Professional golfers are always looking for ways to help boost their performance on the golf course. Many have discovered a simple exercise that can active both sides of the brain for more energy and better focus on the golf course.

“An active warm-up, rather than a static one (i.e., holding a toe touch for 30 seconds) is more effective in helping me in my pre-round routine,” says former LPGA Tour player and Assistant Women’s Golf Coach at The Ohio State University. “I do an exercise called the ‘cross-crawl’ that activates both sides of the brain as well as warming up all the muscles in the legs, arms and back.”

According to Strom, a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in exercise science, the ‘cross-crawl’ exercise gets her heart rate pumping, oxygen flowing to her muscles and helps to facilitate balanced nerve activation across the corpus callosum (that part in your brain that connects the right half to the left half).

“By touching your elbows to your opposite knees, you’re getting the left and right brains synchronized,” says Strom. By doing this exercise on a regular basis, more nerve networks form, thus making communication between the two hemispheres faster and more integrated for higher level reasoning on the golf course.

Incorporate this exercise into your pre-round warm up routine the next time you play or practice. The crossing action you are doing with your elbows and knees will help you feel more balanced, think more clearly and improve your coordination on the golf course.