Staying Sharp in the Snow

I bet there’s a few football games you want to catch on television this winter. You’re definitely not alone. Many golfers interpret the first frost of the year as the time to put the golf clubs into winter storage. Hibernation would be one solution, but maybe the picture of yourself winning the spring’s first foursome would serve as motivation to work on all areas of your game.

With the physical demands of golf, physical fitness should be a primary focus area. It is easy to drop ‘out-of-shape’ when the weather is cold, so let’s examine where you should concentrate:

endurance- maintaining will to play 36 holes on any given afternoon.

flexibility and balance- enabling your swing to stay sharp by preserving the range of motion of your muscles and joints.

Your exercise goals should begin at 1 hour a day, 3 times a week. You will be able to see improvement with a minimal weight-training program combined with walking, cycling, or swimming. A basic program such as this combines both aerobic and anaerobic exercises, thus increasing your all-around potential. Health and fitness trainers at your local gym or your even your doctor will be able to give you advice for an exercise program that is right for you. Stretching before and after exercising is an excellent way to improve flexibility. If you are seeking a more advanced method of improving flexibility and balance, I would recommend finding a Tai Chi or yoga program at your local health club.

Avoid other injuries by doing some exercises to strengthen the muscles in your lower back, shoulders and wrists. For your lower back, start by concentrating on your lower abdomen muscles. Fit in this area takes the majority of the strain off the lower back. The good ole common sit-up is a great place to start. Crunches work well, too.

Winter Swings

Lack of winter practice is usually avoided due to self-induced excuses for lack of proper facilities. Before you write your house off as inadequate, tap your creative resources. If you don't have access to an indoor driving range, you might be able to set up a net and hitting mat in your basement or garage. With the use of a 10'x10'x10 net and a standard driving range mat, a golfer can enjoy hours of ball-striking practice in the comfort of ones own garage. It may not sound exciting, but with some patience and repetition, it will not take long to realize it is a great way to practice ball striking. No use looking up fast to see where the ball is going, its already in the net(1).

At the very least, Jack Nicklaus recommends taking 100 swings a day to keep your swing fresh. Doing this in front of a mirror or video camera will allow visual feedback of your mechanics. Also, many club pros (pros online) offer a service of watching your videotaped swing for evaluation purposes.

Helpful tip: There is a good chance your club pro is heading towards the Florida region very soon. Why not get in one last lesson and ask about some winter drills to improve your game?


Chipping and Putting (1)
Do what Ben Hogan did. Hogan would travel with the Tour and putt and chip into pillows against the wall in the hotel room at night until the manager would come tell him to quit because his neighbors were complaining. Try to temper your enthusiasm for the game this winter just enough that your spouse won't make you go to a hotel to do your chipping and putting.
For putting, a great thing to do is to put down coins (quarters, nickels or dimes) to putt to. Space them apart different distances and try and putt your ball over the coin. Another way is to put some string down horizontally across your target line and try to roll your ball and stop it on the string from different distances. If you do not have carpet or your carpet is too thick, I suggest you check with a carpet remnant store and see if they have any inexpensive, short pile industrial type of carpet.
For chipping, you can do what Mr. Hogan did and put pillows against a wall or purchase one of those little pitching nets. (I would put pillows behind the net so that wayward shots don't hit the wall and upset your spouse.) Practice contact with the ball and the feel of sweeping the different pitching and chipping clubs across the ground and watch the ball fly into the net. (A small trash can work as well).

Have a great Winter, train hard, and the U.S. Golfer Staff will see you in April!

~JRS
(1)http://www.nectarsector.com/Content/take.asp?Newsid=126&cat=153
(2)http://www.golfsw.com/pgatip/pgatip03.htm