Range Tips - Stretching: A Pre-Practice Must Created on 7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Stretching: A Pre-Practice Must
How often have you heard someone says, “I’d better hit some balls to loosen up before I tee off”? Well, you can take that statement a step further: you had better stretch out your muscles before you start hitting balls – whether your’re warming up for a round or just practicing. You need to wake up your muscles and alert them to the fact that you want them to perform. After a series of stretches, you should start slowly by hitting some short pitches before moving to full shots.
Two of the better stretches are those pictured above. Left: Take two clubs and swing them in a windmill motion, with each arm. Right: Take a driver at both ends and reach back. These stretches loosen up your shoulders and torso, two important muscle groups for the golf swing.
Tour players stretch before and often after they play and practice. If this routine is good enough for them, its’s certainly good for us.
Golf Digest October 1998