Watch how U.S. Open champ Dustin Johnson warms up to hit bombs and win majors

DJ prepares his body to hit 380-yard drives

Dustin Johnson is arguably the most athletic golfer on the planet. At 6ft 4in and a lean 14 stone, Johnson is able to launch drives that can bring most courses to their knees. 

But even someone like DJ can’t do it without a proper warm-up. If you want to play your best golf – including hitting powerful drives – you need to prepare properly. Watch how Johnson does it and make sure you have a proper warm-up routine before every round you play. 

Johnson arrives at the course 90 minutes before his tee time. If you tend to pull into the car park with 90 seconds until you’re due on the tee, you need to change your routine. 

DJ starts with 12 60-degree wedges, before moving to his 54-degree sand wedge, which he hits 26 times. He then moves onto the pitching wedge, hitting 13 of those.

With 55 minutes left until his tee time, Johnson moves up to his 8-iron, which gets 12 balls.

He then hits a remarkable 33 4-irons, which is as many full shots as some tour pros hit – and Johnson gets through that with one club.

Johnson hits four 3-woods and 11 drivers, before going back to his irons and hitting 13 6-irons.

With 21 minutes to go, DJ heads to the short game area to work on his chipping. He uses his wedge to hit a variety of short shots, before practising a few pitches from the rough.

With only six minutes left until he’s due to start, DJ heads to the putting green, where he hits two putts from 25 feet and 12 from five feet.

Then it’s off to the tee. 

The fact that two-thirds of the shots DJ hits are under 100 yards is fairly typical of a tour pro warm-up, reflecting the type of shots they will face during the round, but his warm-up is unique in how few putts he hits. Critics would say that, given his putter has cost him tournaments in the past, he should look to adjust this balance, but it’s hard to argue with the U.S. Open champion.