Winter improvement plan

[Ty_Webb]

Winter is nearly upon us and opportunities to play for me are going to be few and far between. I am therefore thinking about what I’m going to do over the winter to get better. 

My current thought is to spend some time working on my putting in my basement. I need to work on my path and getting comfortable with not accelerating past the ball. 

Im also going to spend some time trying to lose some more weight and building up my strength in the right places. I will also do some work on my flexibility. 

My long game work is to try to improve my arm speed. I’m prone to letting my arms lag behind my pivot so I want to work on speeding them up. 

Lasty I have a chipping feel which I like right now so I’m going to work on solidifying that feeling. 

What does everyone else have lined up for the cold months?

[mcanadiens]

Beer and hockey. The first for drinking and the later for watching.  ... I figure I'll be a dangerous item come April.

[cipher]

Searching for an indoor place to work on some long game stuff/issues.  I hope do do some filming and lessons through evolvr.

[NM Golf]

I am going to play golf just like I do during the summer. 

[billchao]

My winter improvement plan is to keep practicing and playing like normal because its going to be a mild winter 

As soon as mother nature bursts that bubble, I'll do my usual indoor work and try to just maintain what I've been working on without adding anything or going off on random tangents. Going to mix in some putting stuff this year, too.

[MarvChamp]

2 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Beer and hockey. The first for drinking and t he later for watching.  ... I figure I'll be a dangerous item come April.

YAY!! Now that, friends, is a man's plan! I might as well join you, @mcanadiens; I developed carpal after playing two ggreat For me rounds while in SC. That was Sept 28 and I'm still waiting for surgery. Looks like will be next year before golf is in the picture. So, I like your thinking. -Best Regards, -Marv

[Patch]

Winters out here are golfer friendly. Except maybe when Canada sends down a cold,  north wind. 

I will be playing 18 holes at least once a week, (sometimes more) with maybe a couple of hours a week practicing various things. 

Some of my practice time will be dedicated to my 5 wood. It's the one club I have the least confidence in. I just don't hit it very well. 

Other staying in golf shape stuff will be some multi mile hikes, with significant elevation changes involved. I need to keep my legs in decent shape, and the cardio stuff won't hurt either. Cooler weather is always better for hiking in the desert southwest. Both temperature wise, and crawling critter wise. 

[klineka]

My plan is to get out and play as much as the weather will allow. 

My local driving range does have heated/covered stalls so I will probably go there a few times a month to further ingrain the swing changes I've been making with evolvr.

I've been thinking about getting one of those automatic ball return putting matts to use in my basement, I'd really like to get my putts per round down closer to 30, right now I'm around 33-34.

[JonMA1]

I've been thinking on this a lot and am unsure how to proceed. My overall outlook has less to do with improving and more to do with remaining involved with the game.

I have the indoor putting strip that I received last winter and I believe that helped develop a better putting stroke in 2017. I'll use that again this winter, but it can only do so much.

For the full swing, I'm not sure. I have the practice mat and net in the (cold) garage and will use that. I still have difficulty bringing any gains made from indoor practice to the course.

I think I'll continue to keep the practice structured, yet moderate as I did last winter. The days of practicing in the winter until my fingers bleed and I lose feeling in my toes are over.

A cheap simulator or launch monitor might keep me entertained throughout the winter, even if it did nothing to improve my game. One of these days...

[ghalfaire]

I have been giving this some thought as winter approaches.  Around here there are a couple of course that stay open all winter except for days they are covered by snow or it is storming.  But in general the are open probably 75% of the time if you can stand the cold.  Unfortunately they both are double digit miles from my house but are about 1000' feet lower elevations so warmer.  So I'm going to try to get down there more this year and play plus I still have quarters in the Deserts of AZ so, being in good health this winter for a change, I think I'll spend some time with the Snow Birds. 

[Lihu]

This is my golf season, so my plan is to continue daily practice on the driving range and short game area, and play 2 or 3 rounds per week depending upon my budget. I also plan to continue with my 5 minutes of daily practice.

[inthecup]

I am a very lucky guy.  Years ago I bought a Foresight GC2 launch monitor.  It will give you very accurate ball numbers, launch angle, spin, ball speed distance and direction/curve.  It is helpful when hitting balls into a net in the winter.  It displayed the results on an ipad.  Recently I added a HMT head to the launch monitor. What this means is that you add some reflective dots to the clubface and it provides an amazing amount of accurate data on what the clubhead is doing.  The club face data is very helpful in determining why the ball is doing what it is doing.  Last year I set this whole thing up with Foresights simulation software.  I did not go with a hitting screen, I continue to use my return net and I have a big TV on the wall to display the course and the results of the shot or practice shot.  This setup and software is the same thing Mark Crossfield and Rick Shiels use on youtube (to name a couple).

This whole thing is not inexpensive but it is a ton of fun and I use it all year long.  I play in a Wednesday golf league and it never ends.  When it get to cold my teammates and I continue to play.  It is an absolute blast.  I keep the setup in a building I own and it is like playing in a bar except the owner (me) let you smoke cigars inside.  The heckling and drama is too much fun.  I'd rather play outside but this is the next best thing in the middle of the winter for sure.

 

Beyond hitting a lot of shots on the monitor and "playing" golf league night and some afternoon and weekend rounds I will take lessons.  My Pro sticks around during the winter and is happy to come over and give lessons.  I am going to try and get my hips more active and improve my weight transfer to hit down on the ball more.  This year was the first year with the HMT head and it really helped.  My handicap dropped 2 points and if the season continued I am pretty sure I could shave a couple more off.  I think I am going to take a golf fitness course also .  Another pro I have worked with does a Titleist Performance institute class that is 16 weeks 32 sessions.  It's mostly legs and core focused.  FInally I putt in my office.  Not a lot but it keeps my stroke smooth.  Like 5 -10 putts a day.

[klineka]

24 minutes ago, inthecup said:

I am a very lucky guy.  Years ago I bought a Foresight GC2 launch monitor.  It will give you very accurate ball numbers, launch angle, spin, ball speed distance and direction/curve.  It is helpful when hitting balls into a net in the winter.  It displayed the results on an ipad.  Recently I added a HMT head to the launch monitor. What this means is that you add some reflective dots to the clubface and it provides an amazing amount of accurate data on what the clubhead is doing.  The club face data is very helpful in determining why the ball is doing what it is doing.  Last year I set this whole thing up with Foresights simulation software.  I did not go with a hitting screen, I continue to use my return net and I have a big TV on the wall to display the course and the results of the shot or practice shot.  This setup and software is the same thing Mark Crossfield and Rick Shiels use on youtube (to name a couple).

This whole thing is not inexpensive but it is a ton of fun and I use it all year long.  I play in a Wednesday golf league and it never ends.  When it get to cold my teammates and I continue to play.  It is an absolute blast.  I keep the setup in a building I own and it is like playing in a bar except the owner (me) let you smoke cigars inside.  The heckling and drama is too much fun.  I'd rather play outside but this is the next best thing in the middle of the winter for sure.

 

Beyond hitting a lot of shots on the monitor and "playing" golf league night and some afternoon and weekend rounds I will take lessons.  My Pro sticks around during the winter and is happy to come over and give lessons.  I am going to try and get my hips more active and improve my weight transfer to hit down on the ball more.  This year was the first year with the HMT head and it really helped.  My handicap dropped 2 points and if the season continued I am pretty sure I could shave a couple more off.  I think I am going to take a golf fitness course also .  Another pro I have worked with does a Titleist Performance institute class that is 16 weeks 32 sessions.  It's mostly legs and core focused.  FInally I putt in my office.  Not a lot but it keeps my stroke smooth.  Like 5 -10 putts a day.

I am jealous! That sounds like an awesome setup! You should snap a quick picture of the setup and share with us so we can all drool over it 

There is a place opening in December near me that has both GC Quad and Trackman launch monitors but their prices are absolutely ridiculous!!

$59/hr if you arent a member, and their cheapest membership option is $149/month for up to 4 hours of usage, and up to $299/month for unlimited usage. 

[inthecup]

I am afraid it is not much to look at.  I'll snap a photo when I get a chance.

 

That is pretty pricey.  If you are looking for information an hour is a long time.  Bring a couple buddies and it's pretty cheap.  Questions like am I hitting up on the driver?  What does it feel like to hit up on the driver can be answered then practiced somewhere else.  You could then revisit and see if you achieved what you set out to.

Edited November 6, 2017 by inthecup

[Ty_Webb]

5 minutes ago, klineka said:

I am jealous! That sounds like an awesome setup! You should snap a quick picture of the setup and share with us so we can all drool over it 

There is a place opening in December near me that has both GC Quad and Trackman launch monitors but their prices are absolutely ridiculous!!

$59/hr if you arent a member, and their cheapest membership option is $149/month for up to 4 hours of usage, and up to $299/month for unlimited usage. 

I would pay $59 an hour to get on one of those things. The machines are very expensive, so I'm not surprised they cost a lot to use. I really just want to figure out my shot patterns with each club and do some yardage estimates for various lengths of swing with my wedges. I'm not aware of anywhere near me that lets you on a proper machine like one of these for less than a full fitting price (more like $150 an hour).

[Antneye]

I am going to play as much as I can and try to still hit the range once or twice a week.  I need to refocus on my work away from the range.

 

Biggest item other than the basic golf stuff is losing weight.  I put on 20 pounds since the beginning of summer and I am really feeling it.  I need to get back in shape.

[klineka]

1 minute ago, Ty_Webb said:

I would pay $59 an hour to get on one of those things. The machines are very expensive, so I'm not surprised they cost a lot to use. I really just want to figure out my shot patterns with each club and do some yardage estimates for various lengths of swing with my wedges. I'm not aware of anywhere near me that lets you on a proper machine like one of these for less than a full fitting price (more like $150 an hour).

Yes they are expensive so I'm sure that is why they are charging so much to use them, but I have a hard time justifying $59 for a single practice session when range buckets at my local range are $5 for a small (40 balls) and $8 for a large bucket (75 balls) and they have heated bays so as long as its above about 20 degrees I dont really get cold. 

I wasnt expecting it to be as cheap as a driving range, the most I probably would have paid for an hour session was in the $30-40 price range, but that's just me personally.

[nevets88]

Will practice outside on warm-ish days and try out the PGA Superstore indoor practice bays, not going to get a discounted practice package at Golftec this year.