A simple warm up exercise to try

For more times tha
I can remember I have walked straight onto the first tee without doing any warm up with some pretty disastrous results.

By doing a simple warm up exercise before you play you will be better prepared going onto the first tee. As a result you will have better scores on the opening holes and reduce some of those erratic shots.

When I was playing football the team did a specific warm up routine before the match started. We did this for every game that we played. After a few games it became normal to complete our warm up routine before kicking a ball.

The same concept can be applied to golf, rather than hitting a few balls complete your warm up routine first to get yourself prepared for your round.

Again if I use my football comparison we warmed up and did stretches for our legs, as that was the most used part of the body for football.

For golf your shoulders are the most active part of your body as well as your waist, lower back and hamstrings.

I have prepared a simple exercise that will get you warmed up nicely. It will take you less than five minutes to complete:

1. Space your feet shoulder width apart.

2. Hold a club out in front of you horizontally with both hands.

3. Start to lower your body by bending your knees, keep your back straight. Now at the same time lift your club above your head like a weightlifter.

4. Stand back up and lower your club, now bend your knees again and lift your club up again. Repeat this process 15 times.

This exercise warms up your legs, lower back and shoulders all at the same time.

Next time your going to play a round give it a go and see how you get on I bet you will notice a difference on how you play your opening holes.
I read an article once by Monty who said that amateur golfers don't play enough percentage golf to score consistently.

Monty meant that instead of always hitting pins most pros aim for the safe larger section of green. Therefore, if you mis hit your shot you have more room for error and should score a lower number than you might have otherwise done.

To lower your scores or to play more consistently there are a number of steps you can work on regardless of your handicap.

For more info, visit: www.colegolf.ie