Warm up practices of golfers: are they adequate?

Background—Although it is widely recommended that golfers warm up before play or practice to enhance their physical performance and reduce their injury risk, it is not known to what extent they actually undertake such warm up procedures. Objective—To collect information about the proportion of golfers who actively warm up and to determine the types of warm up behaviours. Methods—This study was conducted over three weeks at three different golfing venues: a private golf course, a public golf course, and a golf driving range. Golfers' warm up behaviours, defined as any form of preparative exercise, were recorded by direct observation by two independent observers. Results—The sample consisted of 1040 amateur golfers (852 men and 188 women) aged at least 18 years. Only 54.3% (95% confidence interval 49.8 to 58.8) performed some form of warm up activity. Air swings on the tee were the most commonly observed warm up activity, with 88.7% (95% confidence interval 85.9 to 91.5) of golfers who warmed up performing these. Conclusions—Only a small proportion of amateur golfers perform appropriate warm up exercises. To improve on this, golfers should be educated about the possible benefits of warming up and be shown how to perform an appropriate warm up routine.