Five Steps to Warm Up Before Your Round

Often neglected but always important is the pre-round golf warm-up. 

Below are five easy steps to get your body ready to play that will be easy to remember, too.  Make sure you always do every warmup and stretch on both sides, because you’ll go out of balance by focusing on one side — plus the weaker side will be more prone to injury. 

Hit ‘em straight!

Set up with a normal golf posture, and swing your arms back and forth in the motion of the golf swing. This helps get a flow of rotation and allows a sequencing of movements. Make sure you do this motion for a righty and lefty swing.

This warms up your shoulder and core to prepare those body parts for the golf swing (if this causes difficulty, swing your arms in a swimming motion). 

Set your club on your shoulders and cross your arms while having golf posture. Here you want to independently move your lower body and keep your upper body quiet. Rotate your hips back and through like in your golf swing to warm up this part of your body. If this is causing any difficulty, place your hands on your club for support. 

This warms up your full body before you start swinging the club. Stand with the club horizontally in your hands and step back with one foot into a reverse lunge position. From there, bring that foot up in front of your body and rotate your torso. This is a great warmup to engage your spine, lower body, and core — three main elements you’ll rely on all round.

A great last set of stretches before you head to the tee. Set up with one foot behind you on the cart seat and stretch out your quad muscles. Once that is stretched, switch to the other side. Finally, grab the top of the golf cart and hinge at the waist. Try to keep your back straight and feel your lats stretch with this stance.