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Warm-up routines before playing

Lefty_JW

Lefty_JW

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Just curious as to what people's warm-up routines are before hitting the links?

I'm extremely dependent on spending at least 20min hitting balls on the range first. If I don't I will look like someone who has never held a golf club for the first 4-5 holes. The course I play at the moment does not have a range attached to it and I really struggle with that. This was very evident yesterday where I struggled to a 11 over on the front 9 and then proceeded to shoot a 3 over on the (much harder) back 9. I'm sure it's mental more than anything else. I also spend about 15min putting and chipping before going out.
 
man, it all depends on how much time i have. i've played plenty of rounds when i was just sent right out to #1 tee box without even rolling a putt on the putting green. ideally, i like to have a little warm up time on the range. i usually just grab a small bucket, hit a few 3/4 wedge shots, then hit full swing wedge shots, then hit the 8 iron, the 6 iron, then finish off with what i want to tee off on #1 with.

if a range isn't available, i'll spend a few minutes chipping/pitching, just to get some feel and the sound of the ball hitting the club face going. if a range has mats only, i won't hit balls at all. can't stand hitting off of mats.

the more that i think about it, the more that i realize that i have no set "routine" established before playing a round of golf. perhaps i should? i'm interested to hear other thoughts on this topic.
 
I don't have a set routine, but I do value warming up. Too many times I've skipped straight on to the tee, and started out with 4 bogeys. Then I'm really struggling for a score!

Ideally, I'd do a bit of stretching, hit about dozen balls with a mid iron, then about 6 drives, trying to finish with a good one. Then up to the putting green, and practice a dozen long putts to find my range, and a dozen 2-3 footers. I don't tend to practice the 10 foot putts, as I feel missing a few on the putting green can dent the confidence a little.
 
I go to the range to work on shot shapes and technique when I'm not playing. I rarely go to hit even a small bucket if playing that day, but I do hit 3 to 5 balls just to limber up. I generally find old ugly balls in the woods during rounds and save them for my shag bag in the back of the truck, lol. I get those out to hit before a round just to get the blood flowing.

On the range I've started using the sw for a few shots, driver for a few, then what ever my most needing to improve club is and back to driver to finish.
 
20+ minutes on the range, followed by 10 minutes either chatting with the guys or putting.

As long as I have not played the last 3-4 days straight, I can do alright to just jump on the course, but I prefer to get some swings in. Even if it's the five minute 7iron/driver practice haha.
 
OEM has me in this habit now....hitting a small to medium bucket of balls working on mid-short irons and wedges.
 
Interesting to see the different approaches. I do finish my warm-up by hitting a couple of shots with the club I will be hitting off the first tee. I find if I haven't done a proper work-out my first shot very much determines how I will play for the following 3-4 holes.

I had a very set routine that I can't use now because of the lack of driving range at the course and it is really hurting my score. Oh well should be moving next year so will look for somewhere with a range.
 
The typical routine for when I play with SethO & Fooldog is eating the Wendy's Baconator right before tee-off. It works wonders, you should try it.
 
Curse Maxwell said:
The typical routine for when I play with SethO & Fooldog is eating the Wendy's Baconator right before tee-off. It works wonders, you should try it.
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Lol. No Wendy's over here I'm afraid. In fact Switzerland seems to have an alarming lack of "proper" fast food places.
 
Lefty_JW said:
Lol. No Wendy's over here I'm afraid. In fact Switzerland seems to have an alarming lack of "proper" fast food places.
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and that's why you don't have as many fat people!!
 
I usually don't get the chance to do much in the way of warming up since many of the courses I play don't have a range. I will usually hit the green and practice chip shots and a few putts. I think Harvey Penick said that you should practice chips and pitches if you don't have much time to warm up. Something about them being a mini-swing and it gets the feel of a full swing in your mind.
 
everytime i hit the range before i play... i use all my great shots on the range and suck on the course
so i avoid the range at all costs before a round

what i do is stretch and twist as much as possible then i hit the chipping/putting greens... i can get a real good idea of how my game is going to be by just chipping and putting
 
tcalloway1 said:
and that's why you don't have as many fat people!!
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Probably true (although I'm an expat here so I guess it would be "they"). However, they do seem to be fond of fondue, which isn't exactly low-fat, guess all that walking in the mountains makes up for it.
 
bogey_russ said:
everytime i hit the range before i play... i use all my great shots on the range and suck on the course
so i avoid the range at all costs before a round

what i do is stretch and twist as much as possible then i hit the chipping/putting greens... i can get a real good idea of how my game is going to be by just chipping and putting
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Exact opposite for me: If I don't get into a groove on the range by hitting some good shots I always struggle on the first 3-4 holes. Hitting well on the range right before gives me confidence that I can keep that up on the course.
 
A lot of courses I play don't have ranges either. Fortunately there a few ranges nearby where I can warm up. I'll get just a small bucket, start off with a 9-iron, then 7, then 5, then 3 hybrid, 3 wood (both with and without a tee), then finish off hitting the rest of the balls with the driver. If I'm at a range at a course I'm playing, I'll usually give myself a 5-10 minute break before hitting the first tee, or if not, the drive from the range to the course gives me some time to cool down a bit and think about what I just did.
 
Lefty_JW said:
Exact opposite for me: If I don't get into a groove on the range by hitting some good shots I always struggle on the first 3-4 holes. Hitting well on the range right before gives me confidence that I can keep that up on the course.
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I'm a lot like bogey that I leave it at the range. I'd rather hit four or five into the lake or off a range to limber and spend some time on the green putting. Kind of funny, but I'm the same way with pool. A few warm-up strokes and away we go. But, between playing days I take my practice very seriously.
 
I would be one of those that falls into the category of not having a set routine. It really depends on how much time I have and how I feel. I'll sometimes hit a few balls at the range, but normally I just putt for 5-10 minutes and head to the first tee (Our range is irons only, so no driver warm up even if I wanted to unfortunately). I've noticed that my performance is honestly about the same regardless. I've shot low to mid 80's nearly every time this year whether I warmed up at the range or went to the first tee cold.
 
The BF and I usually plan to get to the golf course a few hours earlier. We like to eat there and take our time before our tee time. After we eat, then we'll hit the range and split maybe a medium bucket of balls. I usually swing first before hitting balls and work my way up the clubs in the bag starting with the lower irons and working my way up to the longer clubs and ending with the wedges. Lastly, we'll head to the putting green to see how the greens are for the day and then we're off :)
 
I usually don't warm up at all. I have tried warming up before and hitting range balls. I can't tell a difference so I usually skip the warmup to save money.
 
To me, golf is all about routines and repetitive movements so just as there's a pre-shot routine a pre-round routine is part of it too.

I generally arrive at least an hour before my tee time and I warm up with a bucket of about 30 balls or so. The first few minutes at the range are just spent swinging a club (usually a wedge) with various hands and in various positions just to loosen up my body. Then I'll lazily smack a few balls to make my elbows and tendons aware that I'm about to start hitting rocks and then I'll hit about 10 or 15 wedge shots to get my swing tempo going.

I'll follow that with a few shots to various markers with various clubs (from short to long) and if there's room, I'll finish with some woods or whatever I'll be using from the first tee. Then it's off to the putting green to get my putting stroke loosened up starting with long putts, then working down to shorter putts.

I'm not there to "fix" or "work on" anything. All I'm there to do is to get my muscles warmed up and to get a feel for conditions and to identify any tendencies so that when I walk onto the first tee, there are no surprises.

After a round, I like to go to the range again to either reinforce things I did well that day or to work out (or at least identify for later practice) things that I wasn't doing well. I believe that this post-round range session is often the most valuable.


-JP
 
I have a question for everyone. Is it better to hit on the range first then finish with chipping/putting or better to putt/chip first and finish with the range and then head to the tee box?

I dont have a set routine but I always try to hit on the range first to see what im working with that day. Id really like to have a pre round routine of hitting 20-30 balls on the range then chipping/putting for 20 minutes, then finish it with a few balls on the range with what Im going to be teeing off with on #1 just to get the visualization going.
 
I got two starting routines: "Normal" and "Super Late for my 6:30am tee time"
When I was living in California my routine was laid back. Show up round 11am.
5-10 mins strectching.
50 mins range time (starting with short pitch shots working up to driver)
Quick Light lunch.
20 mins chipping and putting.
(Sometimes i'ld run back to the range if the first session didn't go so well)


Here in Vegas, (especially during the summertime) if you tee off after 11am you might die. My normal starting time with my buddies is 6:30 am. So my routine is more like this.
Hit snooze alarm.
Hit snooze alarm again. (repeat step 1 until consicious enough to realize how late I am)
Brush Teeth/get dressed/ look up directions to course on gps phone/ all while running out the door.
Make U turn 4 blocks from house to retreive clubs from garage. (done that countless times)
Arrive with 10 mins to go.
5 mins putting to get speed of green.
5 mins stretching.
On days like these when I got to hit a drive cold I like to take practice swings with my drive with the head cover ON. It gives added weight to help streatch out the muscles and helps with tempo. Used to have one of those donuts until it flew off one day and landed in a lake.

@bridges I'ld go to the range first but if short on time I think putting and chipping is the most important. What good is hitting the ball well if you 3 putt the first 3 holes?
 
Bridges said:
I have a question for everyone. Is it better to hit on the range first then finish with chipping/putting or better to putt/chip first and finish with the range and then head to the tee box?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, going to the range first is definitely the better bet.

Why bother to try to develop a delicate touch with a "cold" body only to risk losing that touch once your body warms up and has loosened up considerably?

It's a lot like heavy equipment. You don't try to do anything delicate with a machine until all of the fluids, bushings and bearings have warmed up because until that happens most movement is somewhat "jerky" and trying to do something delicate at that point usually ends badly. But once everything comes up to operating temperature, you can measure movement in fractions of an inch if need be with no suddenness or unpredictable action.


People are the same way.



-JP
 
Bridges said:
I have a question for everyone. Is it better to hit on the range first then finish with chipping/putting or better to putt/chip first and finish with the range and then head to the tee box?
Click to expand...

I think the range is a wonderful entryway to a round if your course is equipped. I typically play this cow pasture down the road from my house, and there is no range. I spend 20-30 chipping and putting and then stretch for 5-10. However, I would much rather start the round on the range and finish on the putting green.
 
Typically, I'd like to hit a small bucket, chip and putt for 15 mins and off to the course... but recently, I have been just going straight to the first hole! funny coz I normally start out with a Par even if I don't go hit some balls before a round... LoL...
 
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