When it comes to staying atop your golf game, nothing beats practicing and playing out of doors. That’s just a fact. However, if you live where it gets prohibitively cold for several months of the year, that’s not really an option. Don’t despair, though, because there are ways to improve your golf game during the off-season.
The Issue
The issue with indoor golf is that there are simply no substitutes for a trifecta of elements that comprise a big part of the sport. Those include poor-shot consequences; terrain, wind, and temperature; along with grass and the ball’s lie.
Still, you can effectively work on your game during winter and be ready when the weather breaks.
Get in Shape
If you truly wish to up your golf game, you can use winter months to get in improved golf shape, which could provide you with a competitive edge on the links later.
So that your golf muscles retain their “memory,” wield a golf club – weighted or regular — as frequently as possible. It’s better to begin slowly than work your way up to swift, balanced swings. In fact, it’s a good idea to pencil in swing time every single day or as often as you can. Such repetitions are important to your overall progress.
However, if you’re weary of practice swings, you can always give a golf simulator a go. Such equipment is perfect for full-swing practice.
Get the Right Tools
Incorporating a golf launch monitor is ideal and will boost your golf simulation experience. The electronic device can track ball flight characteristics such as distance and direction.
To see where ball contact is happening, put foot spray or impact tape on your club face. The aim is to find just the right spot on your golf face each time. You can also use household mirrors to check posture and grip.
There’s one part of your game that you can practice indoors that’s tantamount to real-life play: putting. You would do well to invest some time over the winter in improving your putting mechanics. To help with your stroke, you can use ramps, sticks, path boards, and mirrors. You can even make some of these aids yourself.
Look Over Your Equipment
You’ve got your body in better shape for golf, so it’s time to extend the favor to your equipment. This doesn’t have to result in your purchasing a new set of clubs. Oftentimes, such maintenance can mean something as rudimentary and inexpensive as switching out your club’s worn grips. In fact, such an upgrade is one of the best things you can do this winter. Be sure to have the same grips on all your clubs at the right size.
Go to School
Well, not literally. But it’s a good idea to use some of your time during the cold season to bone up on your knowledge of the game. Recommended books include “Fearless Golf” by Gio Valiante and “Be a Player” by Pia Nilsson. These tomes home golf’s non-mechanical aspects and the play and mindset of the game’s best players. Consider putting them on your nightstand.
Ultimately, if you really want to improve your golf game during the off-season, you simply must put in the work. After all, you do get what you put in, and warm weather will return before you know it.
Between upgrading your equipment, getting your golf body in shape, using a golf launch monitor and other tools, and reading up on the game, you’ll be all set when spring has sprung.
