The FIVE minute range warm up

What can you accomplish in 5 minutes?

TWO of the most important aspects of the golf swing are:

1. the TEMPO of the SWING and
2. the role of the hands at IMPACT (hand-body-clubhead co-ordination)

In 5 minutes, if you can work on either of these, you will have beaten most of the competition. This simple drill was taught to me by one of my coaches. It is also in the repertoire of a few famous golfers – including Davis Love 3rd.

Establishing the Tempo ( in under 5 minutes)

Some people try to establish a tempo for their DRIVER – since that is usually the FIRST thing they will use on the course. Some work on a shorter club tempo – realizing that their irons will be used more frequently. I am going to propose a drill that combines a long club and a short club – to establish a smooth tempo for the upcoming round.

Hit a ball off a tee with a 3 wood – SOFTLY – so that it flies just about 50-60 yards.

When you take a LONG club (like a 3 wood) – and swing it SOFTLY (NOT at full speed) – you are forced to synchronize your body’s movement with that of the clubhead. How SOFTLY? Try to hit your 3 wood just about 50-60 yards.  That will give you a target speed to aim for. This will also give your body AMPLE TIME to co-ordinate itself with the much faster moving clubhead.

Don’t believe me? Just try it next time on the range.  Once you can make good contact with this SOFT hit, just repeat with about 10-20 balls (keeping our 5 minute restriction in mind).

That is ALL you need to get a sound tempo going into the round. You will be amazed at how easy it is to swing everything ABOVE the 3 wood and BELOW as well.

1. You could do this drill with a 5 wood – equally effective – though I personally prefer the 3 wood.
2. This drill works better the HIGHER you tee the ball – after all, you are trying to get some form of hand-eye-body co-ordination going – and having a high tee helps with that.

Summary

While 5 minutes may not sound like a lot of time, often, that is all that weekend golfers have to work with. However, it is possible to use those minutes wisely. Either work on tempo – the most important of all golf fundamentals, or work on the making solid impact. This post describes methods to accomplish both of these in a short period of time. I know that when I do either of these drills prior to a round, I play well from the first tee itself. It doesn’t take me 17 holes to ‘find my rhythm’ . Do you have any drills that have helped you warm up in a short period of time? Do share.