Golf Practice Blog

Last summer, I showed up late for a practice round before a three day Member/Guest. We’ve all done it.  Pull up in the parking lot, get your shoes on as fast as possible and make a dash for the first tee. My group is already on the tee.  So there’s no time for anything but to pull out the driver and a make a few quick practice swings. I teed it up and ened up pulling more than just the tee shot. A pulled muscle in my right shoulder bothered me (and probably my partner) the entire tournament.

The injury rate for amateur players is an astounding 60%, and the average golf mishap usually results in a loss of about five weeks of precious playing time. So what accounts for these frustrating injuries? What can be done to help prevent them? What can be done if you do find yourself aching after your weekly game?

My doctor recommended a series of stretches that I’ve incorporated into my morning ritual and augmented with this golf warm up routine from Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries. Larry Foster, M.D., is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and self-described “golf nut”. His book is a quick and fun read.  It should be pored over by every golf enthusiast – whether or not you have actually been injured – and then stashed with the club for quick reference before stepping out onto the course.

Here are some excerpts from Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries to help you warmup properly before practice and playing.

Dr. Divot’s Golf Warmup 

Neck Stretches 

Shoulder and Chest Stretches 

Forearm and Wrist Stretches 

Lateral Back Stretch 

Toe Touch 

Lower Back/Trunk Rotation 

Hamstring Stretch 

Quads Stretch 

Calf Stretch 

Will attention to proper warm up before practicing lead to increased distance?  Maybe. If not, it should at least hold off Father Time and slow down the loss of distance as we get older. More likely, it will prevent injuries, allow us to play pain free, and get us a bigger share of the Calcutta. 

No matter how sexy driving the golf ball can be, your mammoth drives don’t mean squat unless you have the skills to follow them up with solid iron play. The same goes for putting—you can’t score if you can’t putt well, and part of making more putts has to do with how close you can hit your approaches to the hole. Put it this way: Scoring well requires a series of chain reactions. Great drives stage easier approach shots, and better approach shots lead to shorter putts, which likely lead to lower scores. Invariably and frequently, these links are going to weaken most often with the big stick and flatstick, making it all the more critical that you keep your iron game in top form.

Read the full article in Golf Tips Magazine By Ron And Michael Castillo, PGA

Vijay’s work ethic on the practice range is without equal among his peers on the PGA.  Vijay works out mainly by himself using a variety of swing training aids and drills to reinforce key fundamentals — alignment, timing, club head path — that amateurs ignore at their peril. Here’s a list of four drills that Vijay uses in his practice sessions from a Washington Post interview.

He mentions the Inside Approach as tool to keep the club “on plane” — neither too vertical nor too horizontal — which is essential to a repeating swing.