(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Performing dynamic golf stretches prior to playing is one of the best ways to warm up. Instead of sitting in stagnant positions, it’s better to keep the body moving and the blood flowing. Let it permeate into, between, and all around your joints and muscle tissue so that your body is primed and ready to go. This article will teach you how, and give you a sample routine to follow! 

Should You Stretch Before Golf?

The short answer is yes, but what kind of stretching you should do requires further exploration. Most people think of stretching as just holding a certain position for an extended period of time, which it certainly can be. This would be called static stretching. Unfortunately, this isn’t the type you want to be doing before heading out for a round on the course…

Static stretching tends to relax the muscles, i.e. make them less powerful and slower to react. Why is this a problem? Because the golf swing is an explosive movement! We need our muscles turned on and ready to fire quickly for big shots like the drive and more controlled movements like pitches, chips and putts. This type of stretching is, resultantly, best reserved for post-match. 

So, what kind of stretching should we do instead? The answer is dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is stretching done through movement. We don't hold end-range positions, but instead move into and through them to help the tissues get used to responding to stretch under load (which is exactly what they do while playing sports).

Performing dynamic stretches prior to athletic activity has been shown to increase metrics related to strength and power. It also increases people’s flexibility and reduces their likelihood of injury. All good things! With this in mind, we wanted to show you a full, on the course warm up that uses 6 dynamic golf stretches to warm up the entire body and make you a better golfer.

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

6 of the Best Golf Stretches: On the Course Warm Up

Below is a short, 5-6 minute routine that can be done prior to practicing on the range or heading out for a full day of golf. These are movements that can also be done intermittently throughout your play time, helping to keep the body loose and limber in between holes. Doing these movements consistently will help you reach new ranges of motion in your swing!

This is just one routine of the hundreds we have available here on the Dynamic Golfers platform. Categories like daily stretching & mobility, strength training, injury prevention and more contain endless high-quality content led by world class coaches. Join the world’s best training platform for golfers, and learn to golf pain-free, by signing up for a 7-day free trial with us today!

Hip Hinge

Instructions:

• Start in a standing position with your feet hip width apart and hands on your hips
• Tuck the hips under by squeezing the glutes to rotate the pelvis backwards
• Draw the belly button in to engage the core
• Keeping a slight bend in the knees, hinge forward at the hips until your feel a gentle stretch in the back of your thighs
• Once you reach your end range, hinge back up to the starting position
• Repeat this movement for 30-45 seconds

Side Bends

Instructions:

• Start in a standing position with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart, hands behind your ears
• Bend to one side until you feel a stretch in the opposite side
• Be sure not to bend forwards or backwards, only sideways
• Once you reach your end range, come back up to center
• Then, bend to the other side
• Repeat back and forth for 30-45 seconds

Standing Cat/Cow

Instructions:

• Start in a standing position with feet hip width apart, hands behind the ears
• Bend forward by curling your spine (forming a hunched back) and bringing your head towards your chest, keeping the legs straight (picture 1)
• When you get as far forward as you can, start to reverse the movement, leaning backwards, opening up the elbows/chest, and extending the spine (picture 2)
• Repeat this sequence for 30-45 seconds

Spinal Rotation

Instructions:

• Start in a standing position with feet hip width apart, hands behind ears
• Twist to one side by rotating through the back, bringing one elbow to the opposite side and keeping the feet planted (picture 1)
• Once you’ve twisted as far as possible, reverse the movement back to center (picture 2)
• Twist to the opposite side (picture 3)
• Repeat this sequence for 30-45 seconds

Standing Bicycle

Instructions:

• Start by balancing on one leg, using your golf club for balance and support
• Bring the knee of your free leg up to 90° (picture 1)
• Straighten it out in front of you, then sweep it down and behind you (picture 2)
• Bring the heel towards you bum, then proceed to drive the knee up again to the raised 90° position
• Continue this sequence together, with control and continuously, for 30 seconds
• Switch legs and repeat

Wide Stance Rotation

Instructions:

• Start in a wide standing position, arms parallel to the ground and straight out to your sides (picture 1)
• While keeping your legs relatively straight, hinge at the hips and bring your one arm down to the opposite foot by twisting through the spine (picture 2)
• Reverse the movement to come back up to the starting position
• Twist the other hand down to its opposite foot
• Repeat this sequence for 30-45 seconds

Written by Eric Lister - Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist