Unfortunately, we don’t all live in Florida. In fact, this time of the year, the vast majority of us are stuck at our desk staring out the window wondering if the snow is EVER going to melt.
But just because your local weatherman is calling for another week of subzero temperatures, it doesn’t mean you can’t spend some time working on your game. Here are a few exercises that you can do in the comfort of your own home that will help you get back into the swing of things come start of the golf season.
Take Some Full Swings
You don’t have to be hitting balls to practice. Next time you have 10 minutes, find a spot in your home where you can swing a club. And when I say find a spot, I mean a spot that doesn’t contain your wife’s favorite lamp or carpet (the garage is probably the safest place).
Pull out a mid-iron and just start taking some swings. Don’t worry about technique or path, just let your muscles get into the habit of swinging again. Ideally, you’d like to do 100 repetitions but if you don’t have the time or energy for that, 20 or 30 will do.
Come golf season you’ll step out on the first tee and feel a lot more comfortable than you would have otherwise and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results as well.
Putting on the Carpet
We’ve all done this at one time or another and it may seem like more of an activity to relieve boredom rather than practice but when done with purpose, putting on the carpet can do wonders for your short game.
Start by finding a room with a relatively long carpet. Grab 6 or 7 balls and drop them at one end. Setup, don’t even think about aim and try to putt your first ball so it makes it all the way to the end of the carpet without rolling off.
Try to hit the second ball and have it stop approximately one foot in front of the first ball. Stop the third ball one foot in front of the second ball and so on. If you do this exercise correctly you’ll end up with a line of 6 or 7 balls all one foot apart.
Regardless of what your friends say, speed is the most important thing when it comes to putting and if you do this a few times a day you’ll be amazed at how much better of a putter you become.
Chipping into a Laundry Basket
A common mistake many amateurs make around the green is focusing too much on the hole. Though you do need to visualize your shot before you hit it, you should get into the habit of picking a spot on the green to land the ball and this drill can help you get better at that.
Get a thick blanket (a comforter will probably work best). Without turning this into a lesson on home construction, use some ingenuity and find a spot where you can hang the blanket as a backstop. Find a laundry basket and put it right in front of the blanket. Get out your sand wedge and stand 10 feet away.
Take out a handful of balls and try to chip them into the basket. This will help you learn how to land the ball in a certain spot rather than just chipping in the direction of the hole. Do this everyday and once you get on the course you’ll start to hear that wonderful phrase, “It’s good”, a lot more often.