1. Commit to a Coaching Programe
It’s the best time to really double-down on your technical improvements because you are far less likely to be out on the Course (where you can’t train the new moves, and you’ll never fully commit to them anyway because you haven’t learned to trust them yet).
Contact a Coach and ask them to help you form a programe of lessons focusing on a specific area of your game over the winter – eg. Tee Shots / Approach Play / Shots <100 yards / Around the Green / Putting / Turn My Slice into a Fade / Turn My Slice into a Draw etc etc.
The list of things to work on is long (as is the time it will take you to fully ingrain the changes) and the time to do so is short, so be specific and be committed, there’s no point dipping your toe in, jump!
2. Reflect and Refine … Focus
Take a moment to reflect on your golf this year and ask yourself 3 simple questions :
What did I enjoy the most? What frustrated me the most? What am I going to do about it? Record both the questions and your responses - write them in a journal or make a note on your phone so you can refer back to them whenever you need to.
Focus 80% of your attention and energies to questions 2 and 3, and dedicate 20% to question 1.
Are your frustrations born out of a Knowledge Gap or a Skill Gap? Is it something you have the resources to conquer on your own, or will you need help?Where can you go to get the help, who do you need to consult? Inrange and your resident Teaching Professionals can provide you with a great many answers to the questions above – Games, Simulator Courses, Data Collection, instant feedback on the monitor in your bay – take full advantage!
Work on the things that you need to be better at and make sure to keep doing the things you’re enjoying (and presumably therefore, good at)
3. Know your Yardages* (Using the Inrange App)
An alarming number of golfers that I meet have absolutely no idea how far they hit the ball with each club. Since that is one of two primary functions of the golf club that concerns me.
At it’s most basic you will want to hit 10 shots with each club and record the Carry Distance (Inrange can do this for you, and there is a “Premium Ball” slider to use which will convert the numbers from the limited distance range balls you’re using, to the equivalent of a ball like a Titleist ProV1 that you should be using on the Course).
Exclude the longest shot and the shortest shot and use the median number of the 8 remaining ones to get your yardage for each club.
Make a note of it on your phone so you have easy access to it when needed (and note the date as well, your distances will likely be different between winter and summer months). Note and use Carry Distances by default, it’s easier to adjust for ground conditions that affect the bounce and roll (and therefore the total distance) that way.
4. Check Your Equipment
When I was new to the game / hadn’t been playing for very long it didn’t really occur to me that my equipment would need checking, adapting or updating on such a regular basis (at least annually).
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