Thursday 8th July 2010
The 5 minute warm up
It is so common to see players not warming up properly before they play a round of golf, and yet they wish that they could simply shave 1-2-or maybe 3 shots off their handicap. By even doing a simple and quick warm up it gives you a far batter chance of saving a few shots on the course.
Golf requires you to use many of your arm, back, leg, and core muscles. The body also needs to be flexible particularly through your hips, back, and arms. All of these areas need to be fired up and ready to go before hitting the first tee.
Even if you are running late for your match try your best to do the following before teeing off:-
1) Try to walk at a fast pass from your car to the clubhouse and to all areas before your round starts. This will help to get the blood flowing.
2) Roll your arms forward and back in circle motions. Do 20 each way.
3) Holding a golf club at each end in both hands, rotate from side to side. This will focus on your core & back.
4) Place your feet shoulder width apart, place one hand on your hip, the other in the air and lean over to one side. This will stretch the side of your body.
5) Now, do 15 squats. Point your hands to the sky, feet shoulder width apart, and squat down to a seated position & stand back up again. This will wake up all the muscles and get you really fired up to play.
6) Now that you have no more time left get to the tee box. Before teeing off, try to take an extra 30 seconds when its your turn to hit.,Take 3 big deep breaths, focus on the point where you wish to hit the ball, take 3 more practice swings than you would normally. Now let fly.
Its not an ideal warm up but it will help you get ready for a round.
Ideally you should:
1 - Turn up 40 mins – 1 hr before tee off.
2 - Take an extended stroll somewhere to wake the body up.
3 - Practice some putting to get use to the pace of the greens and then practice some short putts (make sure you hole lots of 10 inch putts for confidence).
4 – Warm up your arms, back, core, and legs, by stretching and swinging a few clubs.
5 - Practice some chips around the practice green to gain some feel.
6 – Take a few deep breaths.
7 – Finally go out and enjoy your round of golf happy in the knowledge that you gave yourself every chance to score well from the first tee shot of the day.
