The images of the pink azaleas at Augusta, the first Major of the year, is associated with signalling the beginning of the golf season.
We are lucky in the Algarve to be able to play all year round, but whether we play every week, or have had a break for a few months it is still important to warm up every time we go to play.
Doing a proper warm up before hitting our first tee shot , allows us to prepare our body ( and mind) for the game ahead. Generally the first hole is one which requires a driver , the club we swing the fastest , so it makes sense that our body is ready for this. When we hit our driver , the muscles work in the same way as a 60m sprinters - we would never sprint without warming up as we know that something is likely to go “ping” if we do - but yet we are happy to exert a massive amount of force onto our spine and the rest of our body without preparing it. A warm up will help to prevent injury, enable us to swing freer, move better
A warm up does not need to take a long time, 5 minutes is better than nothing. It needs to be a way of mobilising, you do not want to hold stretches for a long time, and nor do you want to grab 3 clubs and swing them together ! It is about creating movement and mobility within the joints and activating the muscles.
There are 3 main areas we need to cover
Loosening the posterior chain ( spine and hamstrings)
Mobilising the hips
Creating rotation in the thoracic spine
Here are 3 exercises I always do before playing .
1 - Bows and side lean
Take club and raise above head , lean to one side then the other , then place club across chest, or top of back, , hinge at waist as you bow and then come back to standing.
2 - Hip Circles
Raise one leg, knee bent and circle in one direction, repeat in opposite direction. Keep club on ground for stability
3 - Stalk Drill
Take a split stance , left foot forward . Club across chest or shoulders and rotate into back swing
Finish with a few jumps to start to create some explosiveness to enable you to smash that first tee shot !
