5 Pre-Round Stretches You Should Stop Doing Right Now

How do YOU warm up before a round or a range session?

These days most avid golfers know that a 12 oz. beer curl isn't going to get it done, which is certainly progress. But even if you're a hardcore believer in stretching and warming up, you need to ask yourself a question - are you doing it correctly?

If you're like many of the golfers we see twisting and wrenching on the range or even on the first tee, sorry, you're probably doing it wrong.

The truth is, so many golfers are doing more harm than good with their warm-up routines. Misguided stretches or good stretches that are executed improperly can damage the tendons and muscles that you are targeting. So not only are you not priming the body for a great round in the short-term, you could be doing long-term damage to your body and golf game.

What if you had a safer warm-up routine that yields better results? That's where Premier Fitness Systems comes in. Today Andrew Hannon from PFS will show you 5 of most common stretches that he sees - and wishes he didn't - golfers doing on an everyday basis.

For each dubious stretch, Andrew provides a superior alternative that will maximize the benefit of your warm-up session and minimize the chance of harm.

For each of the movements discussed, we've queued up the video to the relevant portion, but by all means, feel free to watch the full video.

5 stretches you should stop doing before you play

By: Andrew Hannon

As a golf fitness specialist I want to make sure that I practice what I preach. Before I play a round or go to the range for a practice session, I want to make sure my body is ready for the stress and torque I’m about to put on it due to the mechanics of the golf swing. When I take 10-15 minutes to go through stretches before I even touch a club, I get a lot of weird looks. Maybe because I’m giving the same look back when I see majority of the players on the range taking 2 minutes to do a few static stretches or not even warm-up at all. When I do see players “stretch” there are 5 moves I see most often, and golfers should stop doing NOW.

Let's take a look at some of the mistakes golfers make along with some better alternatives that will help you get loose and ready to play before your next round.

Bend Over Toe Touch

The bend over toe touch is something we learned to do in gym class, and there are variety ways to perform this stretch. The problem with it is that the majority of the population does not know how to hinge from their hips properly, which defeats the purpose of the stretch entirely.

The bend over toe touch should target the hamstrings when done the correct way, but a lot of golfers I see have too much flexion at the thoracic and lumbar spine (mid and lower back), usually causing stress in the back of the knees where ligaments attach.

Here's a better alternative. This movement is more dynamic, safer, and the staggered position teaches the golfer to hinge properly.  

(Before performing these movements, make sure you are monitored by a professional to make the correct cues, and have no previous injuries to the target area.)

Behind the Neck, Club Twisting

This is probably the number one move I see majority of golfers go to. The problem with this stretch is that placing the golf club behind your neck locks the shoulders in a bad position, forcing you to create rotation from the lumbar spine.

The proper mechanics of the golf swing do include some lumbar rotation, but most of the rotation comes from the thoracic spine, shoulders, and lower body separation coming from the ground up.

Here is a more effective warm-up to prevent the lower back from flaring up and its more specific to the golf swing.

Standing Static Quad Stretch

This is another stretch that we learned to do in gym class, and one that I actually don't mind... when it's done correctly.

Often I see golfers having a tough-enough time trying to grab their ankle with their hand. Even for those who can effortless grab the ankle, there are better alternatives.

Quadriceps have a big impact on the golf swing and are one of the strongest muscle groups in the body, but for proper function of the swing, warming up the hips and glutes is more important. In Tiger Woods' words, if the “glutes aren’t firing” then more stress is targeted to the lower back.

This alternative movement utilizes a golf cart (I’m just using support bars in the studio as an example) to help support the body while standing on one leg.

Cross Body Shoulder Stretch

Another fan favorite, this time for the upper body. I actually do use this stretch myself, but I see many golfers putting their shoulder in a bad position.

During the golf swing, the lead shoulder does go into internal rotation across the body, but majority of the time that’s not the part of the body you need to get loose.

The alternative is a movement that helps with creating more turn during the backswing while producing a good stretch for the thoracic spine, lats and shoulder rotators, which helps with the full swing.  

Hands behind lower back, swinging hips move

Yes this is actually a move I have seen, multiple times.. Golfer walks up to the range straight out of the car, grabs a driver and starts swinging away. 5 swings later the back tightens up, they grab their lower back with both hands, and start swaying their hips to stretch it out.

So let’s stretch the back, right? Nope. The back usually flares up due other joints not being ready to move, so compensation in other joints and muscles turn on to protect the body.

Here's an easy hip movement to get blood flowing to the right joints so the hips can prepare to move the right way, so the back doesn’t do all of the work.

Bottom Line

The golf swing is not a normal movement and it creates a lot of torque and stress on the body. Wasting 3 minutes on some mediocre stretches might be doing more harm than good for not only your body but also your golf swing. Take the time to not only stretch, but stretch the right way.

For more stretches and movements that will improve your golf game, check out the Premier Fitness Systems Website and Premier Fitness Systems on YouTube.

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona PFS offers great online training programs for golfers everywhere.