As an LPGA Master Teaching Professional, I am proud to have earned the 2025 Nancy Lopez Award, which “recognizes an LPGA Professional who embodies leadership, passion, generosity and approachability.” These are all traits exemplified by Ms. Lopez herself.
Over the past three decades, I have built a resume that includes certifications that enable me to positively impact the lives of my clients, and awards that have validated the dedication I’ve shared through the years. Today, I continue to touch golfers through my CardioGolf studio in Mooresville, North Carolina, and increasingly since the pandemic, online. As a former journalism major, I maintain my own blog with pertinent industry topics and tips for my golfers.
CardioGolf was born from my experience working at the Jim McLean Golf School at Doral in Miami back in the 90s. Having taught aerobics in college just a few years earlier, I was very interested in fitness, but its impact on golf was minimal until Tiger brought it to the forefront while taking the game to a level we hadn’t seen before.
Golfers would come down to Florida for several days during the winter months with little opportunity to practice what they learned at our golf schools when they returned home up north. So, to keep them active during these cold weather months, I created a program that included a club that was shorter than standard (now known as the CardioGolf Shortee Practice Training Club) so they can swing indoors and not jeopardize others, while sparing the ceilings and walls of their homes. I also videotaped the exercises so these golfers had something tangible to refer back to and could maintain the momentum they gained at our golf school until spring. Soon after, I started teaching a class that highlighted these concepts, and CardioGolf, a program that would represent golf and fitness together, was born.
Since then, I have built upon CardioGolf’s early framework to offer a holistic curriculum that started as mostly cardio and now includes strength, mobility and fitness for golf. During the pandemic, I brought the program online by recording my own workouts and posting them for subscribers to utilize in the comfort and safety of their own homes. And today I continue that engagement with an active online studio.
Before COVID, I’d post videos on my YouTube page, but have since created a platform that provides swing drills, in addition to fitness tips, that are part of my signature workout. Groove Your Swing is what I believe differentiates me from other fitness trainers. I cover a lot of swing techniques in my classes, and not just the bodily movements that facilitate them.
I have my online clients go to our virtual studio every day to learn the latest drills that apply to the applicable time of year. I change the workouts according to the season and offer low-, mid- and high-impact tasks to personalize the online assignments as much as possible.
My in-person classes incorporate a few products that I have either created or endorsed over the years. The CardioGolf Fit Wedge helps golfers create uphill and downhill scenarios that can’t usually be practiced on the driving range. This device is also valuable in my step aerobics programming to help people with their agility, mobility and cardio. In addition, I’ve partnered with GolfGym to promote their PowerSwing Plus Swing Trainer and use these bands in my CardioGolf program.
I teach this program to the public daily, and also work with private club members at a local facility weekly. Over the years, I have taught these classes at Pilates studios and other similar spaces, including local YMCAs, to reach as many individuals as possible. In addition to teaching the CardioGolf course, I also certify other coaches to present the information in accordance with the program as I have created it.
Regardless of the venue and method of engagement, 60-70 percent of my clientele are 45-65-year-old weekend golfers. I also teach some high-level collegiate golfers and have even taught professional golfers over the years.
With the evolution that CardioGolf has seen in 30 years, I am proud to have clients who’ve been with me for much of that time. They recognized the benefits early on and have reaped the benefits of dedicating themselves to health and wellness and a better golf game.
Karen Palacios-Jansen, the 2008 LPGA National Teacher of the Year, is an LPGA Master Professional, a NASM and AFAA Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer and Pilates instructor and the founder of CardioGolf in Mooresville, North Carolina. She is the former managing editor of Golf Fitness Magazine. Over the years, she has instructed hundreds of professional and amateur golfers using her very own unique and effective golf-specific fitness training program.