Today I'm going to go over some pre-round stretching exercises that I always do before I tee it up. As we get older, it's important to keep as much flexibility as possible. The less flexible you are, the more distance you'll lose.
Neil Whitman wanted to know a good way to warm up before a round, which is something we should all do before we tee off. If your first swing of the round is your first swing after putting your golf shoes on, you may want to rethink the way you prepare for a round.
I've been a Peak Performance fan for about three years and have seen a nice improvement in my game. When things go wrong it's usually from falling back on old habits of the rotational swing. My question is in regards to warming up before a round. What's a good routine with the PPG Swing?
Thanks,
Neil Whitman
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Remember, stretching before you play golf will not only keep you flexible, but it can also help you avoid injuries when playing. Use a few of the tips I demonstrated today and you'll feel a lot better at the end of the day!
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Pre-Round warm up
This is something I asked about some time ago. Great to see it at last. A couple of exercises there which would give me a bit of grief ; - ) Recently I started using my short, heavily weighted neutral grip trainer as a warm up stretcher prior to leaving home. Then when arriving at the course [or at home time permitting], I will swing with the woods, not unlike the laddie that Surge talks about in today's video. I found previously that swinging with the wedges didn't seem to transfer to the longer clubs, yet seems to when doing it in reverse,ie, longer clubs first. The last outing the driver was as straight as an arrow off the first tee, from the word go.
Like many I couldn't believe how far back my Backward Up Swing was!!!! Always keen to watch Surge's daily videos, yet the answer was there before Surge says one word. The opening clip with him hitting a driver and then on the backyard driving range his first swing of each video was staring me in the face. Too eager to get to the nub of the video and missing a brilliant two swings by the master : - (
Warm up sessions will continue before every session.
The last outing it was warmer [shorts weather], but there was a strong cold wind. We both had wind fleece sleeveless vests on thankfully. Here go dressed for Winter and strip off the excess if it gets warmer is the order of the day at the moment. If you haven't got it with you, you can't put it on. So they say.
A good swing session and a chipping session today with every club in the bag. Lots of fun and it is paying off on the course too.
Keep on warming up and hitting them consistently straighter where ever you are. DH
Stretching
About a year ago I spent an active weekend with my grandkids, playing cricket, hand ball, footy etc and woke up the next day with severe pain in my lower back, could hardly walk. A family member who is a martial arts instructor showed me an exercise that was so simple, I do it every day now prior to starting work in my office or playing golf. In a "sitting/squat" position I bring my sternum over to rest on my knee, crossing over several times after 4-5 presses. This action stretches all your back/side muscles, from the shoulder down to the hamstrings, brilliant for golf also, never had any more pain since doing this.
A belated thank you
Neil, the stretch that you described, back in 2013 is a really good one. I'm going to be using that a lot. It will take me a while to get flexible enough to get my sternum on my knee but I like having worth goals.
Another good one for the back and shoulders and obliques while you are down there in that bent over squat position is to cross the arms and rock the shoulders back and forth trying to touch each elbow to the opposite knee.
I might as well throw this one in to because it is such a good way to take the tension out of the shoulders before and during a round. While you are down there in that bent over squat position, place the left hand on the left knee with the left arm straight and let the right arm hang loosely from the shoulder socket and do clockwise and counter clockwise 2 foot circles with the hanging right arm. Repeat the whole thing with the left arm hanging.
Belated
Dave, after reading your post, not too sure if we are on the same track and maybe my reference to squatting wasn't correct. I have just trolled through hundreds of exercise positions on "back pain" and nothing came up to either to describe the position or have web access so I could attach to the blog, so I'll try and describe it bit more.
1. Sit on the floor with arms behind supporting the body.
2. Legs forward and apart approx. body with, knees up about chest height.
3. Roll right knee to the right, rest it on the floor.
4. The right shoulder should be about the same line as the right knee.
5. The left arm and shoulder move across a little to allow 3&4 to happen.
6. Connect the left left knee with heel of the right foot.
7. Adjust you right hand to allow your head to be looking down on right knee.
8. Bring you left hand over to clasp onto the right knee.
From here you can now slowing press/push your sternum onto you right knee
and hold for 10-15 secs, go back to head up position, repeat several times.
Repeat steps 1-8, but opposite side.
I can now easily get my sternum on either knee, but sometimes it takes a little longer when I'm cold or back muscles become stiff. I do this every morning now and even sometimes during the day, when I feel a bit of nigling pain.
Let me know how you go, Regards Neil.
Stretching
Neil,
Will try that sternum exercise and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip.
DH