While some amateur and weekend players love grabbing their coffee and heading to the range to grind before a tee time, the majority of golfers are probably the opposite. You know the kind. Either that’s you or your buddy, arriving with little or no time to spare and precious few minutes to spend warming up before your round.
But how might you best spend those valuable 15 minutes before the starter ushers you to the first tee box? According to one GOLF Top 100 Teacher, it’s not by banging as many balls as you can. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
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“No matter who you are, you can find a stretching routine that works for your body,” said Todd Sones, who is based in Chicago. “I would rather have you stretch for half of that 15 minutes, maybe 7 to 10 minutes, because a round of golf, let’s take nine holes, you are only hitting somewhere around 15 to 20 shots in nine holes, and that’s full shots. So that’s like a half bucket of balls. You’d be way better off at just stretching and hitting five golf balls than hitting 30 golf balls, because your body would be in better shape to move.
So, get out of the car, do a series of stretches, and then hit a few golf balls and go play. Don’t start hitting golf balls before you stretch.”
Sones said he’d give this advice to any golfer, any age and for any time of the year, especially during the colder months when it’s easier to get injured because muscles are tight.
As for what clubs to hit once you are done stretching, Sones recommends starting with a heavier club that is a shorter swing, so you’re less likely to injure your body.
“I would say a wedge, some half-shots with a wedge,” Sones said. “And then a couple of full drivers, because you are about to make a driver swing [on the 1st tee].”