First Trip to Driving Range For Year
It’s March 08′ and the golf bugs are out biting people everywhere from Southern California to Manitoba. Even if you’re buried under a couple feet of snow, there are things you can start doing NOW to make this your best year ever.
Stretching for your Golf Swing
Unless you partake in other athletic activities (running, judo, etc.), chances are that you are stiff as a board. You don’t need to go crazy and “implement” a stretching routine. Instead, make daily stretches a part of your life. For example: before you go to lunch, reach over and touch your toes to stretch your hamstrings. In the restroom, do the lift-your-leg-from-behind quadriceps stretch. Stretch your arms over your head as your driving along in the car (one at a time on an open stretch of road!). You’d be amazed how much pressure you can exert on your shoulders/triceps using your headliner.
Then, the ultimate stretch is to work the core – twist both ways and really stretch your obliques and stomach muscles. Find positions to stretch everything from your glutes on up through your lats to your shoulders and traps. Crazy stretch: Pretend you had to give yourself an injection in the buttock? How would you twist your body into position so that you could have both hands in the correct position. One to hold the body object and one to hold the make believe plunger. Trust us, it’ll force you to stretch in ways you haven’t imagined.
First Practice Day at Range of Year (prescription)
This prescription is like a strong dose of bad tasting cough syrup, but it’ll put things in perspective.
- Do whatever meager stretching routine you normally do.
- Pull out a wedge and take 3-6 shots to “warm up” shots. Probably not bad, but not good either.
- You know you want to do it. Pull out the Driver and hit another 3-6. Probably 1 acceptable shot in the bunch. I’ll bet $5 you either: (1) missed entirely, (2) toed it, (3) heeled it, (4) topped it, (5) skied it or (6) sent a forearm shivering blow to ground kicking up dirt or scuffing the turf.
- Okay, let’s begin again. Grab a 9 iron and use it to stretch your triceps. Then stretch the hamstrings. Then the quads.
- Your goal is now to hit one ball with the 9 iron and stretch a body part.
- Keep doing this until you hit a couple consecutive good shots.
- Go home on a good note. That is the best you can hope for a first day at the range. The note to take away is that you must be warmed up and stretched out to play golf – DON’T FORGET IT!