Golf Warm-Up Using Only a Golf Club

There are many ways to improve your golf game, and a good warm up is one of them. A warm up essential to prepare your body and mind for the physical and mental demands of the game. It helps loosen up your muscles, improve flexibility, and enhance focus. So, grab your seven iron and take a few minutes to set yourself up for success!

Hips

Work on hip mobility first by doing 10 reps of leg swings forward and back on both legs. Leg swings are exercises that target the muscles in your hips, hamstrings, and quadriceps, and they help increase flexibility and range of motion.

 

 

 

 

 

Side leg swings are a lateral movement target the muscles of your hips, groin, and outer thighs. Like forward leg swings, they increase hip flexibility and range of motion, and they also activate the muscles on the side of your legs.

Wrists

Wrists play a huge role in your swing, and club rotations will help loosen up the muscles and joints involved. Grab the edge of the club starting with your palm facing down, and the rotate the club so you’re palm is facing up. This will help you turn the club over during your swing.

Thoracic Spine

As you progress into your swing, the thoracic spine provides the most mobility. To do club supported thoracic spine rotations, bring your club behind your back, keep your hips squared facing forward and focus on turning at the thoracic spine. Do about 10 reps on each side.

Glutes

As you open up your thoracic spine, you need to address the king of the golf swing: your glutes. Romanian dead lifts (RDLs) are a great way to activate this group of muscles. It’s a butt-back movement, similar to a dead lift. Remember, when addressing the golf ball, use an RDL-like movement. Do 10 RDLs.

For single-leg RDL swings, hinge back and create a little rotation that mimics your takeaway. This will help you avoid sliding during the back swing. Start with an RDL, rotate to the side, and drive back up. You should feel this in your hips.

Airplanes are exercises that work on glute stability and balance, which will improve the consistency of your golf swing. Stand on one leg and extend the other leg behind you, balancing like an airplane. Turn your airplane to one side and then to the other.

Following that, it is important to incorporate lunges. These will help you with your golf posture. To do this, perform a posterior lunge, standing on your right leg and drive back up.

Core

When your club makes impact with the ground, you should create less separation between your ribs and hips. To mimic this kind of movement, you should perform knee-to-elbow exercises. Close the space down by bringing your knee to your elbow. Do 10 reps on both sides.

 

 

Golf warm ups are important for injury prevention, improved performance, and increased range of motion for your game. By now, you’ve worked on your core, hip mobility, thoracic mobility, and shoulder mobility. After properly preparing your body, you should be ready to play more golf, play better golf, and be able to feel good while doing it. I look forward to seeing you out on the course!