The Perfect Golf Warm-Up Routine: Stretches and Exercises for Better Performance

Britt Olizarowicz

Jun 25, 2024 . 7 mins read

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When you don’t warm up for a round of golf, there are a few things you risk.

The most important reason to warm up is to prevent injury. However, once you are sure you are safe, you’ll also want to warm up to shoot lower scores.

Without a golf warmup routine, it may take you until the 5th or 6th hole before you really play well.

Here are some of the best warm-up stretches and exercises to ensure you are ready for your next round of golf. Don’t skip this step, even if it takes just 10 minutes.

Golf Warm-Up Routine (Key Takeaways)

If you don’t have time to go through the specifics of this golf warmup routine, here are some of the most important things to take with you.

• Warm up both your body and your mind; professional golfers start working on visualization and positive thinking as part of their warm-up routine.
• Exercises to help you play better golf include arm circles, leg circles, squats and even a brisk walk on the morning of your round of golf.
• Understand how to work through the clubs in your bag, vary yardages, and not get stuck with the concept of blasting drivers as part of your warmup.
• Remember that the warm-up routine is more about making clean and consistent contact than it is about indicating how your day on the course will be.
• Preventing injury is the main reason to warm up before a round of golf.

Golf Warm-Up Exercises & Tips

Get the Legs Moving

There are a variety of leg exercises you can use to get ready for golf. Let’s face it, the game relies heavily on your legs, and if they are slow or tired before you tee off, your swing will suffer because of it.

A few great things to do with your legs include calf raises, leg swings, and mini squats.

• Calf raises activate and stretch your calves, and they can also help improve balance and stability.
• Mini squats are a bit more involved and they work on incorporating your ankles and hips. The squats will increase mobility and make it easier for you to gain that extra speed through impact.
• Leg swings will loosen up your hip joints. Again, you’ll notice the hips are very important when playing great golf. You can improve your range of motion, have a smoother swing, and generate extra power when the legs are moving. Use leg swings to loosen up your hip joints, enhancing your range of motion for a smoother swing.

Activate the Arms

Using arm circles will help you warm up your shoulders and increase blood flow to the upper body. Arms are important in golf, but you also want to focus on wrist and hand action.

Do some simple and light stretches, take a few practice swings, and feel your arms and shoulders start to warm up.

Without activating the arms, you may have a hard time controlling the timing between the upper and lower body.

Walk Before You Play

Try to get in a brisk walk on the morning of your golf round.

Some players worry this will tire them. You don’t have to go for 10 miles; even just one mile will work.

The key is to start walking at a good speed, which will get your body moving and the blood flowing.

You will wake everything up and prepare your muscles for the physical activity that they have coming their way.

Focus on Clean Contact First

When you start hitting golf balls, focus on the contact quality and forget about distance.

Some golfers who get to the range can’t wait to just see how far the driver will go that day.

If you do this, you’ll end up eventually pulling your back out and never seeing your full distance potential.

Wear your HackMotion in the early part of your golf warmup routine. Look for that flat lead wrist position at the top of your backswing and then again at impact.

This position encourages cleaner strikes, which will be more important throughout the round than total distance.

Use the Club to Do Stretches

Your golf club is a great warm-up tool.

In this video below, you’ll find a variety of exercises to try that encourage better rotation and less strain on your muscles. These stretches don’t require any additional equipment.

In addition, you’ll actually be turning and warming up in a way that improves your rotation and ball striking when on the golf course.

The Wedges Don’t Have to Start the Routine

This video below gives you an interesting take on what matters most when warming up.

Some golfers repeat the same warmup routine of hitting a few wedges, then some short irons, then the long irons, etc.

If you find this routine boring and ineffective, take a look at this example of a 20-minute warmup routine.

You’ll use your driver a bit, get your body moving, and put less pressure on yourself to hit it perfectly before you make your way to the first tee.

Give Yourself Enough Time

One reason some golfers do not warm up well is that they do not give themselves enough time. Warming up for a round of golf takes at least 20 minutes.

For most amateur players, this 20-minute time frame is the perfect amount of time to get the body moving without tiring it out.

Let’s face it, running to the range and hitting 100 balls before you play is really not worth it.

The majority of your warm-up routine is spent stretching and warming the body up; it’s not about ball striking. Ball striking is what you practice on days when you aren’t playing a round.

How do the Professionals Warm Up

Every golf professional has created a warm up routine that works for them.

These routines may change a bit on a practice day when compared to a tournament day. However, the key is the players all understand the importance of a proper warm up.

As an example, this is the warm-up routine of Phil Mickelson. You can see it works on different areas of the game, from mental to physical. In addition, he leaves the range feeling confident in his ability to tackle a round of golf.

• Band Shoulder Work: Attach resistance bands to a golf cart and perform shoulder exercises to activate shoulder muscles.
• Single-Arm Movements: To balance and activate muscles, perform single-arm band exercises, both slow for muscle engagement and fast for explosiveness.
• Core Activation with Anti-Rotation: Hold arms out and do circles to engage the core and improve stability by resisting rotation.
• Leg Stretches: Spread your legs and perform stretches to relieve pressure on the back and stretch hamstrings.
• Deep Squats: Perform deep squats to stretch the lower back and activate leg muscles, maintaining toes pointed straight.
• Practice Short Shots: Hit shots at set distances (30, 45, 60, 75, 90 yards) to build references for short game precision.
• Use Heavy and Light Clubs: Swing heavier clubs to build muscle strength and lighter clubs to activate the nervous system.
• Visualize and Execute Shots: Practice various shots with different clubs, visualizing specific scenarios and targets on the course to prepare mentally and physically for the round.

His warm-up routine takes about 30 minutes, and he has adapted it through the years as his body changes.

Final Thoughts

Now, you can get to work building your perfect golf warmup routine. Start by carving out enough time, learning some stretches, and determining how you can make clean contact prior to your round.

Wearing your HackMotion as you complete your golf warm up exercise will help alert you to any issues you may see in your wrist action and ball striking. This can make all the difference when you head out to the golf course.