Why a Golf Warm-Up is a MUST.
A Golf Warm-Up is MANDATORY!
Very rarely do I speak in absolutes. Within the strength and conditioning and sport performance industries, there are way too many people who speak with an absolutist attitude, thinking they have the magic pill for all.
However, one thing I will say with certainty.
PRIOR TO GOLFING, WARMING UP IS MANDATORY.
Let’s start out by saying what isn’t warming up…
Grabbing 3 clubs and taking some practice swings…
Static stretching
Putting and chipping for 15 minutes
Showing up to the first tee 30 seconds before your tee time, taking 2 practice swings, and calling it good to go.
You are asking for poor performance with these bad warm-up habits, or worse, injury.
One study completed in 2001 found that just 17% of recreational golfers complete any dynamic stretching prior to playing (2). Another one found that 48% of recreational golfers completed NO warm-up prior to playing (3).
Why You MUST Warm Up?
When we complete a sufficient and high intensity warm up, we are not only preparing our bodies for our golf swings, from an injury resilience perspective, but we are also preparing them so they can complete our golf swings at a higher level!
Benefits of a golf warm up:
Improved cognitive and brain function
Increase muscle temperature
Better joint fluidity
More nutrients reaching your muscles
Higher power output
Yada, yada…
One research study completed in 2004 found that golfers using a consistent warm-up routine prior to playing increased their clubhead speed by 7-10 mph in just 7 weeks (1).
Another one completed in 2003 found that the injury rate of a warmed up golfer was significantly less than a non-warmed up golfer (4).
Tilley and Macfarlane (5) found that adding resistance band exercises to your warmup produces greater distance, clubhead speed and smash factor ratio as compared to a dynamic warm-up alone or practice swings alone
You want to play better golf? The lowest hanging fruit is an effective and efficient warm up.
What should your warm up emphasize?
There are 3 central pieces of a great golf warm up:
Elevate heart rate.
Mobilize the spine.
Increase your movement capacity.
By elevating your heart rate, we increase blood flow to our muscles and joints, preparing them for the upcoming explosive golf swing we will be utilizing!
Spinal mobility is a must. If you have been following me for any time, you know the importance and prioritization I place on spinal mobility. I believe many spinal injuries could be avoided by simply preparing our spines for higher levels of impact and movement prior to playing.
Increasing your movement capacity means widening your breadth of movement potential. By completing certain exercises and movements prior to playing, we can prepare our body for the wide breadth of movement it is about to encounter.
Other important keys that will probably fit into one of those three categories above:
Mobilize hips
Complete a highly powerful movement that isn’t swinging a golf club (like a squat jump)
Rotate
“Activate” proper musculature
My Recommendation
I have designed a ~5 minute warm up that I encourage all of my athletes to complete prior to playing golf or swinging at the range… go check it out!
Or, as a SCRATCH Athlete, you get access to 3 Pre-Round Warm-Up Options, linked below!
Let's go low!