The Importance Of The Pre-Round Warm-Up

Finding time for a pre-round warm-up isn’t always easy, but it will certainly improve your chances of playing well as GM Top 25 Coach Peter Dawson explains

Importance of the pre-round warm-up
(Image credit: Tom Miles)

Finding time for a pre-round warm-up isn’t always easy, but it will certainly improve your chances of playing well as GM Top 25 Coach Peter Dawson explains

Pre-round warm-up checklist * If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail! * Stretch before hitting the range – at home or in the clubhouse * Work from short irons up to driver

Watch: check out our warm-up exercises for the over-50s golfer here...

1) Before you get to the club Whatever your age, it’s no good going on to the 1st tee as stiff as anything, then announcing on the 4th tee to your playing companions that you’re ready to play now having finally loosened up! By then, you’ve probably lost two or three balls, your score has gone and your day is potentially ruined.

Rushing to the 1st tee rarely paves the way to good golf over the opening holes!

But you have to accept responsibility for failing to prepare, and your pre-round warm-up can actually start before you even get to the practice ground with a few stretching exercises when you get up in the morning, or in the locker room before heading out.

 

2) More stretching We all live busy lives, but try, if possible, to leave yourself 30 minutes to warm up at the course. Ultimately, if we fail to prepare, we are preparing to fail! Start with some more exercises to loosen up stiff muscles.

Take time to stretch before a round whatever your age

Lean against a wall or tree with your hands and stretch your legs out behind you. Then pop a club behind your back, stand as if addressing the ball, and make the movements of the golf swing slowly to stretch the leg, side and back muscles that you use in the golf swing.

Watch the great Miguel Angel Jimenez run through his pre-round warm-up routine!

3) Hitting balls Make sure you allow yourself enough time to hit 10-15 balls with the short irons, 10-15 with the mid-irons and perhaps five or six drivers, in that order.

Work from short irons up to a few drivers but don't overdo the ball hitting pre-round

This will not only loosen up your body, but also tell you how it is working, as it can change from day to day depending on how you’ve slept or what you were doing the previous day.

If the side of your back is stiff, for example, you might find yourself fading the ball more than usual, so you may have to play the first few holes allowing for that until your body has fully loosened up.

4) Putting From the practice ground, head to the putting green just before teeing off. It’s important to not only get a feel for the speed of the greens, but also to calm yourself down a little after hitting those warm-up balls.

Watch: check out GM Top 25 Coach Kevin Craggs's complete practice putting drills video

A few putts to get the pace of the greens and calm you back down ahead of the opening blow...

Having done your exercises and hit a few balls, you’ve now given yourself every opportunity to play well, and if it doesn’t happen, well, it wasn’t because you didn’t prepare – it just wasn’t your day!

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response