Warming Up - The More I Do, the Worse I Get!

[games]

In my mid 50s now, but still pretty flexible.  Maybe too flexible.

 

I've found while practicing, my first 3-5 swings are breaking rust.  Then, my next 10-20 swings have solid compression.  If I'm hitting Gap Wedge, it's carrying 105-110 yards.

 

Now, I'm completely loose.  Mentally I want MORE so I try to DO MORE.  But it's diminishing returns.  I try to get hands higher and deeper to get me to turn more.  I feel like I'm adding 10-20% more effort but only getting 5-7% more distance.

 

Mentally, I've tried to replicate the feeling of "semi loose" but it's tough to replicate.  I've had a couple of days where I could keep it and actually add to distance without the added effort.  It's really tough to replicate. 

 

Anyone else feel this way, and can share a Jedi mind trick to keep the feeling of my semi-loose swing?

[Hawkeye77]

No idea but when it happens to me it’s because I’ve gone from a nice warmup to overthinking and working on my swing.

 

Just headed to the range now because I played like refried a@@ yesterday and tossed up an 89 and lost 4 new golf balls and hit drives that would have taken the heads off inquisitive squirrels. 
 

LOL, so I won’t just be warming up and will likely then play golf swing this morning and break every rule of common sense but what the heck. It’s a beautiful morning and I can play in a sweater!
 

The complete noob “analyst” in me thinks you are pushing yourself beyond the limits of efficient and wonders what the more effort looks like on video vs. those rock solid shots that may not go quite as far. 
 

Good luck! 

[games]

20 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

you are pushing yourself beyond the limits of efficient and wonders what the more effort looks like on video vs. those rock solid shots that may not go quite as far. 

Good thought!  I guess that's why I have this newfangled personal launch monitor thingy with the built in camera, right @Hawkeye77??  LOL.  Seriously, thanks for giving me the idea!

 

After your session, are you heading up to the Sanford this weekend?  I was thinking of going but eight hours of total driving...

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, games said:

Good thought!  I guess that's why I have this newfangled personal launch monitor thingy with the built in camera, right @Hawkeye77??  LOL.  Seriously, thanks for giving me the idea!

 

After your session, are you heading up to the Sanford this weekend?  I was thinking of going but eight hours of total driving...

Nope, Iowa plays at 2:30!  Headed for the sofa!

[alfriday]

I too have a date with the BTN at 2:30 to watch the Hawks.  

 

Years ago I attended a golf school and I continue to follow their advice regarding warming up to this day.  The philosophy is simple, the point of warming up is to get yourself ready to play or practice: physically, mentally and emotionally.  To transition from the office or home to the course or range.  They recommended doing the same warmup each time, whether playing or practicing.  

 

One key is to have a set end to the warm up period.  In your case, that end would be (say) after 15 shots. You are loose, have solid compression and swinging well.  Take a short break and then move on to the course.  If it's a range session, then move on to what you want to practice during the session.  Having a set end should help with the desire to "do more."  

 

When you transition to practice, hit to specific targets.  Pick a target 105 out for your GW and hit to it.  That's what you do on the course.  The purpose of the shot is to hit the target, not to chase an extra 5 yards of distance. (If you want more distance, you can do specific drills for that during the range session.)    

 

My warm up:  

 

Set dynamic stretching routine and breathing exercises

3 balls, 1/2 swing to a different target each time, special attention to fundamentals

5 balls with one iron:  chip, short pitch. long pitch, 3/4 shot and full shot, all to a target

3 balls with driver, each to a different target, paying special attention to alignment

5 balls as above but with a different iron

 

I'm then ready to practice or to hit the practice green and then go play.  

 

 

     

 

 

[Dpavs]

4 hours ago, games said:

In my mid 50s now, but still pretty flexible.  Maybe too flexible.

 

I've found while practicing, my first 3-5 swings are breaking rust.  Then, my next 10-20 swings have solid compression.  If I'm hitting Gap Wedge, it's carrying 105-110 yards.

 

Now, I'm completely loose.  Mentally I want MORE so I try to DO MORE.  But it's diminishing returns.  I try to get hands higher and deeper to get me to turn more.  I feel like I'm adding 10-20% more effort but only getting 5-7% more distance.

 

Mentally, I've tried to replicate the feeling of "semi loose" but it's tough to replicate.  I've had a couple of days where I could keep it and actually add to distance without the added effort.  It's really tough to replicate. 

 

Anyone else feel this way, and can share a Jedi mind trick to keep the feeling of my semi-loose swing?

 

I think what you are describing is practicing and not warming up... the two really should be treated differently IMO. That said, when practicing I too am working on establishing a repeatable slower tempo'd but a looser, smoother, more controlled, 3/4 to full swing for what I think are the same reasons, i.e. when I am able to do it the result is a higher and longer golf shot. My success depends on how well I transition to the down swing it seems. When I do groove a few in a row I find myself subconsciously starting to get too aggressive again and things go to heck in a handbag. Not giving in to this is the demon I am still trying to chase away.

[games]

Thank you all for responding so kindly.  Obviously, I'm not properly compartmentalizing warmup from practice.  I've been on this distance journey for so long, I'm not properly focused.

 

I just have to continue to practice Monte's prescription for this stupid trail hip move toward the target line.  More distance will come.  Thank you, guys!

[nitram]

Do you think you could commit (for one range warm up session and a round) to limiting yourself to a parallel left arm swing and honestly assessing your results??

 

You've shown that you're a Monte student and he has stated countless times that most amateurs (especially at our age) would be better served by a parallel left arm swing. I don't pretend to know anything about your swing and certainly empathize with you on the distance perspective, just throwing that out there for your consideration. 🍻

[games]

@nitram My wife will tell you that I'm so stubborn I can commit to pretty much anything, no matter how wrong I am... 

As a testimony to my stubbornness - errr- ability to focus, I just came back from the range, where I spent my time working to keep my trail hip from thrusting.  It was a good session.  

 

There is some appeal to your suggestion.  I will definitely consider it.   Ironically, this morning, I also received a very kind personal message from an instructor who I've always wanted to work with.  His name is Doug Ferreri, and he was a long-time teaching assistant to Paul Bertholy.  One of Doug's students told him of my own swing thread and he sent me a nice message of encouragement and an article Paul wrote decades ago...

 

Thank you for your suggestion!  Definitely thinking about it, now...      

 

 

[EmperorPenguin]

Before the round of golf, you indeed warm up, but you never over-do it.  This is how Jack Nicklaus prepares for a round of golf.

 

When I first get up in the morning, I'm trying to prepare myself for that first tee shot, the most important shot of the day, to get off to a good start.  How do I prepare myself, to get myself in the right frame of mind?  I get up at least two and a half hours before I play in the morning, a little later than that if I play in the afternoon.  I get up in the morning, go have breakfast.  I try to get to the golf course about an hour and a half before I play.  I want to make sure that I am relaxed, not rushing.  I want to get my mind on what I'm doing.

 

I go to the practice tee about 45-50 minutes before I tee off.  I hit balls for about 25 minutes.  I go to the putting green.  I hit a few putts: hit a few long putts, hit a few short putts.  Then I hit a few chips.  Then about 6-8 minutes before I start I go to the first tee.  I want to make sure that I have plenty of time to get there.  I count my clubs to make sure that I have fourteen clubs.  I make sure that everything is settled, make sure that everything I want is ready.  Then I'm relaxed and I have a minute to take a couple breaths, relax, think about that tee shot.  When it is my turn to play, I tee the ball up, and say OK, I'm ready to play. I've taken my game from the practice tee to the first tee, now let's show it.  Get up, do my routine behind the ball.  Take a couple practice swings because it has been about twenty minutes since I last hit balls, and then I'm ready to go.  Concentrate, focus on what I want to do.  This is probably the most important shot of the day, to get off in the right frame of mind.  Focus on that, make up my mind on what I'm going to do, and then do it.

 

This is the routine I use, and it has always worked for me.  Give it a try.

[dubbelbogey]

I completely agree with those points made above that warming up is definitely not practice or any sort of "skill developing" range session.

 

Warming up is about getting the body warm - literally. On the brink of breaking a sweat.

 

The other part of warming up is getting the mind focused on the upcoming activity. In this case playing golf. 

 

As for the swing and hitting balls during warmup - I pretty much stick to those shots that I know I can execute easily. Short wedges, full swings with short-ish irons and driver. Trying to figure out how to hit a 5i laser or 3w bomb off a tight lie is left to practice sessions completely divorced from a playing round. Hitting low percentage shots during warmup is not good for the mind.

 

If I'm in a rush to get to the tee box, I think a better warmup than hastily hitting balls on the range is a brisk walk, short jog, or if you're not too self conscious, some jumping jacks or equivalent and maybe a couple dozen swings with a heavy club (I just grab two irons and swing those as I don't own a heavy club.)

 

Doing anything that leads to potential frustration is the wrong thing to be doing.

 

 

[EmperorPenguin]

Yes, you develop skills by practicing after your round to correct the mistakes you made during the round.  It is far better to correct those mistakes while the shots were fresh in your mind.  However, we are social creatures and we all want to go to the bar after the round instead of working on our games; that's why we don't play golf for a living.  Those who practice after the round are loners and low-handicappers.  If I play by myself I will do that, but if I am with friends never.

[Bajorek3]

So I understand the difference between warming up and practicing. I have a solid warm up routine before rounds and happy with it. I have a problem with practicing. I’ll start a range session off productive. I get warm then start looking at fundamental adjustments I want to make. After about 50 swings I lose it. I can longer be constructive  every swing it feels like a 50% chance I get any results. I’m in shape, it’s not physical fatigue, could it possibly be mental? Any advice on this matter because I’m lost. 

[UKGolfer86]

On 5/30/2024 at 4:55 AM, Bajorek3 said:

So I understand the difference between warming up and practicing. I have a solid warm up routine before rounds and happy with it. I have a problem with practicing. I’ll start a range session off productive. I get warm then start looking at fundamental adjustments I want to make. After about 50 swings I lose it. I can longer be constructive  every swing it feels like a 50% chance I get any results. I’m in shape, it’s not physical fatigue, could it possibly be mental? Any advice on this matter because I’m lost. 

Is there a chance that you are focusing so much on one part of your swing in your drills, that you gradually forget to do the rest of it properly?  

 

Do you step back from the ball and go through your pre-shot routine on each and every ball or do you just drag one into place and hit again?  I find if i go through my full routine each time, visualise what i am going to do and then do it, i get much better results, even if just a drill.

 

I do have a point in my practice where enough is enough.  Thats usually about 50 full swings, a few more if doing drills that are less than full swing, after that i will hit some pitches/chips and maybe some putts.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 5/29/2024 at 8:55 PM, Bajorek3 said:

So I understand the difference between warming up and practicing. I have a solid warm up routine before rounds and happy with it. I have a problem with practicing. I’ll start a range session off productive. I get warm then start looking at fundamental adjustments I want to make. After about 50 swings I lose it. I can longer be constructive  every swing it feels like a 50% chance I get any results. I’m in shape, it’s not physical fatigue, could it possibly be mental? Any advice on this matter because I’m lost. 

 

Yeah, I'd say most likely it's mental. Not so much mental "fatigue" as that you just get bored and lose interest. Practice can be repetitious and tedious, and you might be getting to a point where you're just done. 

 

A large bucket at my usual range is about 100 balls. I quite often walk away without hitting them all, usually stopping somewhere between two thirds of the bucket and 80-85 balls. Sometimes if everything's going really well, I stop because I feel that the practice has been productive and I like to walk away when I'm still hitting them well. Sometimes if I'm having a REALLY bad day on the range, like last Friday after doing a strenuous upper body strength workout Thursday that threw everything off, I'll leave because I know I'm just not getting any productive practice done. 

 

You may find that doing something like @bortass does could help, though... Break your practice time into 20-minute blocks. For each of those 20-minute blocks, you have ONE specific thing you're working on, planned before you even get to the range / practice area. Then you move on to something else. 

 

But if you find that you can't break the mental hurdle, maybe just understand that about 50 balls is a practice session "for you". It will probably mean that you should go practice more often to get the total number of practice reps up, rather than fewer but longer practice sessions. 

[bortass]

@Bajorek3 This is my routine based on what @MonteScheinblumhas said at both clinics I attended and he's talked about it in some of his Instagram Live videos as well. Adam Young also covers the topic in more detail in The Practice Manual. I will spend 20 minutes working on something, and yes I set a timer on my phone. Take a 5 minute break to have something to drink and play on my phone, then do another 20 minute session.

 

We are training our central nervous system, not muscles. Repetitively doing the same thing for an extended period is counter productive because after about 20 minutes or so, our brain checks out and we start to revert to our old habits. We lose focus and go into autopilot mode. The recommendation was work on something for  up to 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. That break is exactly that, time for your brain to relax. Monte said to go watch penquin videos, lol. Conceptually this is the same thing as resting between sets if you are weightlifting. After your break, go do another up to 20 minute block of work. It can be the same thing you did earlier or something different.