Golf warm up you say? Aren't you supposed to rush to the course, pull out the BIG DOG, take a few hacks at it and start your round? Is that what you do? Come on be honest with yourself. If so, what was the result on the first tee? I'll bet it wasn't even a par! Am I wrong?

I don't mean to add too much sarcasm in there, but I want to get your attention to the importance of doing golf warm up exercises to avoid those big numbers the first few holes.

Are you with me? Good.

Now let me talk to you like you're an athlete for a minute. Time to re-live the glory days one more time.

Now remember back in the day when you had a game, meet or competition. Did you run out on the field or court and start playing your sport?

I'll bet not!

You did a sport-specific warm up didn't you?

Well why wouldn't you do one before golf then? Ah?gotcha didn't I!

You would most definitely do a warm up. Not just pounding balls either. That's the worst thing you could do. You need to do golf warm up exercises to prepare for optimal performance on the course.

Now picture the golf swing and all it's moving parts. The shoulders are very active, if not the most active in the golf swing. So better do a couple of exercises for that area.

What about your golf posture? Well?your bent at the waist with tension on your lower back, hamstrings and glutes. So you better do one or two golf warm up exercises for those areas also.

Have I convinced you yet? If not, then keep your same routine and expect the same results. I hate to sound too negative, but I strongly believe you need to do your golf warm up exercises.

Here's one golf warm up exercise of eight, that I have put together to get you started on the right track.

I call it the squat with an arm raise:

*Feet shoulder width apart.

*Place club in front of you and hold with both hands for balance.

*Lower body by bending at the knees not hips.

*At the same time raise the club horizontaly up in front of you.

*Raise back up, lower the arms and repeat 15 times.

*Keep upper body very erect.

This is a great combination exercise that warms up the legs, lower back and shoulders all at the same time.

So next time you get to the course, at least do the above golf warm up exercise.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Check out his new at golf fitness products at Perform Better Golf.