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Article 7 - Winter Practice - November 2007

Tru-Golf’s Top 10 Practice Tips This Winter

Prepare to Practice

1. Warm-up properly with some dynamic stretching

These turning exercises are perfect. Start slowly in an upright position, make sure you turn through to a full finish.

Do the same turning exercise but in your golf posture. Work on maintaining your spine angle and knee flex during the backswing turn and through the impact area.

2. Make some slow practice swings with two clubs.

The extra weight will really warm up your arm swing and help you build a good rhythm and tempo for your practice session.

3. Hit some 1/2 wedge shots with your feet together.
This is a great way to awaken your balance and feel for your practice session.

Focus on your arm swing and wrist hinge while doing this, check that you create the L-shape between your arms and the club shaft on the backswing and follow through.

4. Select your target and build your practice station.

Get some clubs down on the ground to help you with your alignment and ball position.

Practice with Purpose

5. Make sure you know why you are practicing.
One of the worst things you can do is go and hit balls with no objective in mind. If you don’t know what to work on its time to book a lesson.

When you are working on something technical in your swing the best clubs to use are the middle irons (5, 6, 7 irons). The perfect balance between length and loft.

6. Work on your pre-shot routine.
If you don’t have anything technical to practice, work on what you do before each shot. Pre-shot routine is vital in helping you set up correctly to every single shot..

Build a routine to help you get your grip, aim, stance and posture correct with every shot and reap the rewards next season.

7. Don’t ever hit too many balls in a row with your driver.
Six driver shots in a row should be the absolute maximum. Hit a few wedge and short irons to get your rhythm back before hitting any more with the big stick.

When you do work on your driver focus on your balance and finish position. If you finish your swing in balance the chances are you have stayed balanced throughout the swing and hit a pretty decent shot.

8. Spend as much time on your short game as you do your long game. PRACTICE YOUR PUTTING!
Work on the shorter, scoring, putts of say 15 feet and in. Pay particular attention to alignment and the path of your stroke.

Place a clubs either side of your putters head to create a ‘putting track’. Place a tee behind the hole and focus on stroking your ball towards that - this narrows your focus to help you roll in all your putts dead center..

Practice at Home

9. Work on chipping in your garden using an umbrella and airflow balls
- focus mainly on setup and the rhythm and tempo of your stroke.

10. Practice putting on the carpet.
See how many 2 foot, 4 foot, 6 foot, 8 foot and 10 foot putts you can hole in a row.

Practicing your  golf is just as important as the actual playing of the game and requires time, application and patience. Always remember that practice makes permanent but not necessarily perfect.