How To Practice Your Golf Game In The Winter
By Paul Wilson
Now that the cold weather is upon us, it doesn't mean that you
should hang up the clubs. Sure, you may not be able to play very
often but it doesn't mean that you can't keep working on your
game. Here are a few tips so you don't have to re-learn the game
once the spring rolls around.
Grip
A great swing starts with a great grip. Learning the proper
neutral grip can be very uncomfortable. The easiest way to work
on it is while your watching your favorite TV show. Before the
show starts, take a practice club (preferably with a training
grip on it) and place your hands on in perfect position. While
you are watching, you will be concentrating more on the TV show
than your grip. As a commercial comes on, take your grip off.
Once the show starts again, re-place your hands on the club
again. Because you are watching TV, you won't be thinking about
how uncomfortable it is to learn the proper grip. If you keep
doing this regularly throughout the winter, you will have the
proper neutral grip mastered as the new season rolls around.
The Set Up
The proper athletic set up position takes effort. After a long
lay off, your body will try to set up in a position that takes
very little effort. This means that you may end up in a position
that is all hunched over or not athletic. To remedy this, try to
set up a practice station at home using a full length mirror
(these can be purchased cheaply at Home Depot or Wal-Mart). Once
you have your mirror(s), take your proper set up position and
have a friend or spouse place masking tape on the mirror
indicating your spine angle, and hip and knee flex. Throughout
the winter, keep doing your set up and look to see if you match
the masking tape when you are in your set up position. This is
an easy way to make sure you don't get lazy and lose your set up
angles throughout the winter.
The Full Swing
A long lay off effects your full swing as well. Making a great
swing requires you to coil and uncoil your body properly. This
action takes effort. After taking time off of this game, you
will want to hit the ball the easiest way possible. This means
you will just try to hit the ball with your arms as opposed to
coiling and uncoiling your body. To keep your body coiling and
uncoiling properly, just take one of your clubs, a broom stick
or a weight lifting bar (no weights) and hold the ends of the
object as you place it across your shoulders. Then, take your
athletic set up position. From here, simply coil the shoulders
back in a circular, clockwise motion, while resisting your hip
turn. Once you are tightly wound up, uncoil in a counter
clockwise direction by turning the lower body the other way. If
you do this drill properly, the object on your shoulders will
resemble the twirling blades of a helicopter. If your club is
moving in an up and down see saw action, you are not coiling and
uncoiling properly. Just remember to make sure that you mimic
the helicopter blades and get the tight feeling as you coil
back. If you do, you will maintain the proper coiling and
uncoiling of your body so that you won't just try to hit the
ball with your arms next season.
The Short Game
As you know, the short game is a very important part of the
game. Unfortunately, a long lay off really causes you to loose
any touch you have around the greens. All you have to do to keep
your short game sharp, is practice a little throughout the
winter.
First, you should set up a putting station. There are plenty of
inexpensive putting devices out there that will create an
artificial golf hole that you can set up at home (some even
include indoor outdoor carpet for those who don't have the
proper surface). Try to practice putting as often as you can
(especially the short putts). If you have a friend or spouse
that likes to play golf, try to have putting competitions on a
regular basis. This will help you to keep your putting sharp
when the new season rolls around.
Secondly, you can use this same putting station to practice your
chipping stroke (if you don't have the proper chipping surface,
simply find a 1x1 piece of higher pile carpet and lay it on the
ground to chip from). If you do use a piece of carpet as I
suggest, you can move it closer or farther away from the hole,
to vary your chipping distances. When next season begins, you
will be able to get the ball close to the hole instead of
leaving these chip shots short of the green.
Finally, pitching can really be difficult if you haven't
practiced in a while. What I used to do in the winter, was to
practice hitting pitch shots into an old upholstered chair. This
game me a specific target to aim for. If you don't have an old
chair like this laying around, you can always get a small
pitching net at any golf store. Just set up the net or chair in
an area that you won't break anything. Then, use your small
piece of carpet to pitch from and you will be sure to keep your
touch around the greens.
In order to eliminate the beginning of the season frustration,
it just takes a little creativity and practice. Hopefully, you
will set up a practice station at home and try a few of the
drills I mentioned. It does take a little effort, but once the
new season rolls around, you will be glad you kept working on
your game.
Paul Wilson
Creator - Swing Machine Golf
|
Thinking about Coming to
Las Vegas? |