7 Winter Golf Tips

I am fortunate enough to live in Central Texas where winter golf means wearing pants and maybe being delayed by an hour because of frost. Not to brag, but I can play golf year around and don’t have to worry about my golf game getting rusty during the months of November, December, January and February. Unfortunately for a lot of golfers though, the game is completely vacant from their lives during these four months.

But just because mother nature doesn’t like to cooperate when it comes our wants and needs as golfers doesn’t mean you have to completely lose your golf game during the winter. Below I’ve put together seven winter golf tips to help you stay sane and keep your game sharp even with 12 inches of snow on the ground outside.

Get An Indoor Hitting Net

I recently got a golf hitting net and was really blown away with the quality and ease of use. Setting up something similar in your garage or basement can provide you with the perfect area to take full swings with all the golf clubs in your bag. While you may not be able to see the ball flight with this setup, you will still be able to have a good feel for impact and club positions through the entire swing.

Set up an Indoor Putting Green

If you can only choose one of these golf tips to execute during the winter months, having an indoor putting green is probably the most ideal. Dialing in your putting stroke and keeping it sharp during the winter months will help save several strokes once the snow finally melts. Adding in putting aids or other gadgets can also help you get better while your golfing buddies are probably doing nothing.

Get Fit

Look, I get it. You couldn’t work out during the spring, summer and fall because you were trying to play as much golf as possible. But now that winter is here and you’re not playing golf, why not use this time to lose a few pounds and get stronger for the next golf season? Working on your flexibility, leg strength and core muscles can help you pick up pick extra yards when spring time rolls around.

Take Indoor Golf Lessons

Indoor golf lessons are a great way to avoid the winter weather outside while sharpening and fine tuning your golf game for the upcoming spring months. Places like Golfsmith offer GolfTec instruction inside their stores and many other local independent golf instructors also offer indoor lessons complete with video recording and the latest technology.

Use a Golf Simulator

A golf simulator can be a great addition to the indoor hitting net from above. While high-end golf simulator packages can set you back up $25,000 or more, there are other much reasonable packages out there to help you stay golf ready during the winter months. Take OptiShot Golf for example. Packages range from $300 – $500 and you can hook it directly into your computer and play some of the best courses in the world.

Carve out some space in your garage or basement, set up a golf hitting net, hook up the golf simulator and invite your regular golf group over for some winter golf competition indoors!

Go to a Golf Retail Store

This one is the only tip that doesn’t involve spending money and I bet many of you already do this even in perfect weather. My local Goldsmith store has four golf simulator screens and another 8 hitting bays in which you can test all the golf clubs you want. They also have a massive putting green with every putter you can think of. I go in there frequently throughout the entire year just to swing the new golf clubs and test the new putters. Why not do this 1-2 times per week during the winter months to at least get some full swings in and loosen up? I guarantee you won’t be the only one doing it!

Move to a Warmer Climate

While this winter golf tip may be unrealistic for most folks, it is probably the best solution for helping to keep your golf game in shape until spring. Relocating to a warmer climate during the winter months will allow you to play real golf on real golf courses until the snow melts. Texas, Florida, California and Arizona are some of the most popular places to relocate to during the winter months. Is it coincidence that these four states are well known for having great golf courses?

Even by implementing just one of these winter golf tips to your routine during the snowy months can greatly help your game. Just think how much better you’re golf game will be if you execute on several of the ideas?

Do you live in an area where playing golf outside is completely void from your life during the winter? If so, let us know in the comments below how you keep your golf game sharp!

Front9Back9 – Ryan Young – Front9Back9.com
Blogger, Golf Fanatic

Have you ever met a real life golf nut? Meet Ryan. He blogs about golf, has a podcast about golf, watches a lot of golf and reads a lot about golf. If he’s not playing golf, he’s likely thinking about the next time he will play golf. He hails from the great state of Texas and has a unrealistic goal of playing all 800+ golf courses in the state.

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Be Playing the Same Golf Equipment as the Pros

PGA Tour golfers are an extraordinary talent. They spend hundreds of hours practicing their craft each week in the hopes the time spent will pay off in form of a victory and big paycheck. To get there, they must have the best golf equipment accompanying them every step of the way all tuned to the precise specifications for every shot.

It’s hard to resist the urge to go out and buy the latest driver to hit the market just because your favorite player put it in his bag and picked up 15 yards of distance. If you’re a regular reader of online golf publications such as Golf.com and Golf Digest, you’ve surely noticed the featured content highlighting the next greatest driver being played on Tour.

But just because PGA Tour golfers are playing the latest and greatest golf equipment, doesn’t mean you, as an amateur weekend golfer, should run out to get the same equipment.

Here are three specific reasons why you shouldn’t be playing the same equipment as the pros.

PGA Tour Pros Have Precise Tools to Measure Every Aspect of Their Swing

PGA Tour pros have the best technology available at their fingertips to measure every inch of their golf swing. Everything from ball speed to spin rate to launch angle is constantly monitored and these pros know when something isn’t accurate with their equipment.

When they find something off, they can walk into one of the many 18-wheeler equipment trailers brought to each tournament and get it fixed immediately. Inside these trucks you’ll find every measuring device and computer program available to make sure the pros are precisely fit and fine-tuned to their exact specifications.

For us amateur golfers, unless you have all the tools in your garage, have to rely on the friendly folks at Edwin Watts to rush you through a fitting session so they can move onto the next customer. Yes, you should always get fit for your golf equipment, but the same driver head and shaft combination being played by Jason Day is not the same combination that will make you a better golfer.

PGA Tour Pros Don’t Pay For Their Equipment

You know that large 18-wheeler I mentioned above? Yeah, that truck contains every golf club head, golf shaft and golf grip needed to make sure any golfer can walk through that door and get a new club in their hands within hours.

Golfers on the PGA Tour don’t pay for their equipment. They have the luxury of receiving golf equipment at no charge from any equipment manufacturer looking to get their equipment in the hands of pros. If one guy doesn’t like his wedge anymore, all he has to do is walk into the equipment truck and ask to have another model. It’s as simple as that.

For amateur golfers, we don’t have that luxury. We’re paying top dollar for our golf equipment at retail stores like Golfsmith. The cost of golf equipment has gotten ridiculously expensive over the years and for most regular golfers we can’t afford to run out and buy the latest driver to hit the market.

PGA Tour Pros Have Specific Clubs For Each Event

Pro golfers sometimes change out golf clubs based on the course conditions they will be playing for that week. One player might take a 5-wood out of their bag in favor of a 3-iron for The Open Championship for instance, because they can hit lower and more penetrating shots better with the iron.

Weekend amateur golfers will most likely be playing the same golf courses over-and-over. On top of that, we’re not good enough to need a different golf club for every situation we’re playing in. The same 14 clubs should be fine for every course throughout the year.

Conclusion

Sure this article may not apply to everyone. Maybe you’re a low-handicap competitive amateur player and you need to change out wedges because a higher bounce might be better for a tournament. This article is mostly geared towards the folks who feel they need to go out and buy the newest driver just because Jordan Spieth picked up 18 yards on his drive and you feel it will do the same for you.

Golf is hard and yes, and the equipment on the market today has come a long way in terms of helping you play better golf. But remember this. Most likely it’s your golf mechanics that are not allowing you to get better. Invest that $400 you were going to spend on a new driver on some lessons with a local PGA pro. Your return on investment might end up being fewer bogeys!

Front9Back9 – Ryan Young – Front9Back9.com
Blogger, Golf Fanatic

Category: Front9Back9 Blog