You’re teeing off in 10 minutes, racing from your car to the first tee, shoes not even tied.  Grab the driver, take a few swings and off you go!  Sound familiar?  One of the questions on our intake form is “What do you do for a warm up?”  The most common answer, nothing.  Some of the best ones we’ve seen: pound a drink, turn the car heater on high and isn’t that what the first 4 holes are for?

Even in those moments of panic running to the first tee, there is always time to fit in a few exercises that will help the body function better and reduce your risk of injury!

Today, I bring you the 5 minute warm up.  It’s nothing fancy, just a quick focus on getting the body temperature up and the joints ready to go.

• Leg Swings 10 each
• Arm Circles 10 each direction
• Squat to Press 10
• Split Stance Chop  8 each side
• Golf Club Raise 10
• Pelvic Tilts 10
• Arms Crossed Swings Left/Right 10 each
• Step Swings 5 Each

If you have time for all of them, awesome!  But in a pinch you can always pick just a few to get you going.  My defaults are squat to press, split stance chop and step swings.

Just a few coaching notes:

• On the arm circles, make sure your arms stay in front of your body and focus on squeezing the shoulder blades down and back
• In the split stand chop, tuck your pelvis under and squeeze the glutes to help actively stretch the hip flexor and engage the glutes
• When doing the pelvic tilts, it helps to push the golf club into the ground.  This engages the core more and frees the motion up

Have fun!

-S