My usual rounds are first thing Sunday mornings but my routine is generally the same regardless of my start time. I will do some warmup exercises, body squats, pushups, etc for about 10-15 mins, followed by at least 30 mins of stretching to get everything moving, loosened up. This is done about an hour before I leave for the course and makes the club swinging and quick stretches at the first tee a little easier to do. I don't normally get to the range at the home course or practice green instead focusing again on loosening up. I will try to at least putt a little at a new course to see what their greens are like and will sometimes hit a bucket if convenient.
Beef I would say you just need to try to mix up your routine to see if it makes a differnce and would be worth your while.

legitimatebeef wrote:

DougE wrote: The process works for me and is much more involved than detailed here. Basically it's about the exact opposite of Beef's approach. But hey, whatever works for you, right? This is kind of the heart of what I'm getting at. How well does it actually work for me is what I wonder. I mean I would like to do more like you but the circumstances don't really afford it right now. Someday I will move out of the city, hopefully near a golf course and then maybe I'll be able to put some proper prep into my round. Do you find that your scores suffer when you aren't able to do your routine, or is it something you just enjoy doing regardless?

I can def tell a difference when I don't have the proper prep time, also it helps to slow things down and get into the mind set of golf. JMO

legitimatebeef wrote:

DougE wrote: The process works for me and is much more involved than detailed here. Basically it's about the exact opposite of Beef's approach. But hey, whatever works for you, right? This is kind of the heart of what I'm getting at. How well does it actually work for me is what I wonder. I mean I would like to do more like you but the circumstances don't really afford it right now. Someday I will move out of the city, hopefully near a golf course and then maybe I'll be able to put some proper prep into my round. Do you find that your scores suffer when you aren't able to do your routine, or is it something you just enjoy doing regardless?

Certainly, Beef, my game suffers for the first few holes if I don't go through, at least, an abbreviated pre-round routine. But, because I play and practice so regularly, I can usually find my game after a few holes IF I haven't lost all my confidence on the first few holes. But, by that time I may have already added 3 or 4 unnecessary strokes that could have been avoided with a little warm up. As a result, I play catch-up the rest of the round, with no room for additional errors. Practice before a round usually gets my confidence/comfort level up to where I am not nervous or tight when I step on the first tee. That's just me. I think my routine has a calming affect on me in general.

I play best if I just swing the club a few times and stretch my back muscles. If there is time, I'll hit a few very short chips with my lob wedge. But beyond that, I'll go sit on the bench and wait.

If I hit the range before a round, my back gets too sore to finish the round.