I started the discussion about offseason golf training last blog post where I discussed my golf stats and weaknesses. My stats showed I was a horrible putter, or at least had too many putts per round. I also shared that I had too many penalty strokes and just thrown away strokes.
In putting some thought into where I can shave strokes I think I need to focus on 3 areas this winter:
Putting - I do need to sink more makable putts. Lately I've read alot about the key to putting is square contact and not path. So that will be my putting focus over the winter.
The thing with putting is extra putts also can indicate bad chips and pitching. Which is definitely an issue. So my next area of focus is to work on the short game as much as possible indoors. Watch for drills in this area.
Accuracy - This is both off the tee and irons from the fairway. I hit the ball pretty well generally. But when I hit one off line, I hit it way offline. Like where the elephants go to die type area. Based on some lessons I took over the summer and my work with Hackmotion I see some fundamentals that need to change in my backswing, wrist positions and weight shift and turn. There is a lot there but i think working on fundamentals of tackaway, wrist angles and tempo/rythm it will solve all these problems.
Fitness - there will a lot of focus on flexibility and core strength. I'll share some workouts and stretching I've been doing to get into better shape for next golf season. Youtube has a ton of great and free videos in this area and I will share those with you this winter.
So those are my areas of focus. I've broken this down to very specific practice drills and competitions on my home golf simulator with a Skytrak launch monitor and my putting mat. At least 4 times a week I will go through daily drills and on the weekends I'll play at least 2 rounds of golf on my golf simulator.
WINTER PUTTING PRACTICE:
At least 15 minutes 4 days a week of practice with my putting mirror. My putting mirror has built in goal posts that will deflect the ball if you don't hit it square and online. Its a SKLZ putting mirror but I no longer see it for sale on. Here is a similar putting mirror that has the built goal posts for your reference.
WINTER CHIPPING AND PUTTING PRACTICE:
In Winter I can work on my tempo and strike on shots from 50 yards and in on my simulator to dial in my distances. In my case I need extra focus on my strike. The beauty of Skytrak is it has the option to practice from any distance to a green so you can dial in your distances to the yard.I will do this at every session on my simulator. I'll be using the Skytrak for all training. Here is a link on Amazon if interested.
ACCURACY - DRIVING AND IRONS
Each session I will build in accuracy tests. Four times a week I will shoot at a green from 150 yards and in and shoot for a certain percentage of greens hit. At a 100 yards I want to be close to 100% but at 150 maybe it is 70%.
For driving accuracy I will try to maintain at least 60% of fairways hit. I also have to hit the ball at least 250 yards to prevent me from hitting 120 yard drives down the middle to beat my target. This is all very easy to set up on Skytrak. The practice software is awesome.
Each weekend I will play some tough golf courses around the world like St. Andrews, Troon in Scottsdale, Loch Lomond and track my scores.
That is my plan right now. What are your plans for off season golf training this winter?