Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on highly skilled golfers’ drive performance |
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| Authors: | Ben L Langdown Jack ET Wells Sean Graham Matt W Bridge |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Education, Childhood, Youth &2. Sport, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK;3. The Professional Golfers’ Association, The PGA National Training Academy, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, UK;4. Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research, University of Bedfordshire, Bedford, UK;5. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK |
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| Abstract: | Previous research has highlighted the positive effect that different warm-up protocols have on golf performance (e.g. Sorbie et al., 2016; Tilley & Macfarlane, 2012) with the design of warm-ups and programmes targeting and improving golf performance through the activation and development of specific muscle groups. This study aimed to examine the acute effects of two warm-up protocols on golf drive performance in comparison to a control condition. Using a randomised counterbalanced design over three testing sessions, twenty-three highly skilled golfers completed the control, dynamic and resistance-band warm-up conditions. Following each condition, a GC2 launch monitor was used to record ball velocity and other launch parameters of ten shots hit with the participants’ own driver. A repeated-measures ANOVA found significant increases in ball velocity (ηp2 = .217) between the control and both the dynamic and resistance-band warm-up conditions but no difference between these latter two, and a reduction in launch angle between control and dynamic conditions. The use of either a dynamic stretching or resistance-band warm-up can have acute benefits on ball velocity but golfers should liaise with a PGA Professional golf coach to effectively integrate this into their golf driving performance. |
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| Keywords: | Golf swing golf ball velocity resistance exercise dynamic stretching |
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