News

Like any sport it is important to warm up for a game of golf, whether that is for playing, practising and even when you come for a golf club custom fitting. In a driver fitting you may hit more shots than you normally hit in 3 to 5 rounds with that club so ensuring that your body is ready to go is key.

Not only can warming-up prevent injury but it can also improve performance and you want to be at your optimum for your custom fitting so that we can match the clubs in the fitting studio to what you need on the course.

Research by Dr Jack Wells and Dr Ben Langdon through the Open University suggested that being correctly warmed-up could add 1-2 mph extra swing speed, which could increase distance by up to 8 yards.

The key to this is a RAMP warm-up which stands for:

R: Raise your heart rate.
A: Activation exercises to get your muscles working.
M: Mobility exercises to get your joints working.
P: Potentiation (explosive) movements to activate your body so it can move faster.

RAMP warm-ups are recommended by strength and conditioning coaches, such as Dr Dan Coughlan who works for the DP World Tour and England Golf.

Neil Aitken, Director of Kinetic Physio in Edinburgh specialises in golf specific physio and is a keen believer in how RAMP can improve golfer performance:

“Our specialist training with golf injuries and performance means that we help an awful lot of injured golfers. But equally, our work with The Golf Performance Network means that we implement physical testing and training strategies to help golfers increase their club head speed."

"Essentially, the main factor is how much force a golfer can push through the ground, and how quickly they can do so. A RAMP warm-up enables a golfer to maximise the force they can generate which can result in improved performance and greater club head speed.”

10 Minute Golf Warm Up For A Fitting Session

Not everyone has the space for a gym at home or the time to visit one before a fitting. Therefore we asked Neil to come up with an easy RAMP warm up that you can do in 10 minutes in any driving range bay like the ones next to our custom fitting studios in Scotland or England.

If you have any knee or hip pain, then explosive movements shouldn’t be attempted.

Raise Your Heart Rate

Walk quickly or jog on the spot to for 2 minutes to raise your heart rate.

Activation & Mobility

1. Hip Openers
   Stand and lift one knee up in front of you, rotate it outwards as if you are stepping over a low fence on that side of you and place your foot back on the ground. Then repeat to step back over ‘the fence’ to return to the starting position. Do this 5 times with each leg.
   
   
   
2. Thoracic Rotations
   Stand sideways against a wall, hands out in front of you. Try and twist your upper body so that one arm reaches back behind you. The arm closest to the wall should stay against the wall as you do this. Do this 5 times each side.
   
   
   
3. Wall Slides
   Stand with your back and arms against a wall, with your arms at shoulder height in a W position. Move your hands up the wall keeping the arms as close to the wall as you can. Do this 5 times.
   
   
   
   
4. Squat with your arms raised over your head 5 times.
   
   
   
5. Lunges
   Start on one leg and lunge forwards to the front back and each side with the other leg. Do this 5 times and then swap legs.
   
   

If you find these exercises easy then you can increase the frequency to do each one to 10 times.

Potentiation

1. Standing Jump
   If you are confident to jump, then simply jumping as high as you can 5 times in a row with a rest between each jump.
   
2. Maximal speed
   Swing your driver as fast as you can for 3 swings with a 20 second rest between each one.

This whole process should take less than 10 minutes and it will get your body and mind engaged for your fitting session so that you stay healthy and hit it further!

Book A Fitting