Individuality is important in golf. You don’t want to attempt to turn yourself into a golf robot, because the results you achieve from such a plan won’t be particularly impressive. Sure, you can benefit from advice aimed at improving your game, but you always have to pick and choose how to implement that advice. Every golfer is unique, and only you can make the final decision on what will work and what won’t.
With that cleared up, we are going to lay out a sample plan that you can use for a warm up template. You should not feel compelled in any way to stick with this plan precisely. It is simply one option, and hopefully it will get your mind working on a plan that is right for you. Feel free to start with this as your framework, or feel free to start from scratch. Again, it truly is up to you in the end.
Arriving at the course. For this example, we are going to imagine that you have arrived at the course with one hour before your tee time. It is wise to plan on using the first ten minutes on ‘administrative’ tasks. You need to get your clubs out of the car, put your golf shoes on, and pay for your round. When done with this prep work, you’ll likely have around 50 minutes to tee time.
Head to the putting green. It is a good idea to start your warm up on the putting green. Sure, most golfers start on the driving range, but we think it is a good idea to at least roll a few putts first. Spend five minutes or so hitting putts back and forth across the green. You should be focused on long putts at this point, getting a good feel for the speed of the putting surfaces.
Range time. After a few minutes of putting, walk over to the range and hit your warm up shots. Plan to use about 15-20 minutes of your warm up time on this phase of the process. You don’t want to rush through your warm up, but you should also keep an eye on the clock to make sure you don’t run out of time. When you are finished hitting balls, there should be about 25 minutes left until your tee time.
Short game. At this time, you are going to use whatever short game facilities are available to hit some chip and pitch shots (and bunker shots, if possible). Spend 10 minutes on this part of the warm up and you will be down to 15 minutes left before starting your round.
Return to the putting green. To finish things up, you are going to head back to the practice green for 10 minutes of putting. At this point, you should hit mostly short putts, with a few long putts mixed in. After putting for 10 minutes, you will be ready to head to the tee 5 minutes ahead of your time, which is perfect.
For most golfers, the process listed above will work nicely. If you wish, you can start with this exact plan and make adjustments after you have tried it out once or twice. Of course, you will need to make minor changes based on the facility you are using for the day. For example, if the driving range is a long walk (or cart ride) from the putting green, you might need additional time.
