have no idea how to use it. I’ve been tapping on buttons to see what they do, and I’d say that for me, it’s about 50% intuitive, – BerkeleyBob

Additionally, several testers reported some bugs with regards to data entry at the outset of Carroll’s launch of the app.  About that …

App Updates

Those testers also noted Fit for Golf’s responsiveness to their feedback and the speed with which the app has improved incrementally since its debut. That process of improvement has continued with Fit for Golf 2.0 having received a very significant update since the conclusion of our Forum testing. Users now have an entirely new interface for entering sets and reps, along with visual reminders and “one-click” tutorial access.

Perhaps most impactful from the update is Carroll’s inclusion of a 45-minute video series that allows users to perform a TPI self-assessment. The videos allow app users to assess their movement abilities and limitations and identify opportunities for improvement. Combined with the Program Matcher, the TPI self-assessment tool allows Fit for Golf users to develop a truly personalized and optimized golf fitness experience.

Conclusion

The Fit for Golf app was a quality product that helped many golfers improve their overall fitness and golf games. With Fit for Golf 2.0, Mike Carroll has taken the workouts and the user experience to a new level. Golfers can now take advantage of customized training programs to get after their specific goals. With the offseason looming, now’s a great time to take advantage of this phenomenal golf fitness tool!