Stretch Before You Drive

Hit It Longer

Stretching before golf is like eating broccoli -- we know it\'s good for us, but we don\'t partake nearly enough. It\'s worth showing up at the course 10 minutes early for this routine -- you\'ll avoid back trouble and have more power and endurance.


\"Without flexibility, the best players in the world aren\'t able to maintain their turn and hip speed from day to day,\" says Randy Myers, fitness director at PGA National Resort and Spa, who works on flexibility with more than 80 touring professionals. He sees amateurs wasting time on common moves, such as putting a club behind the shoulder blades. Instead, do it like the pros.
1. TORSO ROTATION
Lie on the floor with your back flat, and cross your left ankle over your right knee. Spread your arms out in a T. Keeping your shoulders on the floor, rotate your hips to the left, using the ankle to push down on the opposite knee. Try to put both knees on the floor. Hold for 8 seconds. Rotate to the right, keeping the left ankle on the right knee and leaving it pinned under the knee. Hold for 8 seconds. Perform three stretches per side.
2. HIP-FLEXOR EXTENSION
Stand with one knee resting, lower leg up, on a chair or locker-room bench. Lean forward slightly, as if addressing a ball, while keeping your back flat. Grab your raised foot and pull it toward your butt while lowering your hips toward the bench. Hold for 8 seconds.
3. BACK EXTENSION
Using your 5 iron, stand in your normal address position and hold the club horizontally in front of you. Place your hands at each end of the club with your elbows straight. Turn back and through as if you were making a swing, but hold for 5 seconds at the top of your backswing and 5 seconds in the finish position.