Pre Round Warm Up Without Range

Occasionally, I play a round of golf where they either don’t have a range, or my schedule doesn’t allow time for hitting balls prior to the round. I’ll still get in some chipping and putting.

What kinds of non range warm up things do people find helpful to be able to stand on the first tee with some idea of where that first shot is going? :joy:

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Good question ndj,

Dynamic stretches, hit balls in a net just to get feel of a nice strike, use 5i, then f/wood then driver off the mat to get head concentrating.
I then chip to a zone on putting green getting feel rather than results (this isn’t a practice!) and putt from 3ft straight to get my putter alignment and feel, followed by rolling putts from distance to fringe.
Then go to tee, finish with stretches and power drive with a baby draw to centre of fairway/ or duck hook and berate the club for not having a range and cry!

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I think dynamic stretching and general warm up without clubs should be part of anyone’s preround routine… I’d argue it is more important than hitting balls.

From there, if I have played enough golf, I’m ok to just tee off… but I also wouldn’t say no to a mulligan in this situation… though my assistant pro allegedly shot a 60 on a breakfast ball and doesn’t count it… it helps he has a 61 as a career low.

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I’ll start with a couple minutes of stretching and range of motion warmups. Then hit a few chips and putts to get green speed/firmness du jour. I’ll do a few rehearsal swings of my opening tee shot, then off to 1st tee and let the games begin. Somewhere in there, our group manages to work in “aches & pains” updates as well as updates on grandchildren. It’s actually a pretty full pre-round routine.

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I’m all about a mulligan situation :joy:. I typically don’t do that on any round I’m going to post a score but when one steps to the first tee with no idea who they brought to the dance, one is not filled with confidence.

I should probably use those rounds to follow Will Robins’ advice from The Scoring Method and focus on gear 1 before pushing into things.

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The majority of the courses I play don’t even have a range, and many have “no chipping” signs on the practice green. So I just do the best I can to loosen up the body, then hope for the best.

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We don’t have a range but we have cages. I usually am running the game so hitting the cages is out of the question. I purchased an “orange whip” like device called Club Champion. It weighs in at 1.4 lbs so I swing it for 5 minutes before the first tee. It loosens up my hips and shoulders making it easier to get that first swing off.

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I live about 5 mins from my club

Sometimes I sneak over and hit a few 7 irons and drivers if I am headed somewhere with no range

I am spoiled :slight_smile:

Actually I do this a lot, no range time that is. At 70, feeling like 80, my swing is dependent on what hurts that day. So hitting the range and then standing around for 15 minutes while it all cools down really doesn’t do me much good. So as others mentioned, I stretch. First my shoulders, then my back, my hips and my legs. I spend more time on my shoulders and hips, arthritis in both, so if I can get them loose and relatively pain free then it is going to be a good day. If I am stretched out and swinging free then I generally play well. If it is slow play then 1 Aleeve on the back 9 helps. LOL. But I would rather stretch and get loose rather than hit the range. Putting usually follows which allows me to walk around and stay warm.

Friend of mine was at St Andrews in 2000 VERY early on the Tuesday morning. Tiger walked out of the Old Course Hotel and walked over to the 2nd tee. There were like 3 people there. He pulled out his 3 wood and gave it a full swing, but stopping at impact (note - I’ve tried this and I can do this with the club upside down, but the right way the head is way too heavy to stop it that abruptly for me). He did that 3 or 4 times and then said “that should do it”. Then striped one down the middle. So there’s that option if you have just won the US Open by 15 shots…

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That’s awesome… I love stories of people who are just 100% at the top of their game… He was also around 24 at that point… that’s a much different age for rolling out of bed!

And who amongst us hasn’t won US Open by 15 :wink: