5-minute Warm-up for Golf

It’s 7am, blue sky and 10 degrees. A bit chilly, you’re feeling a bit stiff and ready to hit the course for a leisurely 18 holes at one of the many beautiful courses in Sydney. Right? Maybe, maybe not. Golf can often bring aches and pains that can irritate you for days on end.

 

Demanding the fastest rotation of your low back, highest level of stress on your shoulders, torque on your forearms that you wouldn’t experience during any other activity and rotation on your hips that you surely don’t practice outside of the sport, golf can be a difficult sport to play pain free. Here is a 10-minute, no equipment warm-up to perform before hitting the range or the course to reduce your risk of injury.

1. WALK AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE YOU SWING

This is the most effective, easy to follow advice for not only reducing injury risk but also for finally hitting the ball down the fairway on the first hole. Getting the body moving allows blood to circulate and every tissue throughout your body to become more relaxed, compliant, and ready to work.

2. Neck rolls — 20 reps each direction

 Begin your movement by rolling your neck side to side

 

3. Building shoulder circles — 20 reps each direction

 Next, start within small shoulder circles, building into larger and larger circles. When the circles are as big and you can make them, reverse direction and repeat going backwards.

4. Thoracic rotation in a golfing posture — 20 reps back and forth

 Begin in a golf-ready posture. Keep your belt buckle pointing forward and rotate your shoulders back and forth.

 

5. Lumbar rotation in a golfing posture — 20 reps back and forth

 Again, begin in a golfing posture but this time keep your shoulders still and rotate your hips back and forth as you would to swing the club.

6. Hamstring stretch + rotation — 10 per side

Begin with the feet wide and toes pointed out 45 degrees. With straight legs and straight arms, bend at the waist and rotate throughout the spine to touch your opposite hand and foot together.

7. IT band stretch — 10 per side 

A common area of tightness amongst golfers, and a common restriction preventing a golfer from clearing the hips (“getting through the ball”, the small muscle on the side of the hip connecting the IT band to the knee should be stretched.

8. Hip internal rotation — 20 per side 

Again working to ensure you are able to get through the ball smoothly, start in a golfing position and keep one foot on the ground, moving the other to across your body to cross your feet, creating as much space as possible and feeling a stretch deep in your hip. 

9. Heel taps — 20 per side 

Just as important as warming up the swing itself will be to do some light preparation for a 10km+ walk. Light movement in the knees will help get you ready for the long walk ahead.

10. Hip dips — 10 per side

By simply dropping one of your hips and lifting it up, you will get the glutes working without any equipment and without having to lie on the morning dew.

Check out this video to see Accredited exercise Physiologist, Mitchell Hooper demonstrating the warm-up:

Now you’re ready to go hit the ball down the first fairway. Well, second fairway.. the first hole is just a warm-up hole, right?

This advice is all very general in nature and for someone without any current aches or pains. Contact us for more specific advice and to tailor your own exercise and warm up routine to improve your game and keep you pain free!

           Longevity 1300 964 002