- Hi, everyone.
Thanks for joining me, the Digital Golf Doc,
licensed physical therapist and golf specialist.
I'm actually getting ready to hit some golf balls.
But before I do that, I'm gonna warm up first.
And I'm gonna do that because there's three major benefits
to a golf warmup that I'm gonna show you today,
along with the best three exercises to get ready for golf.
The first reason that we warm up before a round of golf is,
decrease pain.
If we step out onto that first tee,
maybe we just drove there, maybe we came from work,
either way, we're probably stiff and not ready to move.
That's gonna increase the likelihood
that you leave that round of golf with back pain,
elbow pain, or something else bothering you.
So, make it easy, take the extra five minutes,
warm up, and decrease your chances
of leaving the golf course with an injury.
Reason number two to warm up before a round of golf,
is to hit it farther.
Titleist Performance Institute
has actually done a study on this.
And what they found, was if you performed a dynamic warmup
before playing a round of golf,
you hit the ball farther than someone who didn't
and someone who just performed static stretching.
So if you wanna beat your buddies, embarrass 'em perhaps
and hit it farther than 'em off the tee,
take the simple step.
Get five minutes of a golf specific warmup
before taking to the course.
Reason number three to warm up
before playing a round of golf is, play better golf.
I think if you ask yourself the question;
"Would I play better if I warmed up?"
It's a resounding yes.
And you might think it takes too much time,
it's just not worth it.
You can't squeeze in that pre-round warm up to play better,
like the pros do.
Well, what I'm gonna tell you is that,
a warmup as short as five minutes
will definitely fit your needs,
and it's gonna make you play better golf.
So, follow along to these next few movements,
because I'm gonna teach you
how to warm up for a round of golf
to get all three of these benefits and to do it quickly.
Before we jump into the top three stretches
to do before your round of golf,
I think it's important to note one thing,
we wanna make sure our movements
or our stretches are dynamic.
We've got a growing list of research
that says static stretching doesn't help very much,
especially in sports preparation.
In fact, we even have articles out there that say,
static stretching before the competition
will decrease the power produced by your muscles.
So you're gonna see that in these movements,
we're gonna keep them dynamic.
Movement number one is one of my favorites,
because you can make it more
or less challenging, very easily.
It's gonna challenge a lower body stability
with upper body rotation.
Two core elements of making a great golf swing.
To do it, you're gonna put one foot in front
and one foot behind you.
You're gonna take a club and hold it across your chest.
You're gonna put a little bit of weight into that front leg,
and you're gonna twist.
And you're gonna go back and forth,
making sure your chest is what points each direction
as you bear that weight into your lower body.
Now, if you're new to this,
or if you don't have great light strength,
you can stay up high.
If you really want to challenge yourself,
and you're really gonna produce force
out on the golf course,
I suggest getting a little bit lower,
working the quad even more and going through rotation.
I would perform 30 seconds of that on each leg
before moving on to movement number two.
Movement number two, it's gonna be a dynamic warmup
of the wrist, forearms and elbows.
Being the one thing that connects you to your club,
this area of the body is really important.
I can't tell you how many golfers I've had lose their season
because they've injured something here
without a proper warmup.
So our first focus is gonna be rotation.
So what you're gonna do, is you're gonna take the club
and you're gonna grab right about the middle,
maybe a little bit closer to the grip side,
since that's the heavier end,
you're gonna bring your elbow into a 90 degree angle,
and then you're gonna rotate your wrist
and forearm back and forth,
keeping your elbow close to your side.
I like to start slow and then speed the movement up as I go.
I like to do about 20 to 30 seconds on each hand,
and then I'm gonna go into the hinge movement.
So I'm gonna take the club, rest it on the ground.
I'll take a grip, just like if I'm addressing the shot.
I'm gonna hinge up this direction,
into what we call radial deviation.
And I'm gonna do that 15 times
before I switch the club around behind me,
take another firm grip and hinge into ulnar deviation.
Being a golfer, I'm sure you know
how important it is to be able to hinge
with comfortable wrists, forearms and elbows,
because it's one of the first things you do
as you start to take your back swing.
So there's really no way to over emphasize
the importance of warming up your wrist, hands and forearms.
Movement three is the lateral lunge plus a twist.
It's another dynamic movement and you can vary the intensity
to challenge your legs more or less.
So I'm gonna begin by stepping to my left.
So I'm gonna get to the right here.
I'm gonna hold the club out in front of me.
I'm gonna take a step to the left.
And once my foot lands, I'm gonna twist.
Then I'm gonna come back and step up.
Step, twist, come back.
And again, if you wanna make it really challenging,
you're gonna step, deep lunge, twist, and then come back.
And of course, you're gonna wanna repeat this
in the other direction.
And you want to do this 10 repetitions per side.
You can complete all three of those warmups
in about five minutes.
So it won't take you much time.
And if you look at the stuff
you'll probably be doing instead,
I can assure you it's five minutes well spent.
So, take these to the course.
It'll get you ready for golf, keep you outta pain,
make you play better, make you hit it farther.
These are the best three stretches
to do before a round of golf.
Thanks, everybody.
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