Range sessions often set the tone for how we feel heading into a round. When you’re striking the ball well, you step onto the first tee feeling confident, focused, and ready to attack the course. So why not give yourself a bit of insurance by incorporating a simple warm-up routine that primes your body to have your best round possible?
The right warm-up will not only increase your mobility, stability and activate key golf muscles—it will also reduce your risk of injury. The result? A longer, healthier season that gives you the best chance at having that big breakthrough you’ve been working toward.
According to Marty Jaramillo, a sports Physical Therapist and performance coach with over 30 years of experience, all you need to have the perfect pre-round warm up is a wall, four easy moves and five minutes. Follow along with his simple routine to get your body moving and key muscles firing before you even touch a club.
To remember this quick routine, Jaramillo says to visualize a clock.
“You’re going to have one exercise at 12, one exercise at six, two at three and two at nine,” Jaramillo says.
12 O’Clock – Lunge with upper body stretch (6 times)
Starting at 12, you’re going to get into a slight lunge. As you set your lower body, lean your upper body forward and extend your arm up the wall toward the ceiling. The arm you extend should be on the same side as the leg that steps back.
“You’re going to get a nice lat stretch as well as calf and achilles stretch, and sometimes, depending on how inflexible someone is, you’re going to also feel a little bit in the hip flexor,” Jaramillo says.
6 O’Clock – Squats with calf raise (6 times)
Next up is a dynamic move designed to activate your glutes, spine, calves, and achilles—all essential for creating stability and power in your swing. Start by squatting down and touching a spot on the wall that’s parallel to your knees. Then, as you rise, don’t stop at the top of your stance, continue driving up onto your toes.
3 O’Clock, 9 O’Clock – Side lunge (6 each side)
At both the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions, you’ll perform a side lunge by stepping with your outside foot. Keep your toes pointed toward the wall as you lunge, arms extended out wide at shoulder height. Then reach in opposite directions with both hands—you should feel a stretch in your inner thigh and activation in your upper back as you extend.
“You really want to feel a separation of the shoulder blade as you reach your hand,” Jaramillo says.
3 O’Clock, 9 O’Clock – Full body rotation (6 each side)
To wrap up the routine, Jaramillo recommends full-body rotations at both 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Stand about an arm’s length from the wall with your feet facing forward. Whichever direction you’re rotating, place your outside hand (same side that you’re turning towards) on the wall. Then, thread your inside arm underneath the planted arm and rotate fully through the movement—including your trail foot—engaging your core and upper body.
This drill not only primes your body for rotational movement, but also helps improve hip mobility and prevents common swing faults that can kill your consistency and power.
“So much of our opening up too early, even early extension in our swing is the lack of hip mobility. Specifically hip internal,” Jaramillo says.
According to Jaramillo, this exercise is an effective way to build that mobility and keep bad habits from creeping into your swing.
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With all four moves complete, you’ve activated key muscle groups, improved mobility, and set yourself up for a stronger, more consistent round.
