4 Quick Pre-Round Golf Warmup Movements That Work
I don't care if the last round you played was yesterday or last October, if you think you're going to play at your best without properly warming up your body, you're wrong. If your body isn't prepped for 18 holes of golf, in a best case scenario you're not going to play as well as you can. In a worst case scenario, you're going to get hurt. Neither of those are scenarios that I'm guessing you're interested in experiencing.
If you know anything about me, you know that I'm all about optimizing the body for the sport of golf.
The workouts, exercises, and drills I do with my players are designed to make sure that they can play to the best of their ability. If you've been doing my program at home -- either my Golf Body 1 DVD or the workouts in "Fix Your Body, Fix Your Swing" -- you've also been pretty busy changing your body. But to make sure that all of that hard work transfers over to the golf course, you need to make sure that your new body is ready to go play 18 holes.
For the same reasons that the strengthening and conditioning that you're doing is specific to the sport of golf, the warm-up that you need to be doing also has to be specific to the sport.
And even the warm-up I'm going to have you do has a specific order. It's a sound and logical progression that will have you performing optimally as soon as you step up to the first tee.
Leg Swings -- To loosen up the muscles around the hips in a very linear way -- we'll get to rotational moves later -- stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
Shift your weight slightly so that most of your weight is on your left leg and you can lift your right foot off the ground without bending at the knee. Think of your right leg as a pendulum. Keeping the leg straight, swing it directly in front of you -- think 12:00 on a clock -- then let the momentum of the move swing the leg directly in back of you to 6:00. Every time the leg goes back to 6:00 is one rep. Do five reps on each leg. Now -- while still facing forward -- do the same thing swinging the leg from 3:00 to 9:00. Do five complete side-to-side swings on each leg. Run through this series of swings twice. If you're having trouble with your balance, you can stabilize yourself with one of your clubs. Eventually, though, try to get to the point where you can do this without any balance aid.
Prisoner Squats -- To start to open up the chest and wake up the muscles in your back and legs -- while continuing to keep things loose at the hips -- try this variation on a traditional bodyweight squat.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Your knees and toes should be pointing forward. Place your hands gently behind your head with your elbows flared out to the sides. Ideally, you won't be able to see your own elbows when you're in this position. (That said, don't apply too much pressure to the back of your head to get into this position. Your neck won't like you.) Slowly kick your hips back, bend your knees, and lower yourself as if you were sitting into an imaginary chair. Try not to let your knees slide forward. Keep them aligned over your heels or mid-foot. When your thighs are parallel to the ground, drive through your heels back into the starting position to complete the rep. Do two sets of ten reps.
Moves three and four start to take things in an even more complex and golf-specific direction. Fortunately, my friends over at Golf Channel's Morning Drive are great about letting me demonstrate a lot of the things I do with my players. These videos do a great job of explaining the technique and the rationale behind the final two warm-up moves. And if Matty G can do them, so can you!
Chest-Opener with Rotation -- This is a great way to open up the chest and shoulders and get your hips thinking about rotation.
It'll also prep the muscles in your back for a full round of golf with proper spine angle.
http://www.golfchannel.com/media/fitness-friday-improving-spine-angle/
Rotation from the Ground Up -- Finish your warm-up with another rotational move that will help connect you to the ground and give you a feel for the amount of balance and stability you're going to need to go out and play your best.
http://www.golfchannel.com/media/fitness-friday-stabilization-and-rotation/
You've worked hard off-the-course to get your body in condition to play its best golf.
The final step is to make sure that you'll be able to use those gains out on the course. This simple warm-up series will help keep you injury-free and will let you have a lot more fun and success when you play.
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