As we enter the winter stage of the Scottish golf season, we often search for something to keep us involved in the sport through the colder months. This normally means more trips to the range to cure our golfing itch. But, how do we know that hitting golf balls for 4 months is improving our game?
Below are my three key tips on effective practice that will keep you focused and on the right track throughout the offseason.
1. Set Goals;
– I am a great believer that by setting simple goals, that are relative to your game, you can keep focused and driven throughout the Winter. I always try to set short term goals that are relative to my weekly practice and one long term goal.
– The long-term goal can be something that you have identified as a weakness throughout the Summer season that you want to improve for the season ahead.
– The short term goals are small steps that will help you achieve your long-term goal. By doing this, you can always review the short-term goals to make sure you are practicing the correct techniques and allows you to continuously adapt your Winter training to make sure you are tracking on the right lines.
– Struggling with what goals to set? Tip three should help you with this.
2. Test Yourself;
During the Summer season we are constantly testing our game by trying to shoot lower scores. When the Winter season arrives, many of us naturally revert from the full 18-holes out on the course, to the driving range – hitting thousands of balls to better our game. To make sure this form of practice is relevant, I believe you must test yourself in these sessions. This can be done by creating score-based games, as you would on the course.
– One simple example game I use is the 21-ball challenge. Using 21 balls, how many “holes” can you complete? To complete a hole, you must hit the required fairway set by using a tee shot (driver, 3wood, long iron etc) before moving on to an iron shot where you select a different target. By setting parameters relative to your game, you must hit the “green” before moving onto a short iron shot (pitch or chip), again setting your parameters. Once you achieved this you have completed a hole. You can start the process again. How many holes can you complete with 21 balls?
– If you find you are scoring 6 or 7 as a hole count, change the size of your target distances. Through this you may also be able to identify weaknesses in your game, which leads us onto Tip three.
3. Tuition;
– Seeking help from a PGA professional can go a long way. Whether it is a one off 1-to-1 session, a series of lessons or even attending a group clinic, it is a way to galvanise your practice through the winter by focussing your training on a specific area. One thing that is key to your practice at any time of the year is to do it in a way that transfers onto the course. Recent studies have shown that only 15%-30% of unsupervised practice is transferable to the course. Practice with a PGA Professionals’ guidance improves this transfer by an extra 20%. This is how to ultimately know if you are doing the correct thing for your game through the offseason.
