The 3 Best On-Course Warm-Up for Golfers

The best on-course warm-up is dependent on what time you get to the course relative to your tee time. Whether you’re showing up to the course and playing immediately, you’ve got about 30 minutes, or you’ve got an hour or more, we’ve got you covered to help you play your best round. 

Show and Go (15 minutes prior to tee time or less):

We’ve all been there..you’re running late, barely getting to the first tee on time, but you need to get loose quick. Here’s what to do: 

Grab whatever club you’ll tee off with and take 5-10 swings at 25% power, 5-10 swings at 50% power, 5-10 swings at 75% power, and then 5 swings at full power. After you’re loose with your normal swing, spend the remaining time on the putting green analyzing the speed of the greens for the day

Some things to focus on:

• Focus on the feel of your swing and replicating the same swing every time
• Do not worry about changing anything about your swing
• DO NOT make yourself tired, the amount of swings you take should be dependent on how many you need to get loose
• Don’t worry about making any putts, instead focus on the power of your stroke and the speed of the greens 

30 Minutes Prior to Tee Time:

This is probably the warm-up to which most golfers default. You’re not running to the first tee from the car but you also don’t have time to hit range balls. Here’s what to do: 

Break this amount of time in half with the first half designated to getting loose swinging your clubs and the last half designated to chipping and putting to get a feel for how the greens are playing. 

First half: 10-15 minutes 

• Perform some squats, lunges, hip hinges with bodyweight (whichever you prefer) to activate large muscle groups, then begin to perform some active pelvic and trunk rotation movements to both sides as demonstrated in our video on Instagram (spend about 5 minutes with this) 

• Grab a wedge, a short iron, a long iron, and a wood 
• Focus on working your way through each club swinging each club 10-20 times gradually working up to full power 
• Focus on trying to strike to same spot on the grass or turf with each swing but don’t get lost in mechanical or technical thoughts, just focus on feel 

Second half: 10-15 minutes 

• Grab whatever clubs you use to when chipping, your putter, and 5-10 golf balls
• Begin by placing the balls in one location around the green, chip every ball on the green 
• Once all the balls are on the green, putt each ball with the goal of putting no more than twice for each ball
• Repeat this process as many times as needed experimenting with different lies around the green 

1 Hour or More Prior to Tee Time 

This would be ideal because it gives us enough time to hit some balls at the range and really dial in our swing prior to playing. 

Utilize the same generalized warm-up mentioned in the 30 minute warm-up section 

Similar to the previous warm-up, grab a wedge, short iron, long iron, and a wood. At minimum you’ll hit these clubs and if you have time you can hit additional clubs. Hit 5-15 balls with each of the 4 clubs. This should take 20-40 minutes.

Spend the remaining time chipping and putting as mentioned in the 30 minute warm-up section

Give these warm-ups a shot and let me know how it goes! 

Also, if you’re in the Atlanta area struggling with any sort of injury limiting you from doing the things you love, give Athletes' Potential a call at 470-355-2106 or fill out a contact request form and we will reach out to you. 

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All the best, 

Dr. Caleb