Making Improvements in Winter

By November 13, 2017Tips & Tutorials
improve in the winter

While the winter months does not necessarily mean you will stop playing golf altogether, you will struggle to play anywhere near as many rounds as you would during the summer.

Whether the ground is frozen or the weather too cold and wet, for some people the winter is a season to put the clubs away for a few months and take some time away from the golf course.  However, just because you are not playing any golf across the winter, does not mean you cannot do things to try and improve your game.

The winter is a good time to look at your game and analyse the things you have done well and what you can do to improve next year.

Think back or check your scorecards and consider your best and worst rounds of the year.  In both cases, you will probably not need to think very hard as these tend to stick in the memory quite well for obvious reasons.

However, think carefully about the day when you played your best round.  How did you feel on that day?  What was the best part of your game?  Was there anything you did differently to previous rounds?

Now think about your worst round and ask yourself the same questions.  Was there something in-particular that went wrong that day?  Were there any outside influences which impacted on your game?  Did you have good focus on your golf?

Thinking back like this can help you when you start playing golf again after the winter.  What are the good things which you should keep and what things do you need to avoid to improve your game?

Next, consider the different elements of your game, such as driving, chipping and putting and give yourself a mark out of 10 for each category.  If you have kept a record of your statistics now is the time to get them out and use them to see which sections of your game need the most work.

Having completed the above tasks, you can start planning what you need to do ahead of the spring.  This will give you the motivation to visit the practice range in the winter and plan what you can do to improve ready for the start of next season.

If you find you cannot recall many of your rounds from this season and therefore cannot pinpoint where your strengths and weaknesses were, make a promise to yourself that you will do it after the winter.  If you are determined to make progress with your golf, keeping a good record of your play will go a long way in helping you make improvements.