Golf Warm-Up Exercises To Keep You Swinging
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A good selection of warm-up exercises is essential for all golfers before starting a round of golf, in order to avoid or minimize sprains and muscle sores, especially for older players who may not be in peak fitness condition. It's easy to say "I don't need to"or "I can't be bothered" but although golf may not be the most physical of games it involves a lot of walking, swinging and bending so preparing yourself for this with some simple stretching exercises makes good sense. It is also worth mentioning that exercise relaxes you and helps you deal with stress, therefore, it's likely to improve your play and increase your enjoyment of the game.
An appropriate warm up procedure for golfers would start with some aerobic exercise to raise the body temperature. An example of this would be arm circles. Raise your arms out to the side and start by circling your hands, increasing the size of the circles gradually maintaining a moderate speed. Change directions after 15 - 20 seconds. This exercise increases blood flow to the shoulders in preparation for a full range of motion in swing.
Then follow on with some specific "golf" exercises such as stretching for the muscles and joints, groin, hamstrings, trunk, chest, lower back, shoulders, forearms, wrists and hands. For example, with feet shoulder width apart, grab the club just outside shoulder width and hold it extended overhead whilst leaning your body to one side feeling the stretch on the opposite side.
Hold for a moment then repeat with the other side. This exercise will improve the range of motion of trunk on back swing and follow through. Another stretching exercise is to hold your club behind your neck and whilst looking straight ahead, step directly to one side feeling the pull up the inside of the leg. Keeping very upright go immediately to the other leg and repeat the exercise. This exercise improves the range of motion in the hips and groin area and allows a fuller back swing without tension in the hips or thighs.
The last part of the exercise plan should be a series of golf swings progressively increasing the amount of movement and vigor.
Remember when warming up, move carefully and stretch slowly. You should feel no pain. If you do feel pain, decrease your speed and motion or stop completely and check with your doctor before continuing. You will find that carrying out simple exercises on the major muscle groups on a regular basis will help increase flexibility, give you extra distance with your drives, a quicker and easier swing and generally improve your fitness level.
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