Your pre-round warm-up should always have purpose
All too often we see amateur golfers arriving at the course with very little time to prepare before they tee off.
The usual routine is to get your clubs out, rush into the shop to pay for your card and a range token, get through 20 balls on the driving range or in the driving net at lightning speed, march to the putting green to hit a few putts and scamper to the first tee, only to get off to a terrible start.
Sound familiar?
The key thing here isn’t necessarily a lack of time, it’s the lack of purpose in your warm-up routine. By having purpose in your warm-up, you can get loose, build confidence and find a smooth tempo for your round.
In this article, we’ve put together a few tips to help you complete a structured 30-minute warm-up plan. So, next time you’re a little short of time, you’ll have a plan that can help you start off on the right foot.
Start by stretching. Always
Duration: 5 mins
Warming up and preparing your body for the golf swing should always be your first step.
Doing so will help you feel less restricted in your movement, swing with better fluency and rhythm, and it will prevent you from denting your confidence with stiff, poorly executed golf swings. It’s also a good way to reduce the chances of picking up any unwanted injuries.
Now, given that you don’t have loads of time to activate your muscles, you don’t have to execute a full workout routine, but a few simple stretches, like squats, lunges or toe-touches, over the course of 5 minutes, will really help.
Once you start feeling a little nimble and a little less like you’ve just rolled out of bed, you’re ready to start hitting a few shots.
Find your rhythm
Duration: 10 mins
Too often, players go straight into hitting full shots and giving it everything they’ve got. It’s important to find a way to build up to full shots and find your rhythm and timing.
To do this, start by hitting 50-75% wedge shots, before working your way up through the bag to hit full shots. Hit just a few balls with every other club to find your feel across the board.
It’s also important to remember that this is a pre-round warm-up. Not a practice session. Focus on hitting golf shots, not mechanical swing thoughts or changes.
If you do find that you’re hitting an unwanted shot or that dreaded miss that you’ve been trying to iron out of your game, whatever you do, don’t start to panic. Simply take a step back and re-check the fundamentals. Check your alignment and ball position. Putting down alignment sticks before hitting shots is a great way to check over these aspects.
Throw in some pressure and variety
Duration: 5 mins
Once you get out on the golf course and you’re in the midst of a competition round, it’s rare that you’ll ever find two shots in a row to be the same.
For each shot on the golf course, you need to factor in the lie, slope, wind direction, flag position and shot shape required. That’s why it pays to simulate a real round by creating some variety and adding some pressure to your warm-up.
To do this, re-create a hole in your head. If you’re playing a golf course you’re familiar with, choose one from that course. Use the driving range targets (flags or markers) to build your fairway and try to hit it. Then use a flag or distance marker for your approach shot.
By simulating real shots and adding a little bit of pressure to your preparation you’ll feel that little bit more comfortable when you get out onto the course.
Don’t forget the flat stick
Duration: 10 mins
You’ve got 10 minutes left, so it’s important here to focus on the two things you need to get right in order to hole more putts – line and pace.
Start by putting down a few balls and putting to holes at varying distances. Then try rolling one ball a foot beyond the hole, one hole high, and one a foot short. Take note of the line of the putt for later. If you hole the putt you’re trying to get beyond the hole, great, and if you hole the putt you’re trying to get hole high, it should be dying in.
By focusing on speed and length, you’ll have a much better understanding of how the greens are running and your feel will be far more on point.
Now that you’ve seen a few of the lines, finish by selecting a 6-foot putt, where you know the break. These will help with ensuring you’re starting your putts on line, and as these are the putts you need to be holing on the course to save shots, they’re a nice confidence booster if you can hole a few.
Time to tee it up!
That’s it. Your 30 minutes is up and it’s time to tee it up. Hopefully by having this level of purpose in your warm-up, even when you’re short on time, you can set yourself up to produce a score that you’re proud of.
If you’d like to enquire about booking in for a lesson with the Lee Shepherd Golf Academy, our 60-minute or on-course lessons are the perfect environment to talk about your warm-up routine or practice routines to get the most out of your game.
To book today visit our academy page.