4 Components of the Perfect Golf Warm Up

Doesn’t it feel like no matter how many years of effort you put into improving your golf game, you still somehow end up as an amature ?

Golf lessons and annoying playing partners who critique your swing aside, you could probably work on your golf game more than any other sport, and still come out behind. Almost no other sport can someone do so regularly, and still make little to no progress. 

Have you ever met a mountain climber that just never could figure out how to get uphill? An outfield player who never got better at catching fly balls even though they tried every day? With most sports, as long as you put a little effort and energy into it, you can at least eventually claim the title of “not being terrible”. But not golf, because golf is hard.

And for those of us who care, and put unintentional practice in, we tend to groove bad habits more than good ones. We keep trying to fix things mid-swing with those bad habits, poor flexibility, and no way of really determining the actual needs of the swing.

So, what’s the point here?

The point is, that we should be focusing on the start of our golf game. The warm up. The beginning. The set up. The address before the address. 
Whatever your weakness is, this should be the first thing we are attacking if we want to improve. See a therapist if you’re injured or looking to improve hip motion, but incorporating the following four components into your warm up paired with the exercises we’ve listed alongside them, you’ll be on the right track to improving your golf game.

Component 1: Club head speed

Exercises: Medicine ball slams and kettlebell swings (this can be tricky on the course, consider carrying a tennis ball or deflated soccer ball with you).

Purpose: These dynamic moves will help to prime your body for the explosion of the golf swing. 

Component 2: Flexibility

Exercises: Reverse lunge with thoracic rotations and box jumps into a squat

Purpose: More range of motion results in higher club head speed, fewer injuries, and a more diverse golf game

Component 3: Control

Exercises: Side jumps, med ball passes, and RDL’s

Purpose: Balancing the body is critical. You can’t shoot a cannon out of a canoe, so having a balanced base and power through all ranges of motion will really help develop consistency

Component 4: Stability

Exercises: Utilize a variety of plank or deadbug positions

Purpose:  Learning how to brace the core will help with range of motion in the arms and the hips. It’s easier than stretching and you will connect your body in ways you didn’t know you could.

The good news is, the game of golf is more about muscle memory and mental preparedness than it is about athletic ability. Working on these four components can help make your game consistent, and reproducible. 

Once you’ve gotten the beginning down, it’s always a good idea to seek out a coach or trainer so that they can help you with next level training or injury prevention. 

If you want to take it to the next step and are looking for more specifics on how you can improve your golf swing, you can head over to our Instagram to check out the “Improve Your Golf Swing” series one of our rehab specialists created for our patients who love to golf.