18 Aug 2010 at 07:00 | Published by: Hans | Views: 11048 | News search

Peter Eisenschmidt at the Swedish Championships in Stockholm this year.  (Photo by Hans Bergström 2010)

Interview with Peter Eisenschmidt, Sweden and BGK Jönköping

This interview was done in August 2010. Interviewer is Hans Bergström (HB).

HB: First of all thank you for letting Minigolfnews interview you.

HB: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself to those who don’t know you. Who is Peter Eisenschmidt?

PE: I’m a 23-year old minigolfplayer from Gothenburg, Sweden. I’ve played since 1996 I think… I originally played in a club called Gullbergsbro in Gothenburg, but I’ve been playing in Jönköping since 2005. I’m currently studying marketing and salesmanship and I work extra as a Graphic designer.

Short trivia:
Profession: Student/graphic designer
Year of birth: 1987
Start of Minigolf career: 1996
Make of club: Ryner by Nifo
Favourite ball: Weichei
Favourite surface: Concrete
Technical tip: Don’t play with your wrists

HB: What do you think of your 2010 season so far?

PE: Well it’s a lot better then I anticipated since I planned to not even play this season, only the series(Elitserien). But I signed up for the Skoghall-competition anyway and I played really well and that made me get the spark for minigolf back again. And I played well at the Swedish championship as well.

HB: Your club Jönköping had a bad season in this year’s Elitserie. Do you have any explanations on why?

PE: The first day wasn’t that bad, but the second and third was pretty bad. In the second day I think we focused on the wrong things, the weather was really bad and we focused more on the weather than on the game itself. And we hadn’t been playing enough during the “silly season”.

I can’t really say so much about the third day since I didn’t play………….. but we missed a few key-players in our team.

HB: You are back now in the Swedish squad after not having played in 2009. How does it feel to be back in the heat again?

PE: It feels really good. I’m ready to give my best both for the team and for myself, I feel that I really have something to prove since I’ve played pretty bad the two years that the cup-system has been implemented. In Canegrate I didn’t make the cut and in Tampere I made it by the smallest margin.

HB: You have recently come home from Sochi, coaching the Swedish juniors. After that you will be leaving for Predazzo. Don’t you think it could be too much time on the road with Minigolf sometimes?

PE: No I don’t really have a problem with that, I think it’s going to be really fun, I love to be out on the roads. And since I’m a student I have the time for it too.

HB: Do you enjoy coaching as much as you enjoy playing?

PE: Both yes and no. Both playing and coaching has its benefits. When coaching you don’t really put as much pressure on yourself as you do when you play (at least I do).

And since I’m coaching the youth team its most about creating a good atmosphere for the young players so that they will have a positive experience and want to keep playing and fight about a place in the senior’s team.

HB: What is your opinion of the MOS-beton courses in Sochi?

PE: I love them, sure some of the lanes are ridiculously hard but some of the lanes are really funny and a real challenge.

I talked with some other players here and we came to the conclusion that it would be fun if there were more types of lanes for concrete as eternit and felt, a little variation is always nice. And some of the variations they have here is really nice lanes, like the arrow. A challenging lane but it would be really funny if a lane could have that type of lane instead of lane number 5, 8, 11 or 17 on Beton.

HB: You will be the most experienced player internationally in this year’s Swedish Team which I guess is a kind of a new situation. How will your experience help the team do you think?

PE: Probably a lot .At least I hope so. It’s a pretty big difference between playing internationally and nationally so hopefully I can help them both with the mental-part and the play itself.

HB: Both the Swedish Teams are quite “new” this year in Predazzo. What is your chances of success in the Team competition do you think?

PE: Well if all players are at their best then we can go far I think. You should never say never.

HB: And who of the Swedish Players do you think will have the best chance individually?

PE: hmm, I would say Filiph S, Ulf or myself. But it all depends on if we get a good feeling that day or not. But we have a pretty even squad so any of our players can go far.

HB: And what are the favorites for the gold medals individually in Predazzo do you think?

PE: Harald and Geist is always in the fight for the medals, and then probably some outsider (dark horse).

HB: Are there any nations or players that you think will have a breakthrough this year in Predazzo?

PE: Filip Johansson from Sweden and Italy.

HB: What is your best moment in your Minigolf Career?

PE: That’s a pretty hard question but I have to say when I won the Silver medal in Geldrop 2006.

HB: And the worst?

PE: hmm an even harder question but I would say the Nordic championship 2009 in Finland.

HB: You are quite well known in Sweden for being an “18” guy, meaning that you have done many 18 rounds in your career. Can you tell the Minigolfnews readers how many you have done and how many aces in a row you have done?

PE: Hmm I don’t really have a clue anymore…but I think it’s over 20 times. And I’m not really sure about the aces either but I think it was 52 done outdoors.

HB: What is your opinion on the KO-modus in international championships?

PE: Well I have only played one match myself, but I don’t really like it. If you have that system then you should play KO from the beginning and not count the rounds from the team competition for the qualifications. Or maybe play the team competition as KO-system as well, or like the Series for club teams.

But generally I don’t think that the best player always wins.

HB: If you could recruit any player in the world, as long as it’s not a Swede, to play for you club who would you pick?

PE: Harald Erlbruch, no doubt about it.

HB: Again thanks for participating a good luck in Predazzo.

PE: Thank you ;)

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