Preparing Your Body Before You Play

Have you ever rushed out to the golf course and gone straight to the first tee without giving your body a chance to warm up? Every golfer, no matter what age, should give their body time to warm up before a round of golf.

Most golfers don't have the benefit of hitting a bucket of range balls before a round to complete a full warm up. At the very least, a golfer should go through a few stretches before they attempt the most important tee shot of the day.

	Somewhere between the practice putting green and the first tee take two of your long irons and hold them together, like a baseball bat, and start making some slow and easy full practice swings.
	Next, hold a club behind your back, at the waist level, with your arms extended and slowly twist to the right and back to the left a few times to loosen up your lower back.
	Finally, I like to stretch my legs and back a little more by doing some toe touches. Start off very slow and gradually bend at the hips, keeping your knees straight, try to touching your toes. If you can't get down all the way to your toes, that's fine, go as far as you can and hold that position for a count of ten. Slowly rise up and try again. I like to do this three times.

Remember, if you take a few minutes to prepare your body to make good swings from the beginning, you will probably play a better round of golf and you will minimize the risk of injuring yourself.