Do you warm up before a round by stretching your legs, arms, torso, wrists, and neck? Most golfer do none of this and they cannot figure out why they end up so sore at the end of the round and throughout the next few days. Why do we stretch before playing basketball, tennis, football, and pretty much every other sport, but not before a round of golf? Read on to find out why stretching is so important in golf.

Besides the obvious of avoiding an injury, stretching can also help you swing your golf club better. Have you ever felt stiff while swinging the golf club? This can effect your game until you actually loosen up, which could take 3 or more holes. If you stretch before your round you will already be loose and you can start in better shape off the first tee, then if you do not stretch before playing. Here are a few stretches to perform before each round.

First, start with the neck and put your hand on the opposite side of your head. Then, pull your head towards to one side. You should feel a stretch in your neck. Do this on both sides and forward. Hold each stretch for 20 seconds.

Next, stretch your wrists by putting one arm straight out from your body and pulling your hand back with the other hand. Do this to the top and to the bottom with both wrists. You will then want to sit down and start stretching your legs.

Place one leg straight out on the ground and cross the other leg over it with your foot on the ground. Then, hug your leg and you will feel a stretch in the back of your leg. Next, twist your back and put your elbow on the bent leg’s knee. This will stretch your lower back. Do this on both sides for 20 seconds.

The last stretch is your arms. Take a golf club and hold it at each end with your hand in front of you. Twist it slowly until your arms are crossed and hold it for 20 seconds. Do it again until your arms cross in the opposite way and hold it for 20 seconds again.

These are just a handful of stretches that you can do before each round. You should really stretch for about 10 to 15 minutes before each round. By stretching you will be able to set yourself up for a better round of golf and you will be less likely to pull a muscle or end up injured.

You have probably heard before that to hit the golf ball with accuracy and power, you have got to be able to implement the inside out golf swing. Also, you must steer clear of what is generally known as coming over the top. This is a swing flaw that causes the golf club to drift outside the target line on the downswing, which results in the ball slicing terribly.

If you would like to keep from coming over the top, you need to learn how to keep your golf club from wandering outside the target line. You can do this by working on the opposite of coming over the top – this is the inside out golf swing. Some of the most dominant, accurate players are able to do this consistently. When you make impact with a downswing that comes from barely inside the target line, this will help you get rid of your awful slice and will most likely get you drawing the ball a little. If you would like to train yourself the inside out golf swing, give these two drills a try:

The Three Tees Drill

1. Place three golf tees into the ground approximately 3 inches apart so they form a line. The line should be at a 45-degree angle of your target line and should be pointing towards the left (if you are a right hand golfer). Make certain that there is enough space between the golf tees to swing the golf club through.

2. Try to clip the top of the middle tee “only” be making some swings with a 7-iron. The golf club will have to go between the outside golf tees at a slight inside out pathway to keep from hitting them. If you are able to do this over and over again, you will know that your club is precisely traveling from the inside and not the outside. If you are hitting the outside tees, this means that you are coming over the top and need to practice on your swing.

This drill will help you perfect the inside out golf swing path.

Swing Inside Pathway Drill

1. Place a golf ball on the ground and lay your club down about 8 inches away from the ball and parallel to your target line. Then, lay another golf club outside the first one, with it pointing about 20 yards to the right of the proposed target (if you are a right hand golfer). The 2nd club should form an angle of approximately 10 degrees to the target line. You will want to make certain that both clubs are far enough away so that you don’t hit them when you swing.

2. Now, practice taking your golf club back (backswing) along the club that is parallel to your target line and then advance (downswing) along the path of the angled club – striking the ball with an inside out golf swing.

If you perform this drill consistently, you’ll soon ingrain that vital inside out path into your swing.