“Off-Season Golf” Golf Lessons with Coach Robertson
Taken from Coach’s book, “My Mind on GOLF”.
Area of the Country?
How much, or how little, of this article you can use depends on the area of the country you are in. That said, in working with players around the USA and internationally, including Iceland, we find most doing far too little during the off-season, rather than too much. Give some thought to expanding your off-season golf.
Off-Season on the Practice Range
Beating a lot of golf balls “rake and fire” fashion is never a productive strategy. Remember that practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice does. Hitting balls without full intent and attention, and without refining your routine, can actually do more harm than good. When on the practice range, visualize your favorite few holes. In your mind’s eye practice as if you are actually playing specific holes.
Warming up as if you were playing a golf round, pick a target on the range as if it was the fairway on the hole you are playing, or a par 3, and hit the shot. Keep track of the shot distance and accuracy, and figure out how many yards are left for the next shot. Imagine a green in your mind’s eye and hit toward it. You get the idea. Be sure to hit chip and pitch shots when you miss your target spot—as if hitting into a green. Make these mental rounds competitive. Have a partner play the same shots and keep track of balls closest to the targets. When you finish playing several holes, you can practice shots you had trouble executing.
“In the winter I have our players play a complete round of golf on the range visualizing the course we are preparing to compete on. They even use a yardage book to help them. This gets them working on their pre-shot routine on each shot rather than hitting fifty 8-irons ‘rake and fire’ style.” Source: Andrew Sapp, Men's Head Golf Coach, University of Michigan
Indoor and Outdoor Practice
When using indoor practice facilities, utilize the same visualization and practice techniques listed above. Be sure to include your pre-shot, shot, and post-shot routine. If you do not have a routine that covers all three phases of shot making and learning, e-mail Coach Robertson for his article on the “Master Golf Routine.” Work on improving the timing factors of your game: timing; tempo; rhythm; balance through motion; and concentration. Develop specific drills for refining the timing factors we just covered.
When TOO Cold. Stay inside and practice playing golf with visualization and various forms of imagery. Ask your Club Pro for specific timing drills and exercises.
“Outdoor practice even in cooler conditions is better for carrying your game from Fall to Spring than any indoor practice. This is due to real turn conditions, watching and learning from full ball flight, thinking golf, and getting the true exercise of golf (especially walking and carrying).” Source: Mark Hankins, Coach Mark Hankins, Head Men's Golf Coach, The University of Iowa.
From Iceland, where it gets really Cold!
Because it is winter time now, and the temperature is colder than usual, the golf ball does not travel as far as normally in hotter conditions. Example: if I use a 9-iron to hit a 150 yard shot in the summer time, I may have to use an 8 or 7- iron to get that same distance in winter time. Knowing this can help me avoid hitting pressured shots with too little club. Especially in the winter time with the cold temperature this could prevent any possible injuries. Source: Alfred Kristinsson, former college golfer for Coach Robertson and currently an Icelandic National Team player.
Off-Season Psychology
The short course on the psychology of staying warm is that you typically get what you think about and focus on. Start out warm, remain confident in your preparation for off-season golf, and visualize the sun shinning on the back of your right shoulder as you visualize and mentally create shots. If partner continually reminds you of how cold it is, politely ask them to keep their cold thoughts to themselves. If they cannot say anything warm, don’t say anything at all.
Getting Acclimated. The more outdoors activities you do during the off season, the better acclimated you become, both mentally and physically.
Fitness Counts
For Golf Cart Players. Want to improve your driving distance in the spring? Take three or four appropriate clubs and walk the course hitting one shot at a time. Even if you are a golf cart player the regular golf season, use the off season to get, and keep, your legs into shape. Develop your leg and core muscle strength by walking. Strength is important to accuracy and distance; just ask Tiger.
Strength and Conditioning. Work with your Club Pro, or local fitness center to develop a golf-specific off-season strength, conditioning, and flexibility program. If you do not have a local expert, get your hands on a copy of “Complete Conditioning for GOLF” by Simpson and Draovitch and develop your own program.
Key Point: Develop a ten to fifteen minute warm up and stretching routine, go through it each morning or immediately prior to working out, or playing golf. Such a routine will help your general fitness level and prepare you for playing and practicing in colder weather. Do NOT hit balls until you have completed your warm up and stretching routine. Hitting balls is not part of warming up and stretching. The sequence is warm up, stretch, hit balls for timing and tempo. The typical Complete Warm Up for my college players is 45 minutes.
Off-Season Swing Mechanics
Avoid over swinging. Start your golf (or practice) round out with a 9:30 or half-swing and work your way up to a 10:30 or ¾ swing as you warm up both your body and your timing. Work on maintaining your timing and tempo during the off-season; not distance.
Distance accuracy counts. Here is an outstanding suggestion from Barney Adams, CEO and Founder of Adams Golf. “Play 9 holes with one club, say your 5-iron, and your putter. Let’s say you think your maximum range for your 5-iron is 180 yards. On each hole hit your 5-iron from the tee, walk off the distance and record it from the tee. Then hit it from 180 yards out from the green and record your accuracy again. Substitute another club for the next 9 holes, and over the course of a few weeks work through all of your clubs in similar fashion. Get creative with how you work your woods, long irons, and wedges into this process.”
Refine setup and routine. The off-season is an ideal time to refine your grip, posture, stance, alignment, and pre-shot routine. Work with your coach or local teaching professional to make certain your set up and routine are correct, than keep practicing and refining them over the off season.
Play Winter rules. When appropriate, hit from good lies and good footing, even if you have to create them.
Pickers and Diggers. There are pickers (golfers who pick the ball with the club face and leave very little divot, if any) and diggers (hit down and through the ball leaving a divot up to the size of a dollar bill). We are not recommending either style, however, under certain conditions, you MUST learn to pick the ball or face the consequences. Playing on very hard, or frozen, turf requires the ability to pick the ball to a certain degree.
Putting. Putt during your rounds, but when green conditions are less than ideal, do not practice putting. Practicing on winter greens can alter your tempo and perception of breaks.
Clothing
Dress for success. Bulky clothing and ill-fitting gloves will change your swing mechanics and force you to develop poor swing habits.
Dress in layers. Start with every thing warm and dry. Layers can include a hooded sweatshirt and the best vest you can afford. The hoot helps keep body heat in and the vest will accomplish the same objective while freeing your arms to swing. Do not wear clothing, or too much clothing, that inhibits your swing. I prefer a hooded sweatshirt (it keeps my neck warm), a light wind breaker, and a vest with a high collar. Remember that dark clothing absorbs heat, white clothing reflects it. Dress in layers that are easy to add or remove as necessary. “A few words of wisdom in layering clothing. Overdress the bottom half. Ski type socks with long johns, sweatpants, and rain gear allow for lighter clothing on the top half of the body which allow for a more normal swing.” Source: Sue Nyhus, Head Women’s Golf Coach, BYU.
Practical Suggestions
Walk. Walking is good exercise and will help keep you warm. WALK!
Golf gloves. Well fitted, high quality, winter golf gloves are a MUST.
Keep your head warm. It is true that up to 55 % of your total body heat can be lost through your head, so keep your head warm. Even with a hooded sweatshirt, I still ware a cap or stocking hat.
Take your vitamins. Vitamins and minerals do not provide energy directly, but they are important in processing energy. Without sufficient vitamins, you may find yourself tired after only walking a few holes.
Hydrate-hydrate-hydrate. You may not sense it in cooler months, but dehydration causes a loss of energy and negatively impacts your exercise, so drink plenty of water before and during your round. Caffeine is not really good for you in cold weather. Alcohol sends a flush of warmth to the skin by robbing you of core heat that you need to stay warm. I prefer hot green tea with a shot of honey.
Fuel. Do not play or practice on an empty stomach. You need a little protein and lots of carbohydrates. You also need some fat in your plan for long-term warmth. Snack on foods such as trail mix, apples, energy bars, etc. This is no time to be counting calories.
Good footing. Playing golf without proper footing not only tires you out faster, but will force you into bad swing habits. Remember, golf is a ground reaction sport. When course conditions do not support wearing regular golf shoes, consider water proof tennis shoes designed specifically for golf. I miss metal spikes, especially in winter months.
Carry a towel. There will not be any water in the ball washers, so carry a towel for cleaning golf balls and the face of your clubs. I always carry a bottle of water.
Golf balls. Use lower compression golf balls in the cooler months than in warmer months. Warm golf balls compress more efficiently and travel further than cold one, so keep a couple of golf balls in your pants pocket.
Rain play. We have another complete article on rain play, but here is some sage advice from Matt Thurmond, Head Men’s Golf Coach, University of Washington….and they do have some rain up there! “Do everything under an umbrella with your bag on shoulder. Fix divots, fix ball marks, mark your ball, and find yardages while under the umbrella. Only get out from under your umbrella when it is your time to hit. Do all the pre- and post-shot stuff with you and the bag under the umbrella.”
Sun block. Wear sun block and lip balm. They protect you from wind burn and chapping as well. This is not a sales ad, but many of my players like to use Corn Huskers Lotion before and after practice and play. It works and is oil free.
Warming packets. Do not get hooked on these little gems, or start using them on a regular basis, but I typically carry a couple in my bag just in case.
Please e-mail us with off-season golf technique that work for you.
Taken from Coach’s book, “My Mind on GOLF”.
Area of the Country?
How much, or how little, of this article you can use depends on the area of the country you are in. That said, in working with players around the USA and internationally, including Iceland, we find most doing far too little during the off-season, rather than too much. Give some thought to expanding your off-season golf.
Off-Season on the Practice Range
Beating a lot of golf balls “rake and fire” fashion is never a productive strategy. Remember that practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice does. Hitting balls without full intent and attention, and without refining your routine, can actually do more harm than good. When on the practice range, visualize your favorite few holes. In your mind’s eye practice as if you are actually playing specific holes.
Warming up as if you were playing a golf round, pick a target on the range as if it was the fairway on the hole you are playing, or a par 3, and hit the shot. Keep track of the shot distance and accuracy, and figure out how many yards are left for the next shot. Imagine a green in your mind’s eye and hit toward it. You get the idea. Be sure to hit chip and pitch shots when you miss your target spot—as if hitting into a green. Make these mental rounds competitive. Have a partner play the same shots and keep track of balls closest to the targets. When you finish playing several holes, you can practice shots you had trouble executing.
“In the winter I have our players play a complete round of golf on the range visualizing the course we are preparing to compete on. They even use a yardage book to help them. This gets them working on their pre-shot routine on each shot rather than hitting fifty 8-irons ‘rake and fire’ style.” Source: Andrew Sapp, Men's Head Golf Coach, University of Michigan
Indoor and Outdoor Practice
When using indoor practice facilities, utilize the same visualization and practice techniques listed above. Be sure to include your pre-shot, shot, and post-shot routine. If you do not have a routine that covers all three phases of shot making and learning, e-mail Coach Robertson for his article on the “Master Golf Routine.” Work on improving the timing factors of your game: timing; tempo; rhythm; balance through motion; and concentration. Develop specific drills for refining the timing factors we just covered.
When TOO Cold. Stay inside and practice playing golf with visualization and various forms of imagery. Ask your Club Pro for specific timing drills and exercises.
“Outdoor practice even in cooler conditions is better for carrying your game from Fall to Spring than any indoor practice. This is due to real turn conditions, watching and learning from full ball flight, thinking golf, and getting the true exercise of golf (especially walking and carrying).” Source: Mark Hankins, Coach Mark Hankins, Head Men's Golf Coach, The University of Iowa.
From Iceland, where it gets really Cold!
Because it is winter time now, and the temperature is colder than usual, the golf ball does not travel as far as normally in hotter conditions. Example: if I use a 9-iron to hit a 150 yard shot in the summer time, I may have to use an 8 or 7- iron to get that same distance in winter time. Knowing this can help me avoid hitting pressured shots with too little club. Especially in the winter time with the cold temperature this could prevent any possible injuries. Source: Alfred Kristinsson, former college golfer for Coach Robertson and currently an Icelandic National Team player.
Off-Season Psychology
The short course on the psychology of staying warm is that you typically get what you think about and focus on. Start out warm, remain confident in your preparation for off-season golf, and visualize the sun shinning on the back of your right shoulder as you visualize and mentally create shots. If partner continually reminds you of how cold it is, politely ask them to keep their cold thoughts to themselves. If they cannot say anything warm, don’t say anything at all.
Getting Acclimated. The more outdoors activities you do during the off season, the better acclimated you become, both mentally and physically.
Fitness Counts
For Golf Cart Players. Want to improve your driving distance in the spring? Take three or four appropriate clubs and walk the course hitting one shot at a time. Even if you are a golf cart player the regular golf season, use the off season to get, and keep, your legs into shape. Develop your leg and core muscle strength by walking. Strength is important to accuracy and distance; just ask Tiger.
Strength and Conditioning. Work with your Club Pro, or local fitness center to develop a golf-specific off-season strength, conditioning, and flexibility program. If you do not have a local expert, get your hands on a copy of “Complete Conditioning for GOLF” by Simpson and Draovitch and develop your own program.
Key Point: Develop a ten to fifteen minute warm up and stretching routine, go through it each morning or immediately prior to working out, or playing golf. Such a routine will help your general fitness level and prepare you for playing and practicing in colder weather. Do NOT hit balls until you have completed your warm up and stretching routine. Hitting balls is not part of warming up and stretching. The sequence is warm up, stretch, hit balls for timing and tempo. The typical Complete Warm Up for my college players is 45 minutes.
Off-Season Swing Mechanics
Avoid over swinging. Start your golf (or practice) round out with a 9:30 or half-swing and work your way up to a 10:30 or ¾ swing as you warm up both your body and your timing. Work on maintaining your timing and tempo during the off-season; not distance.
Distance accuracy counts. Here is an outstanding suggestion from Barney Adams, CEO and Founder of Adams Golf. “Play 9 holes with one club, say your 5-iron, and your putter. Let’s say you think your maximum range for your 5-iron is 180 yards. On each hole hit your 5-iron from the tee, walk off the distance and record it from the tee. Then hit it from 180 yards out from the green and record your accuracy again. Substitute another club for the next 9 holes, and over the course of a few weeks work through all of your clubs in similar fashion. Get creative with how you work your woods, long irons, and wedges into this process.”
Refine setup and routine. The off-season is an ideal time to refine your grip, posture, stance, alignment, and pre-shot routine. Work with your coach or local teaching professional to make certain your set up and routine are correct, than keep practicing and refining them over the off season.
Play Winter rules. When appropriate, hit from good lies and good footing, even if you have to create them.
Pickers and Diggers. There are pickers (golfers who pick the ball with the club face and leave very little divot, if any) and diggers (hit down and through the ball leaving a divot up to the size of a dollar bill). We are not recommending either style, however, under certain conditions, you MUST learn to pick the ball or face the consequences. Playing on very hard, or frozen, turf requires the ability to pick the ball to a certain degree.
Putting. Putt during your rounds, but when green conditions are less than ideal, do not practice putting. Practicing on winter greens can alter your tempo and perception of breaks.
Clothing
Dress for success. Bulky clothing and ill-fitting gloves will change your swing mechanics and force you to develop poor swing habits.
Dress in layers. Start with every thing warm and dry. Layers can include a hooded sweatshirt and the best vest you can afford. The hoot helps keep body heat in and the vest will accomplish the same objective while freeing your arms to swing. Do not wear clothing, or too much clothing, that inhibits your swing. I prefer a hooded sweatshirt (it keeps my neck warm), a light wind breaker, and a vest with a high collar. Remember that dark clothing absorbs heat, white clothing reflects it. Dress in layers that are easy to add or remove as necessary. “A few words of wisdom in layering clothing. Overdress the bottom half. Ski type socks with long johns, sweatpants, and rain gear allow for lighter clothing on the top half of the body which allow for a more normal swing.” Source: Sue Nyhus, Head Women’s Golf Coach, BYU.
Practical Suggestions
Walk. Walking is good exercise and will help keep you warm. WALK!
Golf gloves. Well fitted, high quality, winter golf gloves are a MUST.
Keep your head warm. It is true that up to 55 % of your total body heat can be lost through your head, so keep your head warm. Even with a hooded sweatshirt, I still ware a cap or stocking hat.
Take your vitamins. Vitamins and minerals do not provide energy directly, but they are important in processing energy. Without sufficient vitamins, you may find yourself tired after only walking a few holes.
Hydrate-hydrate-hydrate. You may not sense it in cooler months, but dehydration causes a loss of energy and negatively impacts your exercise, so drink plenty of water before and during your round. Caffeine is not really good for you in cold weather. Alcohol sends a flush of warmth to the skin by robbing you of core heat that you need to stay warm. I prefer hot green tea with a shot of honey.
Fuel. Do not play or practice on an empty stomach. You need a little protein and lots of carbohydrates. You also need some fat in your plan for long-term warmth. Snack on foods such as trail mix, apples, energy bars, etc. This is no time to be counting calories.
Good footing. Playing golf without proper footing not only tires you out faster, but will force you into bad swing habits. Remember, golf is a ground reaction sport. When course conditions do not support wearing regular golf shoes, consider water proof tennis shoes designed specifically for golf. I miss metal spikes, especially in winter months.
Carry a towel. There will not be any water in the ball washers, so carry a towel for cleaning golf balls and the face of your clubs. I always carry a bottle of water.
Golf balls. Use lower compression golf balls in the cooler months than in warmer months. Warm golf balls compress more efficiently and travel further than cold one, so keep a couple of golf balls in your pants pocket.
Rain play. We have another complete article on rain play, but here is some sage advice from Matt Thurmond, Head Men’s Golf Coach, University of Washington….and they do have some rain up there! “Do everything under an umbrella with your bag on shoulder. Fix divots, fix ball marks, mark your ball, and find yardages while under the umbrella. Only get out from under your umbrella when it is your time to hit. Do all the pre- and post-shot stuff with you and the bag under the umbrella.”
Sun block. Wear sun block and lip balm. They protect you from wind burn and chapping as well. This is not a sales ad, but many of my players like to use Corn Huskers Lotion before and after practice and play. It works and is oil free.
Warming packets. Do not get hooked on these little gems, or start using them on a regular basis, but I typically carry a couple in my bag just in case.
Please e-mail us with off-season golf technique that work for you.
