What if I told you, “Don’t stretch before a big round”?
You’re thinking, what? All I see from this guy is a pre-round warm-up or 5 minute warm-up routine.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE advocate for warming up the body before you play, so let me explain.
If you don’t ever stretch before your round, why start when you have a lot on the line?
Picture this, you have a big match, you’re FIRED UP today. You get to the course extra early, because you want to be ready, so before you tee off you do a bunch of stretches you saw on the internet.
Time for the first tee shot, you’re feeling good. Nice and loose.
You take the swing and BOOM!! Slice it OB. What? You felt good, you were ready, and you hit the worst tee shot you’ve hit in years!
Why?
Your body was not used to being that mobile when swinging the driver. You’re used to being tight and making a shorter swing, your hips took off and your arms couldn’t keep up.
Trust me I’ve seen it!
We used to camp out on the range at tournaments and outings to “promote our company” by stretching the participants beforehand. What happened though was the opposite.
I would see the guys after their round and they would tell me how bad they played. I’m sure that didn’t bode well for my services.
So, what should you do?
Don’t ever do a bunch of static stretches (stretches where you hold it for a certain period of time). Don’t wait until you have an important match to do something different.
Use a well designed “warm-up” that includes dynamic stretches, muscle activation, good movement patterns, and little static stretches.
I’ve said it a million times, “a lot of our job as golf fitness coaches is teaching golfers how to move properly and get more in tune with their bodies”. In other words, when you perform movement exercises and dynamic stretches you are creating that mind muscle connection and now when you ask your body to move, in the ballistic manner of the golf swing, it understands what you are saying. You’re now speaking the same language.
I’ve made many pre-golf warm up routines and here are 3 of my favorites. You may see repeat exercises (those are the musts) and you may see new ones. They are all good, it just depends on how much time you have and which ones resonate best with you:
Do these often, even on days you're not golfing. They will help you to get used to them and when tourney time comes you will play better, not worse!
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