A good warm-up is important before playing a sport as it prepares the body to withstand the loads or demands of that sport. During your warm-up, the focus should be on joint mobilization and muscle activation. Golfers most commonly experience low back pain followed by upper extremity injuries in the elbow and wrist, so be sure to incorporate the following five key areas in your warmup to decrease pain and potentially increase power:
Core and Gluteal Strengthening
- Recommended Exercises:
- McGill Big 3: (curl-up, side-plank, and “bird-dog”) These exercises work on core stability with abdominal bracing while sparing the spine from excessive load. Do the circuit 3 times with 10 reps of each exercise per circuit.
- Basic squat: Push out your hands or hold a golf club across your shoulder blades and connect a belt above knees. With the golf club as the bar, try to “bend” the bar to activate the latissimus muscles and push against the belt to activate gluteal muscles. Hinge from the hips to spare the back and knees. Spread the floor with your feet and push out with your knees for further gluteal activation. Spend 6 seconds going down and 2 seconds going up. Stop lowering when the lower spine begins to flex. Complete three rounds with 10 repetitions per round.
Hip and Ankle Mobility
- Upper back mobility
- Recommended exercises:
- Clasp your hands behind your head and raise your elbows upward to activate the upper back. You can also stand to the side of the golf cart and lean into the cart. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds, repeating 5 to 10 times.
- Hinge slightly at the hips like you are about to take a swing. Clasp your hands behind your head and bring your elbows together, then spread them apart. Do 3 rounds with 10 repetitions each round.
- Recommended exercises:
Elbow and Wrist Mobility
- Recommended exercise:
- Roll the wrist up, down, and side-to-side. After one round, add resistance by holding a golf club. Do 3 rounds per hand and 10 repetitions (one repetition includes all four directions).
Coordinated Full-Body Movement
- Recommended exercise:
- Brace your core and push your hands into your hips, extending the hips back to activate the back muscles. Lift one leg off the ground behind you. Slowly rotate the leg internally and externally. Do 3 rounds with 10 repetitions (internal and external rotation) each round. Repeat on the other leg. If you are unable to maintain balance with the leg in the air, touch the reaching leg to the ground.
BONUS exercises for the tee-box on each hole:
- Standing end range extension: Make a letter “L” with your thumb and index finger. Place on the top of each hip (iliac crest) with the thumb directed towards the tailbone. With two legs shoulder width apart, extend/lean directly backwards to end range and then return. Repeat a few times.
- Anterior and posterior pelvic tilt: Soften knees and drive belt buckle toward ground for anterior pelvic tilt. Then drive the belt buckle up toward the chin for posterior pelvic tilt. Repeat a few times.
Author Bio: Andrew Creighton, M.D., a physiatrist at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), specializes in the care of acute and chronic musculoskeletal, sports and spine conditions. A former collegiate golfer and current competitive amateur golfer, Dr. Creighton’s research interests focus on the complex biomechanics of the golf swing as it relates to injury prevention and recovery.