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Golfers Speak: Warm-Up vs Practice

By Elizabeth Bethel

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When we’re talking golf, where does warm-up stop and practice begin?  One of my favorite golf coaches told me that after 10 balls, you’re practicing, and you shouldn’t practice on the same day that you play a round of golf. The Google+ Golf Community doesn’t entirely agree.

My son Wes likes to get to the golf course at least an hour before his tee time.  He goes through an elaborate warm-up routine: a big bucket of balls, endless efforts to send his tee shots to the furthest markers on the range, targeted chipping, elaborate stretching and bending and flexing, and so much putting practice that I get a backache just watching him.

I try to get to the golf course in time to get my clubs loaded onto the cart, select which shoes I’m going to wear (I keep ALL my favorite golf shoes in my car — do I have that mellow yellow feeling or do I want the mental zip that seems to come from blue leather with maroon soles?), and hit enough shots to ensure that my tired old body remembers how to turn with my swing.

I’ve always believed there’s a fatigue factor at work when it comes to warm-up.  I don’t want to play my full 18 holes on the range and the practice green, and yet . . . good common sense mandates that at the very least I need to get my body moving so I don’t tear a rotator cuff or a meniscus.

I suspected that somewhere between Wes Bethel’s approach to warm-up and mine there lies an Aristotelian Golden Mean, so I asked the Google+ Golf Community to tell me about their warm-up routines.

Here’s what they shared:

Between Ricky Potts who, like Wes Bethel, needs a full hour of warm-up before he begins his round —

"“My routine starts with some light stretching. I then swing a wedge a few times to get a feel for my rhythm. From there I hit 3 56 degree wedges without looking where they go. Then I hit 7 56 degree wedges, 7 gap wedges, 7 pitching wedges, 7 7 irons, with 2 of them off a tee, 7 3 iron hybrids with 2 of them off the tee, 7 drivers and then I “play” a par 3, 4 and 5 hitting 7 iron, driver 7 iron, and driver, hybrid, wedge. From there I putt for 10-15 minutes before my tee time. If I’ve played the course before, I will always focus on what club I am hitting off the first tee on the range.”"

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–and Clay Bass, who reports “Crack four beers, I’m loose” as all he needs to get ready for his round, there does seem to be a Golden Mean at work: half an hour, more or less, with a bit more emphasis on the short game than the long game.

Frank Hoxsey’s warm-up routine gets close to that Aristotelian ideal:

"“Stretch, hit five of each P, 8, 6, 4, 3w. Then move to the green 5y w/putts, 10y with putts. Finish with putting. 3@ 5ft, 3@ 10ft, 3@ 20ft. “"

GolfDash is typical of a number of members of the Google+ Golf Community.  His warm-up begins at home with some stretching and “Mentalistics” as does Kathryn Roberts’ routine.

Most members of the Golf Community indicated that when they’re pushed for time they tend to focus their warm-up on the practice green and their short game and just about everyone who responded to my poll indicated that they do stretch out before they begin their round, even if their stretching occurs at the first tee while they’re waiting for their turn to hit.  But on the whole, the golf version of the Golden Mean is 30 minutes, more or less — about the right amount of time for an adequate pre-round warm-up.

I didn’t ask people to share their index with me in their responses but some of the best golfers in my women’s league spend remarkably little time warming up on the range and the practice green while others, equally good, follow routines almost as precise as Ricky Potts’ and Wes Bethel’s.

We’ll save that discussion — what do you do to keep your index low? — for another edition of Golfers Speak!

Next: Golfers Speak: Who Belongs to a Golf Club?

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