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How To Use Golf Training Aids To Assist With Your Warm Up And
Stretching
How many times has this happened to you?
You're prepared - or so you think.
You get to the course 15 minutes before your tee time. By the time
you get all your stuff together, pay the greens fees, etc., and then
get to the putting green there is less than 10 minutes left
before game time. You hit some putts, some chips, and then take a
few swings to loosen up. You're feeling pretty good, you stroll to the
first tee, put your bag down, and look down the fairway. And this is
where the trouble begins.....
It's a dogleg right with OB on the right and tree trouble on the
left. It's not long but it's tight, with the potential for a
round-ruining big number. That's when you start to realize the full
extent of the tightness that's still in your muscles. You take some
more swings, desperately trying to get the muscles in your legs,
back, and shoulders to warm up, but to no avail. Your tee time is up
and you still don't have any kind of rhythm or feel to your swing,
and the OB on the right looms ominously.
You tee it up and make a tight, nervous swing, overcompensating due
to your fear of the OB. Your ball jumps left off the clubface, a
nasty pull-hook that burrows deep into the trees. You groan and
shove your club back into your bag, then stomp off to try to salvage
something resembling a decent score.
If this type of thing happens to you on an all-to-frequent basis,
trust me you are not alone. Fortunately, there are plenty of golf
training aids out there that can help you avoid it. Swinging a
weighted or increased-resistance club, for example, is a good way to
get warm before a round. However, if you really want to be loose and
feel confident for the opening drive, you probably need to get to
the course a littler earlier and add a stretching routine to your
warm-up.
There is no way to get your muscles prepared for the intense effort
involved with the golf swing without stretching. Also, stretching
helps to relax the mind as well as the body, which really helps with
the first tee jitters. So in addition to resistance training aids
like weighted clubs, consider adding a stretch routine. There are
lots of books available with stretch programs that are tailored
specifically for golfers. Here are some tips for finding a good
stretching program:
1. A book is just as much a training aid as any of those gadgets
that are designed to help your swing, so approach it the same way.
As you would try out a training aid before you shell out the money,
make sure you check out the contents of the book before you buy. It
should have pictures for all the stretches. Stretches without visual
aids are dangerous because you can never be quite sure if you're
doing them correctly.
2. Make sure you find a good book with a variety of stretches for daily
stretching as well as a pre-round warm-up. Training for flexibility
every day can add yards to your drives and years to your golfing career.
3. Get to the course early! Forget the 15 minute rush job and aim
for 30 - 40 minutes to get your mind in gear. Rushing through your warm-up stretches
doesn't work and can cause injury. If you are short on time, do a
smaller number of stretches correctly rather than trying to do them
all quickly.
Good luck, and remember the mind is just as important as the body in
golf, if not more so. Books are training aids for the mind, so get a
few reliable ones and go to it!
Improve Your Swing
Looking for better consistency? Need to improve your accuracy?
Desperately want some more yards? Or possibly you just want your
swing to look a little better so your buddies won't tease you
anymore. These are all great reasons for doing some work on your
swing, but what is the best way to go about it?
Improve Your Chipping
The 18th hole is a lengthy par 4 with a tricky elevated green.
You've missed the green to the right on your approach. Your ball
sits about 8 feet off the green in the first cut of rough. The lie
isn't too bad, but it's a tricky shot.
Improve Your
Putting
Drive for show, putt for dough. Relax the nerves, trust your
line. Eyes over the ball, smooth take away. Accelerate through the
ball, and...
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