By Cameron Van Rooyen
I’m sure you’ve seen it before, a typical Saturday morning on the putting green at your local club. John and Gary are sharing highlights from last night’s rugby whilst a very regretful/hungover fourball is knocking in a few putts over a coffee. The club captain is greeting his regular members (as he should) and “Mr Golf (hcp 11.53)”, winner of last year’s Club Champs – B Division, is on all fours. His legs are in the air, his ears are on the ground, hands-on his nose and he’s doing some kind of #golfyoga that no one, not even an Origamist understands.
He’s been there since first light, he’s got a Garmin and has hit three buckets and smashed 10 protein shakes, all before John and Gary even got out of bed. Whilst Mr Golf’s pre-meet-day routine is a bit of an overkill. He will, without a doubt, have a much better chance at performing to his peak today.
In my mind, the body swings the golf club and the golf club strikes the ball. It always sounds so simple, but for us as golfers, the ability to reproduce a motion over and over is of utmost importance and the condition our bodies is in are a direct influence on that. This is obviously true at every skill level and doesn’t mean J and Gaz don’t stand a chance, the game itself is far more intricate than that. It just means that the pie and chips at halfway, together with the half-baked ‘stretch this, pull that’, on the first tee box routine, won’t keep you playing to your handicap as often as Mr Golf’s would. Actually, neither would Mr Golfs, but he has other issues. There’s another time for that topic.
Stretching and preparation before a round of golf have always been touchy subjects. We’ve all had good and bad days, regardless of how we prepare. However, in my experience, a golfer who has at least done some sort of prep finds their groove a lot faster and can generally maintain body positions throughout the game. This allows them to strike the ball more consistently, which in turn increases confidence and awareness. If your body is moving efficiently, you can focus on the game ahead. Simple. It’s important that our bodies copy what our brains are trying to say. Golf is tricky as it is and it becomes endlessly frustrating when your club feels foreign and that tip you got from a friend, really isn’t working today. The good news is that the inconsistency isn’t your fault. It’s your body’s. Well, most of the time.
It’s imperative that we get our bodies ready. We as golfers spend almost five hours in the elements swinging a club. Add this to the 10kms we walk and now we’re running a marathon. Each swing can produce the same force used to initiate a sprint, if not more. So, if we are any sort of serious about our golf game, it would be in our best interest to warm up and prepare for a round correctly.
If we isolate the prep stage for any physical activity, what we generally notice is a few main forms of stretching. Dynamic, Static, Passive and PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation). These stretches are all relevant and each serves a different purpose at the right time. What we mostly see on the first tee are golfers who don’t prepare at all and the individuals who do prepare either do too many static stretches or have turned a dynamic stretch into a ballistic stretch because of poor form – ballistic stretching involves the “bouncing” action you see so often. The truth is, properly done dynamic stretching is the only form proven to increase blood flow to the muscles whilst increasing core temperatures and activating those muscles.
You have to ask yourself first, “am I getting ready for an activity or am I increasing my range of motion?”. In an article By Ben Langdown titled, The Science of the Golf warm-up, 2016, a study was conducted on the effects of different warm-ups on strength and power. The case reported that static stretching can decrease strength by a staggering 28% and may still have a 9% reduction an hour later. When testing a vertical jump, a Dynamic warm-up routine increased power output by 14% and still showed a positive impact 24 hours later. I mean that’s crazy. That suggests that if we conserve energy efficiently, we can theoretically push our bodies to full exertion for an entire round. The truly awesome part is being prepared will also ensure our joints are moving fluidly and our neurons firing at maximum capacity. This is how we make consistent swings, tee box after tee box, fairway after fairway.
As a coach, I am always advocating a proper warm-up routine. Not only does it get your body ready, but it guides you into the correct mindset. A good warm-up routine coupled with a pre-shot routine goes a long way in settling the nerves and helps us perform from the first tee box. In all my junior classes we begin each session with a dynamic warm-up. All exercises are targeted at the specific muscle groups used in the activities for that session. The glutes for instance are ‘’the kings” of the golf swing, so doing a few torso twists before your first 300m drive, just won’t cut it. What would be more efficient would be a few jump squats and some lateral lunges, for example. A bad warm-up routine or complete lack thereof is, more often than not, associated with injury.
If you’d like to increase your range of motion, then my advice would be to do so after your activity or as a session on its own. Always remember dynamic warm-up, static cool down. To get you started in the right direction add these stretches to your current routine. They’ll do wonders to how you perform and feel at the end of every round. There are many great exercises and movements out there. Doing 5-7 of these shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. I honestly do them on the first tee every round, why not give it a shot?
Stork Turns
Helps with separation of the upper and lower body as well as hip mobility. Can Be done supported with a club. Begin by getting into a balanced posture. Lift your leg and hook your foot behind your knee. Place your arms across your chest and begin rotating back and forth. Keep movements controlled and repeat on the opposite side.
Deep Squat
Supported – Great for warming up the hips, knees and ankles. Begin by simply grabbing onto a pole, golf buggy or even use your driver and perform a deep squat with your heels on the ground. Hold for 2 – three seconds and repeat a couple of times. You can even give those glutes a squeeze as you stand up, just for some added activation.
A-Frame Stretch
An awesome dynamic stretch for the thoracic spine, chest and shoulder. Begin by standing in an upright posture with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width. Bend from the hip and place the elbow on one knee and the hand on the other. With your opposite arm straight down, begin to reach back towards the sky. Repetitions should be controlled. Repeat on opposite side.
Cameron Van Rooyen Class A PGA Professional | Certified Level 2 TPI ( Titleist Performance Institute ) Junior Instructor Teaching Professional and Head Junior Coach at The Gary Player Golf Experience. Cameron, aka Cam, Coach Cam or Van is a passionate, youth development coach, whose love for the game has given him the opportunity to travel and work in some amazing parts of the world. That love and the intrigue of understanding the human body and its capabilities has steered him into the direction that he follows today. As a coach, he believes in the business of fun – this is the first reason a child stays in sport and in up-coming editions of Junior Golfer SA, Coach Cam will be sharing his opinion on an array of topics that he hopes will helps many growing golfers, follow the right path, seek proper advice and never stop having fun. He might even throw in some neat drills, tips and tricks… so stay tuned, while we start from the ground up.
