Ideal Number of Practice Throws Before a Round

[JHern]

I've figured out that, if I go and right pec drill into a fence for a while before playing a round, that my drives will be a lot better. Or just warming up by throwing a number of drives in an open field.

While warming up is usually talked about in the context of putting practice before a round, driving practice and drills are another universe, and they can take a lot more out of the thrower in terms of energy and working of muscles. For example, if I do 200 right pec drills into a fence in 20 minutes, I might be too exhausted to play well (unless I did it in a ridiculously relaxed manner).

So my question is this: What is the ideal pre-round driving practice or drills, and how much is too much, how much is too little, etc.? How does this ideal vary for 18 holes to play, or 27, or even 36?

[Lithicon]

First off, I usually just stretch for a few minutes. You could incorporate your pec drills in for about 5-10 minutes total here.I personally just take 5-15 minutes to putt after stretching. Depending upon if i'm waiting for someone join, I might actually throw 2-3 drives before a round starts, or throw 2-3 on the first tee if it's a casual round.

Generally I try to keep my pregame routine at the most 20 minutes. For me, that's enough, others it might not be.
Couple minutes stretching, few drives, usually takes a few minutes if you retrieve them. With the putting, around 5-10 minutes. So that's usually 10-15 minutes max.

As far as the pec drills, I'd think like putting. Limiting it to quality, instead of quantity would benefit more. So, if you felt you done some enough quality drills, then go ahead and play. Remember this, and this goes for almost anything.
It takes the human body around 1000 repetitions to gain muscle memory.. So, if you're doing 200 a day, five days or so you're gonna have a muscle memory and perform it more fluidly(almost second nature. BUT, if you're doing it wrong, it takes 3000 repetitions to lose, and gain a new muscle memory. So, you're far better doing quality over quantity. And, this is used in police training, because drawing your weapon from your holster, faster, and correctly will ultimatly save your life. They stress that more than anything. BUT, the key is doing it correctly. Because, if will take them longer to relearn it, and have it become almost second nature again. This is often the case with people and form. While they're doing it, they might not be doing it correctly, and it takes longer to fix, than learn it right the first time.

[JHern]

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm probably on the 3000-ish right pec drill track right now. Although I've seen a lot of improvement already in my throws, it will take a good deal more repetitive practice to get it better ingrained, and then maybe I won't need to do very many before a round.

[Mark Ellis]

After my normal cycle of stretching, short range catch, practice putting and a handful of drives, playing a few holes seems just about right before starting a round. So a half hour to forty five minutes of warm-up. If I happen to be running late and can't get in at least 15 minutes of warm-up I am in trouble.

I see a lot of young kids, (like under 30 years old, mere young punks) who just roll out of the car and saunter off to the first tee. There is no way that would work for me. Every morning my reward for crawling out of bed is being stiff and sore.

Something I have just started doing (and am quite disappointed that it seems to be working) is jogging for a few minutes before stretching. For the record I am not a runner, have never been a runner and really dislike running. Running is a crushing combination of pain and boredom. But running accelerates the warm up process. Damn, I might have to keep jogging.

What surprises me is how long it takes for me to get organized once I arrive at the park. I carry a variety of layers and shoes and discs and energy drinks and handwarmers and sunglasses and finger tape and water and assorted stuff and until I get the mix just right I keep trading stuff out. I can easily spend 15-20 minutes just screwing around.

[zj1002]

In response to the idea of running/jogging before a round. I used to bike to campus and then to the course after class. I can say I tended to play better when I got to warm up on my bike first. Even just a quick 10 min ride got my legs going. At first I expected it to be harmful and was shocked when my body seemed to be responding well to light-medium cardio activity.

[JR]

After my normal cycle of stretching, short range catch, practice putting and a handful of drives, playing a few holes seems just about right before starting a round. So a half hour to forty five minutes of warm-up. If I happen to be running late and can't get in at least 15 minutes of warm-up I am in trouble.

I see a lot of young kids, (like under 30 years old, mere young punks) who just roll out of the car and saunter off to the first tee. There is no way that would work for me. Every morning my reward for crawling out of bed is being stiff and sore.

Something I have just started doing (and am quite disappointed that it seems to be working) is jogging for a few minutes before stretching. For the record I am not a runner, have never been a runner and really dislike running. Running is a crushing combination of pain and boredom. But running accelerates the warm up process. Damn, I might have to keep jogging.

What surprises me is how long it takes for me to get organized once I arrive at the park. I carry a variety of layers and shoes and discs and energy drinks and handwarmers and sunglasses and finger tape and water and assorted stuff and until I get the mix just right I keep trading stuff out. I can easily spend 15-20 minutes just screwing around.

Even though I'm younger than you I also take a lot of time to warm up an get limber. And get cold and stiff soon. I'm not a runner either and an alternative to that is to carry an exercise band. You can target specific muscle groups, stretch and warm up with it. For warming up it's best to use very little resistance from the band and doing large motions quickly to get the heart pumping and you warmed up. You can warm up your whole body standing in place and using every muscle group means switching exercises which cuts the monotony of left right left right aaaargghhh!!!

[JHern]

Something I have just started doing (and am quite disappointed that it seems to be working) is jogging for a few minutes before stretching.

Yeah, same here. I hate running. But a good jog is useful. I prefer to do a few laps at a swimming pool, but can't often do that before a round!

[Mark Ellis]

Even though I'm younger than you I also take a lot of time to warm up an get limber. And get cold and stiff soon. I'm not a runner either and an alternative to that is to carry an exercise band. You can target specific muscle groups, stretch and warm up with it. For warming up it's best to use very little resistance from the band and doing large motions quickly to get the heart pumping and you warmed up. You can warm up your whole body standing in place and using every muscle group means switching exercises which cuts the monotony of left right left right aaaargghhh!!!

I agree. I love the stretchy bands and have used them for years. I have four different versions in my car right now. For me they seem to work better on arms and shoulders than the core. It is the stiffness in the back and legs and torso that jogging helps in a way that the stretchy bands do not. It seems I always have a stiff lower back.

I know that a few holes of playing usually limbers up the core but jogging does that much faster.