Want to play better golf? Simply start by WARMING UP!
Many golfers are guilty of this: showing up within 10 minutes before their tee time (enough time to pay and head right to the first tee), taking a couple of cuts with their clubs and do a stretch or two. Golfers think that this is adequate and will help them play better but the truth is that it won’t and could actually be detrimental to their performance. Golf is also considered a moderate injury risk sport as well so without preparing properly their risk of injury increases greatly. The question begs to ask then, WHAT TYPE OF WARM-UP should you do to help you play your best golf and minimize your risk of injury?
A retrospective audit of physiotherapy on the European Tour showed that some of the best in the world utilize massage, manipulation, stretching, and cardiovascular exercise to help them play their best golf for as long and often as they do (Smith and Hillman, 2012). For these elite athletes to continue playing, and performing optimally, it is vital to have the right practitioners in place who can promptly diagnose and apply the correct treatment option. As a moderate risk factor for musculoskeletal injuries, it is more prudent to be proactive about your game and your health.
A survey or research has shown the evidence to be inconclusive, at best, about behaviors and habits of golfers to warm up. It does, however, show that not only does a proper warm up help you to reduce your risk of injury but it also demonstrates that it is the best way to enhance your performance on the course. By simply instituting a 10-minute warm up before your next round could help you save strokes and FEEL BETTER DOING IT (Ehlert and Wilson, 2019). Simply stretching statically (i.e. bending over and stretching your hamstrings for example) hinders your performance acutely. It is a combination of dynamic stretching, functional resistance bands, and cardiovascular warm-up are the best for enhancing your performance and minimizing your injury risk. The research has been extensive when it looks at the impact of warm-ups on adults, but it is more important to look at the impact it has on youth golfers.
Coughlin, et. al. (2018) examined the impact of warm-ups on youth golfers. They looked at highly skilled golfers (handicap 1.8 ± 2.8 strokes) and compared a control (no warm-up), club-only warm-up, and a dynamic exercise-based routine + club warm-up. A club-only warm-up program showed no significant improvements in clubhead speed (CHS) and self-reported shot quality (SRSQ). The golfers who showed the biggest positive changes in their CHS and SRSQ participated in the dynamic exercise-based warm-up and club routine (added 1+ MPH (CHS) and 20% increase in SRSQ). Golfers are athletes and should be treated as so. It can be inferred, therefore, that the addition of a dynamic exercise-based routine (~ 10 minutes) in addition to their club-swinging routine produced the best results in performance in youth golfers. Starting them young will only add to the good habits for the rest of their golfing career as well as reduce their risk of injury as they play more often. The same is true for adult golfers (regardless of sex) as well. Learn how you can start your journey today toward playing better golf and being a healthier person. E-mail us if you have any questions or concerns: Jason@Rule76Performance.com
Coughlin, Daniel, et al. “The Impact of Warm-up on Youth Golfer Clubhead Speed and Self-Reported Shot Quality.” The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, vol. 13, no. 5, Oct. 2018, pp. 828–834.
Ehlert, Alex, and Patrick B Wilson. “A Systematic Review of Golf Warm-Ups: Behaviors, Injury, and Performance.” The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 33, no. 12, 2019, pp. 3444–3462.
Smith, Mark F, and Rob Hillman. “A Retrospective Service Audit of a Mobile Physiotherapy Unit on the PGA European Golf Tour.” Physical Therapy in Sport, vol. 13, 2012, pp. 41–44.