It can be easy to overlook a warm-up for golf in your eagerness to start the game. A simple stretch is a great way to start, but there’s so much more to warming up than stretching your arms and legs for 30 seconds. The pros take their time to go through golf warm-up exercises designed to help them play their best game and stay competitive. Now, you may not be a pro, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of your body like one. Doing a real warm-up is a great way to keep your muscles loose and prepare your body for your golf game. Let’s go over some of the benefits of warm-up exercises and talk about how you can incorporate them into your golf game!
The Difference Between Warming Up and Stretching
A quick little stretch is never a bad thing. Stretching is great to get your muscles loosened up and relieve any tension in your body. It helps increase your range of motion and feels great if done properly. But it’s important to keep in mind that stretching is not the same as doing a full warm-up for golf. Touching your toes, doing some trunk twists, and stretching your arms to the sky are all great things you should incorporate into your routine, but they shouldn’t be the only golf warm-up exercises you do.
The goal of a warm-up for golf is different from stretching: in a warm-up, you aim to elevate your heart rate. This means moving your body a bit more quickly than stretching. Taking a brisk walk and doing jumping jacks is a great way to get your heart rate up and get the blood flowing to your muscles. After doing these exercises, then you can move into stretching and do exercises like lunges and squats.
Why the Pros Warm up Before Hitting the Links
Jordan Speith, Nelly Korda, and Hyo Joo Kim all warm up for golf with a specific routine that helps get their body and mind ready for action. It’s a chance for them to focus on their game and get their head in the right frame of mind. The pros know how important golf warm-up exercises are to avoid injury and help them play their best game. Having the right warm-up routine is crucial in a successful game of golf.
Doing a warm-up for golf isn’t limited to the pros. The best thing about warm-up exercises is that anyone can do them, and you can customize them to your age and fitness level.
How Warming Up Can Help Your Golf Game
Warm-ups are great for your mental and physical health, but let’s be honest, for many of us, our main motivation is to improve our games! Doing a warm-up for golf can help improve your game in several ways. It helps you get loose and relieve tension in your shoulders, hips, and core––all body parts that play a crucial role in guiding your golf game.
When you carve out the time to go through your golf warm-up exercises, you’re setting yourself up for success. Your glutes, hamstrings, and calves are crucial in keeping your hips aligned and ultimately, guiding your swing. So, if you put the time and effort into keeping them strong and warming these muscle groups up before you hit the greens, you’ll see the results in an improved score.
Why Warm Ups Before Golfing Are Good for Your Body and Overall Health
Doing a warm-up for golf isn’t only good for when you’re on the green. It has great health benefits overall. Whether you’re doing a warm-up before hitting the gym, playing hoops, or taking it to the yoga mat, you can take golf warm-up exercises and apply them to every part of your life. Your body needs time to warm up because if you go from sedentary to active too quickly, you may strain a muscle or experience some other injury. Our lifestyles are becoming increasingly sedentary, so before you start moving your body intensely, you should take the time to prepare by warming up.
The benefits of warming up are vast. From increasing flexibility to helping you mentally prepare for physical activity, warming up before exercise will get your heart rate elevated and ready to take on whatever you throw its way. Plus, you can incorporate a wide variety of movements and stretches into your daily outdoor or indoor exercise routine to help your body feel better and encourage fitness.
Our Favorite Golf Warm-Up Routines
When you need to warm up for golf, it’s best to have a routine. There are plenty of warm up exercises you can do to help you improve your game and reduce pain. Here are some of our favorite exercises and routines you can use before hitting the course!
Keep it Light:
- 5 Small Arm Circles, forward and backward
- 5 Trunk Twists on Both Sides
- 5 Jumping jacks
- 5 Leg Swings per Side
- Jog in place for 30 seconds
Go a Little Harder:
- 10 Large Arm Circles, forward and backward
- 10 Jumping Jacks
- 10 Squats
- 10 Squat Jumps
- Jog in place for 60 seconds
Be sure to throw in a couple of practice swings too!
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting to learn the game, you can make the most of your tee time by taking care of your body and warming up. Plan an extra fifteen minutes to do a warm-up for golf and take the time to focus on what you need to do and how you can make the most out of this game. Doing simple golf warm-up exercises may feel time-consuming at first, but your game and body will thank you in the long run. So, find the routine that works best for you and keep enjoying the great game of golf.
