Pre-round Warm-up

General Discussion
#1

Over on Twitter, @TheParTrain posted about what clubs to grab to go to the range and warm-up. Now I’m guilty of rarely warming up properly. My home course doesn’t even have a range. But when I get the chance to warm up, I take gap wedge, 7 iron, 4 hybrid and Driver to the range. I loosen up with gap wedge and hit that til I feel like I can make full swings. Then I go to my 7 iron and hit full shots and knock downs. I hit about 5 shots with my hybrid, just to get the feel of that shot, then I hit 5-10 drivers. I always make sure I leave on a good driver.

What does everyone else do?

#2

Listening to how Harvey Penick describes a warm-up range session before a round, he says it should be 24 shots.

5 with a wedge
5 with a 7 iron
5 with a 3 wood
4 with a driver
5 more with a 7 iron

Then chip and putt.

Don’t worry about any shot on the range or trying to hit one more good one. You’re not there to groove a swing and often times you’ll fall into a downward spiral.

Spend your time chipping because it is a mini swing. Get your chipping tight and putt because that’s what you spend half the time doing on the golf course.

I love this method and will start putting it to use myself before a round or a tournament. Makes perfect sense.

3 Likes
#3

Jump outta car, do a couple2tree lame stretches, head to 1st tee box, swing for the fences. :open_mouth:

4 Likes
#4

Depending on the situation I take more or less time warming up. Like a fun round or a really early tee time I’ll warm up on the course for the most part. Take practice swings, make dynamic movements to warm up muscles but mostly concentrate on the short game . You want to make sure you are moving freely before you try to swing the club. I know many people that go out cold and wonder why they can’t be consistent. I always make sure to at least get some movement in before teeing.

I get to tournaments or important games early and be sure to hit a small bag of balls, ends up being 20-30 shots. Then get a feel for the putting green. One ball trying to make random putts. Small chips to gage runout etc.

3 Likes
#5

This is something I actually took really seriously last year, with mostly good results (I don’t know how I hurt my back, so I can’t say it was perfect).

For me, it’s not what I do waiting to tee off… I’ll hit balls and chip and putt… no real set routine, just make sure I’ve swung a few clubs, hit some chips and putted some balls… all my “real” warm up is done before I get to the course.

I really like resistance bands for this. Actively stretching and moving my body around, getting my muscles “loose” and ready… I think it’s more important than anything I do on the range.

If I only have time to stretch or hit balls, I’d much rather stretch… Makes the first tee shot less fun, but it tends to lead to better rounds.

1 Like
#6

Something a bit different: I pull a 6i and make a few swings opposite-handed. Start off slow, one-handed finish, but full lower body. Focus is on full shoulder rotation. Work my way up to two-handed finish at stock shot speed. Then repeat process dominant hand.
Winded, head to putting green.

2 Likes
#7

Grab my clubs out of the car. Run to the locker room and apply sunscreen. Run to the first tee and pray for a good drive.

3 Likes
#8

On league nights that I’m playing a little more seriously, I try and get there early enough to do something like this:

5 sand wedges (no target or judgement)
3 sand wedges (remainder to a specific target shot)
3 pitching wedges
3 8 irons
3 6 irons
3 hybrids
5 drivers
Then depending on time I’ll try to “play” the first hole

On a weekend fun round with my buddies, especially if it’s early, roll in throw clubs in a cart and pray the morning coffee has me awake enough to win some money off them!

4 Likes
#9

I generally like around a half-hour to warm up. I usually take 3 clubs: Wedge or 9-iron, 6 or 7, and Driver. I do a few stretches first. I start with the short iron, often with some partial-swing drills to reinforce a swing change, proceeding to full swings. Then the same with the mid-iron. Usually its maybe 8 or 10 balls with each of those. Then usually 6 drivers, followed by 3 or 4 shots with the mid-iron, 3 or 4 with the short iron. Then a few minutes of putting, mostly mid-to long range for distance and green speed calibration, and a few from 5 feet or less. Then off to the first tee.
For rounds I care a bit more about, I might start with a few long putts, then 5 or 10 minutes of chipping before heading to the range itself.

1 Like
#10
  1. I stretch a bit at the house while the coffee is percolating, then drive to the course
  2. Chat with the guys in the pro shop for a few minutes(this is key to loosening up mentally for me)
  3. Then have my regularly scheduled BM
  4. Head down the the practice green by the first tee and chip a few balls on the rough and the opening tee box focusing on contact and flight distance control
  5. roll about 20-30 putts mix of lags and 5-10 footers,
  6. Take a few practice swings with driver, first couple to ensure range of motion, then a few as hard as I can to get me ready to hit the ball hard
  7. Tee off
4 Likes
#11

Yeah, I left out the pre-round ball-busting on the range and practice green. Gotta warm up the “needle” before actually using it on the course.

4 Likes
#12

Step 3 is critical, but I think most professionals would tell you that it’s better to take care of that at home.

3 Likes
#13

Like you I don’t have access to a range to warm up normally, when I do, I try and limit it to enough to get me ready but not really focusing too much on the actual shots. So max 25 balls, 20 with wedges/irons and then 5 with the driver, assuming that will be what I am hitting on the first tee.

3 Likes
#14

I follow your routine pretty closely. I try not to make full swings as I tend to overswing any way. I don’t use the range at my club all that often. I’m not lazy, but they only have balls on the range when there’s a tournament and it’s a hike to go from parking lot to clubhouse, back to parking lot, to range and back to clubhouse and 1st tee. It’s all in a line, but it’s got to be 1000 yards to cover lol. Non tournament days I warm up in my backyard hitting into a net. I just try to find some tempo and make good contact.

2 Likes
#15

This is about what I do. But this make perfect sense, particularly

“Don’t worry about any shot on the range or trying to hit one more good one. You’re not there to groove a swing and often times you’ll fall into a downward spiral.” 24-25 swings

and DO NOT FORGET CHIPPING AND PUTTING!

3 Likes
#16

Do none of you actually stretch before a round? @Fit_For_Golf is sad now.

2 Likes
#17

I always stretch and do warm-up movements pre-round. I was just giving straight swing, chip, putt warm-up routine.

2 Likes
#18

I always do some stretching. Too much sitting for my job so I try to do some stretching every day. Definitely makes a difference for me. I used to also swing a weighted club or 2 clubs, but I gave up on that last year as I think it was throwing me off. Now I just grab a 5 or 6 iron and start making small swings to find a decent tempo.

3 Likes
#19

I’ve begun stretching every day this winter. I’ve seen an uptick in my flexibility and I’m also seeing that my back doesn’t hurt after shoveling snow like it used to.

I was thinking about taking my red speed stick with me and making 10 swings righty and lefty to warm up going forward. What did the weighted club do to mess you up?

3 Likes
#20

As someone with little kids and time constraints, I have started spending about 15 mins stretching at home. May even hop on the treadmill.

Makes a difference with my back and is also something I can do with the kids before taking off.

4 Likes