How important is warming up before a round?

[Slice of Life]

I was thinking about it the other day...

I never hit the range before a round, most of the time because there isn't a range where I play most frequently. And I typically score low to mid 50's on the front nine, and low to mid 40's on the back nine. Wondering if I warmed up maybe it would help smooth out that front 9. I always putt and chip beforehand, but never actually strike any balls.

So what's the consensus? Do you guys warm up every round, sometimes, never? Do you notice a big difference?

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

I was thinking about it the other day...

I never hit the range before a round, most of the time because there isn't a range where I play most frequently. And I typically score low to mid 50's on the front nine, and low to mid 40's on the back nine. Wondering if I warmed up maybe it would help smooth out that front 9. I always putt and chip beforehand, but never actually strike any balls.

So what's the consensus? Do you guys warm up every round, sometimes, never? Do you notice a big difference?

I always warm up. Not only to get the muscles loose, but to get the swing tuned back in. I have a pretty standard warm-up routine.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I always warm up. Not only to get the muscles loose, but to get the swing tuned back in. I have a pretty standard warm-up routine.

Me too.  I'm 54 and the joints and muscles need to be lubed up a little bit.

[RPMPIRE]

I always try to warm up before a round. Loosens up the swing and also you can find out what your tendencies are at the range.

Try it out and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, I wouldn't sweat it because there's a lot of people on the forum that hate warming up, let alone going to the range.

[arturo28mx]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I always warm up. Not only to get the muscles loose, but to get the swing tuned back in. I have a pretty standard warm-up routine.

Totally agree with the part about warming up to get the swing tuned back in.

Another thing, for me in warm up, no more than 25 balls. Hit a few balls with the wedge, a few with short irons, a few with long irons, and a few with the driver. Hit every practice ball conscientously as if you were already on the fairway.

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by arturo28mx

Another thing, for me in warm up, no more than 25 balls. Hit a few balls with the wedge, a few with short irons, a few with long irons, and a few with the driver. Hit every practice ball conscientously as if you were already on the fairway.

I think that's the best way; start with shorter clubs and work your way up. My last few balls I'll hit whatever club I'll tee off with on the first hole, and never leave until I've hit one just like I need to on the first. That way the positive thought is in my mind as I tee it up to start the round.

I have a similar routine for putting. I always start with one footers. My playing partners think it's a little strange, but there's something about watching the first putt go in the hole that makes the outlook much more positive. Then I work my way up to 4 footers, 8 footers, 15 footers, then a couple of lags.

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by David in FL

Me too.  I'm 54 and the joints and muscles need to be lubed up a little bit.

Same here.

[iacas]

Very. Even if it's just hitting 15 golf balls. See what you're doing that day, find a rhythm, and then go play.

The importance decreases if your course starts off with relatively easy holes.

[WUTiger]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I always warm up. Not only to get the muscles loose, but to get the swing tuned back in. I have a pretty standard warm-up routine.

Originally Posted by David in FL

Me too.  I'm 54 and the joints and muscles need to be lubed up a little bit.

I'm 62, and have an arthritic right hip. I lead off with a dynamic stretching routine (purposeful motion simulating parts of golf swing), followed by chipping, putting and some full shots. I especially want to see what the longer clubs are doing that day.

If I do my stretching and hit some balls, and my hip still feels tight, I know to use an extra club on my approach shots, because I won't be moving through the ball very crisply.

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by iacas

Very. Even if it's just hitting 15 golf balls. See what you're doing that day, find a rhythm, and then go play.

The importance decreases if your course starts off with relatively easy holes.

Agree 100%, i can't count the times i've went +3 or +4 in the first two holes, only to end up going even the next 7 - 8 holes because i finally found some sort of swing.

[inthecup]

I use the warm up to make sure I have the smooth tempo.  Also get the juices flowing.

[hacker101]

I always try to get to a course early now to hit a small bucket or share with my son.

Start off with short irons, hit a few with the wood, driver, then go back to the club I will use off the first tee.

Getting to old to get out of the car walk up to the tee and expect to hit a decent shot.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by hacker101

I always try to get to a course early now to hit a small bucket or share with my son.

Start off with short irons, hit a few with the wood, driver, then go back to the club I will use off the first tee.

Getting to old to get out of the car walk up to the tee and expect to hit a decent shot.

The place I'm going on the 4th has a range. I'm gonna show up early and whack a small bucket. Not just mindessly, but plan out shots and try to hit them.

[BirdieNumNums]

I used to always go out an hour before my round.  My typical 4some would always comment about it since they tend to show up right before the round.  I'm very competitive so I always wanted to perform my best and felt I could only do that by getting loose and making sure I've got the kinks worked out.  Then lately, I showed up to the course with a 3 hour deadline(pushed it to 3hr 15min) and played one of my better rounds without a swing, chip or putt to go off of.  Back 9 was still a tad better than the front 9, but I feel that's more because of the fact the front 9 is much tougher than the back 9 at my typical course.  Tried it out at another course without a range the next week and shot even par.  I still like to go out and roll a few on the green and take a swing or 2 with the driver/PW/7iron.  So I'm gonna continue this method for awhile and see how it works out for me. Just a few putts and a few swings, no more hour long warm-up!

[hacker101]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

The place I'm going on the 4th has a range. I'm gonna show up early and whack a small bucket. Not just mindessly, but plan out shots and try to hit them.

That is great, hope you see a differance.

[Golfingdad]

I warm up at the range whenever there is time.  I would prefer to do it before every round, but oftentimes I'm sneaking out of work after lunch or waking up super early for the first time of the day, and in those cases, it's just not feasible.  At the very least, I putt a little bit and take a lot of loosening up practice swings.  Also have to give the advil a couple of minutes to start working. :)

That said, I'm pretty sure if you separated out my rounds into two separate categories and gave me two handicaps, one for rounds where I hit the range, and the other where I didn't ... I don't think that those two numbers would be noticeably different.

[Slice of Life]

I set up a little practice area in my garage now too...I can't see what the ball is doing, but I can at least get warm and whack 20 balls or so before I head out.

[NotPortlyNJ]

I find it helps to warm up.  Gotta at least hit a few putts to see how the greens seem to be running.  Not even necessarily to sink them (although that's satisfying), just to see how to avoid hitting it short.