First Tee Warm Up

[golftrainer]

How To Prepare Your Body To Perform Before The First Hole

How many times have you rushed to the course, ran to the first tee and proceed to double bogey the first hole? Iíll bet most of you have done it. I know I have.

The reason I bring this up is to talk about the importance of a proper warm up for practice or play. Most athletes just donít go out there and start performing. They warm up first. Why donít golfers? What about just hitting balls? Thatís not good enough. Why? Because you need to properly warm up and dynamically stretch your muscles before you should even hit one chip or pitch shot.

To perform at optimum levels, a dynamic (or movement) oriented warm up is essential. Here are a few exercises you can do before you start hitting balls. When you do this warm up, I promise youíll shave strokes off your score the first few holes. Here they are:
Arm Circles :
Start out with your arms out to the side and move them in small circles. Then go bigger and bigger -ñ until you are freely swinging your arms and getting maximum blood flow to your arms and shoulders. Do this for about 20 seconds.
Overhead Extensions :
Grab a club about shoulder width apart on the shaft. Raise and lower the club above your head and to your thighs. Do this for about 20 seconds. This is another great warm-up exercise for the shoulders and upper back.
Side Lunge :
Grab your club and put it out in front of you. Put both hands on it for balance as you move side to side. This exercise will loosen up your inner thighs and hips for a freer motion with your lower body. Repeat for 20 seconds.
Toe Touch With A Twist :
From a standing position, bend down and try to touch your toes. If you canít get there, donít worry about it. Once you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings and lower back, slowly raise and twist to one side on the way up. Then go back down and come up twisting to the other side. You will feel blood flow increasing in your hamstring, glutes and lower back. Do this also for 20 seconds.
Golf Rotations :
Put club behind your neck and grab on both ends. Assume your golf posture and turn back and forth making swings with your shoulders and club with minimal leg movement. 20 seconds is sufficient. This really loosens up your upper body for your golf swing.

Give these exercises a try and youíll be very happy with the outcome. No more double-bogeys on the first few holes. If you live close to your course, you can do these at home to save time. Just donít allow more than 10-15 minutes between this warm up and hitting balls or playing. You will have cooled down by then.

[pahonix]

Fantastic advice. I usually do the Golf Rotations one and a couple of trunk rotations before I start swinging, but will try some of those others the next time I go out.