How to Practice Golf Indoors This Winter
Woke up and went for a walk early this morning. A little chill in the air. A reminder of a question I ask myself each and every non outdoor golfing season. What do I want to improve on in my golf game during the off season? ummmm driver ball speed, irons within 100 yards of the green, chipping, putting, etc… For me it seems to be a variety of things but I do attempt to take one things to work on each winter. Here is a very quick primer on how to practice golf indoors this winter.
Driver Ball Speed
At 57 years of age and losing yardage year after year with drive, that is what I decided to work on this past year. I had a starting point but in order to get that starting point you probably need a few pieces of equipment. So you’ll need a driver, new golf balls, mat to hit off of, a tee or something like Birtees if your mat doesn’t hold a tee, a net to hit into and a device for measuring ball speed.
I could expand on this further and will in another post but in place of ball speed, you might choose to save money and measure clubhead speed instead. By doing so you do not have a need for a ball, tee, mat, and net. In past years I’ve individually used the Medicus Power Meter, Voice Caddie, or SkyTrak to generally measure club head speed or ball speed depending on what the product will allow.
For me, I found I was able to get up to 123mph clubhead speed with driver. So I had a goal of hitting 130mph as the season started up a few months later. To help your body get used to generating more club head or ball speed you can use a product such as the SuperSpeed Golf Training System, Rypstick, 300 Yard Impact or similar golf speed sticks sold on Amazon. I personally used the HH Golf Swing Speed Trainer because you can’t beat the price. You can read more about the HH Golf Swing Speed Trainer here. At the beginning of golf season I did meet my goal and was happy with the off-season training.
Update: I have since purchased the PRGR Launch Monitor. I have since found out in use that it is very accurate in capturing the speed of a club without having to hit a ball. So whether you are swinging driver or some type of swing speed trainer, this is an excellent product.
Irons up to 100 Yards
This one came from a need of mine a couple of years ago. Basically it was a tossup if I could hit the green from 100 yards out and closer distances. To the point it was getting frustrating, especially if I was part of a scramble and couldn’t help the team out.
What I learned along the way is what mattered is #1 consistency with strike and angle of the face at strike. As my game turned to more of a hook than a draw, At 100 yards away I was trying to be careful with contact and fear of pushing or pulling the ball. Because in Illinois you can’t exactly hit balls outside in the middle of January or February, I used the combination of a net or impact screen with SkyTrak Golf Simulator and cell phone or laptop.
I found this recommendation to find a starting point for all distances mentioned below. How to practice golf indoors this winter and improve approach shots to the green. Hit 10 shots of each distance, whether you are on or off the green (if you use a product such as SkyTrak) and calculate your average distance to the hole. Keep a diary of this information or put it up on a chalkboard. This is your starting point.
It started with ten 20 yard shots. Then intent was to hit a straight ball and get it online as close to 20 yards as possible. With SkyTrak (and some other launch monitors) you can see ball flight. I then moved to ten shots at 40 yards. When I was hitting consistently I knew I needed to take a 70% swing with my 60 degree wedge. What is great about knowing this is it transfers well to the course. Attempt to get 7 out of the 10 shots within a handful of yards of target and reduce thin or fat shots as much as possible.
Next up was ten 60 yard shots. For me again it was a 60 degree wedge but at about a 95% swing. All I was looking for was consistent face angle and strike. My thought process is if I can get it on the green with about a 15-18 foot putt, it gives me a chance (albeit outside chance) to make that putt.
Then I went on to hit ten 80 yard shots. This was with my AW (approach wedge). I have to hit this one at about 80%. By 80% I mean that amount of a backswing. From 80 yards away a professional hits the green approximately 85% of the time and is again approximately 17 feet from the hole. If I can land 6 out of 10 on the green I am happy.
Finally I hit ten shots at 100 yards. A professional hits the green about 83% of the time at an average of about 18.5 feet from the hole. Truth be told I am happy to hit the green 5 out of 10 times. As a 16-18 handicap this means I have plenty of work to do.
Chipping
Chipping improvement comes from consistency and distance control. As an amateur I am all too familiar with blading a wedge shot with the ball 6 feet off the green and now having to chip from the other side of the green. For this drill a mat, ball, and chipping net will suffice. In lieu of a chipping net a towel can work just fine. The idea is to hit shots of 5 yards, 10, yards, and 15 yards. By the way, a set of 3 chipping nets can be purchased for around $30.
Narrow stance with weigh about 60% on the front foot. Vary the clubs you at each distance. Learn to use ball placement within your stance to your advantage. Keep the technique the same. A fun game is to place a towel at 5 yards, 10 yards, and 15 yards (yes I realize this may be difficult indoors) and attempt to land the ball on each… or at least hit each on the fly. Attempt to do something similar with a bump and run but have the ball end up finishing on the towel at different distances.
In following the above chipping example while keeping in mind how to practice golf indoors this winter you may learn what works well for you. For me, I became fond of a bump and run with an 8 iron.
How to Practice Golf Indoors This Winter with Putting
As an amateur, we aren’t even related to professionals when it comes to putting. While playing in PGA events in 2021, Louis Oosthuizen took 839 putting attempts. Out of those 839 putts, he made 762 of them. That is a make rate of over 90%. This evening I was showing my wife a new quarter in my pocket as compared to one from many years back. The quarter I was holding was a Maya Angelou quarter. I remembered a quote from her that went something like this. “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
So keep track of how many putts you take over 4 rounds. This is your starting point. There are no real shortcuts to improve putting. Not unless you consider plenty of practice a shortcut. There are some nice products like PuttOut, Perfect Practice Putting Mat and something that I use which is quite inexpensive, called Putt-A-Bout. These are great tools to use if you put the time in.
Take two of your not so favorite golf books and put them on your putting mat… or carpet if you have nothing else. Make sure your putter can fit in-between the space of the two books and allow for about 1/2″ on each side. The goal of this drill is to keep your putting face square and path straight. Practice putts both with and without a ball. If you hit a book on one side or another it is telling you to concentrate. Get that path and face straight!
Need a Grip Change?
While it may not be advisable to change your grip during the course of a season without finding a way to have extensive practice, in reality one grip may work better for your golf game. So with time over the winter, you may want to check out what are the three types of grip in golf and if a grip change may suit your hand type.
Speaking of grip change or changing a grip, the offseason might just be the perfect time to look into DIY golf club repair. Actually, some of it might be a simple replacement of the grip while another part might be changing out a shaft or replacing a club head. At least where I live, we have months where we aren’t hitting the golf course, so we may as well make some positive changes to our golf swing and perhaps golf clubs.
Get In Golf Shape
The off-season is a great time to recover from injuries and improve flexibility, strength, and clubhead speed. There are some great golf fitness apps that can put you in the right direction and get your body in tune for the upcoming golf season. Fit For Golf, Golf Body Rx, GOLFFOREVER, and GOLFWOD are some apps or programs worth checking out.
I hope this little article on how to practice golf indoors this winter will spark something in all golfers to take just one part of their game and attempt to improve it through practice. Feel free to leave comments below or even some of your own golf tips. Would love to know how you are getting on with your game.