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
