GLF Pro Tip 12: Warm Up Before Your Round

This month I am going to talk about something the majority of club golfers never do or never do properly and that is warming up before a round. It never ceases to amaze me how many golfers simply have a couple of putts and then stroll on down to the first tee and wonder why the first tee shot goes straight left and why they have niggling injuries after golf. A lot of people come to golf from tennis and I would almost guarantee that very few tennis players would start a tennis match without a warm up. Then why do it with golf?

Here is a routine that will take about 10 minutes before you tee-off. When done be ready to start within 5 minutes otherwise it will lose its effect. You should be ready to play so that you tee-off soon after finishing this warm up.

  • Walk for about 3 minutes, around the car park or you might want to walk from your car to the clubhouse and back a few times.
  • Hold a club (e.g. mid iron) over your head with hands at either end. Arms should be fully stretched directly above you. Squat down until your thighs are almost parallel to the ground and stand up. Repeat 4 times. Have a short rest and if you feel good do it again
  • With your feet shoulder width apart stretch your arms out to the side at shoulder height. Firstly clockwise make big circles with your arms and gently decreasing the circles to small ones. After about 10 - 15 seconds reverse the motion (anti-clockwise) and increase the circles again to big circles.
  • Stand with your right arm extended straight out. Pull back your fingers with the other hand until you feel a stretch in your forearm. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat with the other wrist. Repeat again for each wrist.
  • Finally spend 2 minutes hitting balls into a net (or simply do practice swings if not possible) and a further 2 minutes gently putting.

Now the above warm up routine will take very little time and really it is as simple and the minimum you should be doing. There are many, many more advanced exercises that you can do but if you don't normally do any try these and your first few shots will be better and you should have less small injuries etc. Please remember however that at no time should you feel pain or discomfort in any way. If you do STOP immediately and rest.