Ok. This is strange. It’s mid-November here in Minnesota and we’re in the midst of a 50-60 degree weather week.
It’s got people scrambling to find tee times to squeeze out every bit of golf that we can. Roughly half of the courses have already closed for the season so we know Winter is quickly is approaching.
BUT….
I had already started writing this post before this weather forecast popped up and so let’s get to it.
In locales where we can’t play year round (it might be wise to take an “off-season” either way but hey, it’s up to you) we get the Winter to reflect on our past season and determine where we can improve. With the rapid growth of simulator technology, we have a LOT more ways to get better in the off-season and so while the pace may cool off, we can still improve with our Winter downtime.
I think it’s a good idea to sit down, examine your game from this past year, and put together some resources and a plan for improving each area. Today, I am going to show you the resources I plan on using and explain why. In future posts, I will get into more details about how I will use these. Let’s get it!
*Disclaimer: For some of the links, I do have an affiliate link and may receive a payment if you use the link to purchase. I purchased all of these products myself and have not received anything to write about them.
PuttOut Devil Ball and Mat
Historically speaking, I’ve putted like a gorilla…
For the last few years, my putting has been the weakest part of my game by far. But that changed this past year. I got the PuttOut Devil Ball last winter and used it regularly to hone my putting strike and start line. I saw immediate dividends as I could tell early in the season that I was starting the ball in the right spots and just dialing in distance control.
As the season wore on, my putting got better and caught up with the rest of my game. Per the GolfMetrics app, I went from a 6 or 7 handicap on putting, and improved that to a 2 handicap level over this season. I was able to capitalize on my better ballstriking rounds and really saw the benefits.
So the PuttOut Devil Ball and Mat is definitely going to be in my winter plan for this year to keep the putting trends in the right direction.
Wisdom In Golf Premium
I’ve been following Shawn Clement’s Wisdom in Golf (WIG) since roughly 2013. And while I’ve since taken lessons from other pros, I always find myself making my way back to Shawn’s ideas on how to accomplish the task of sending the momentum/golf ball to the target.
Shawn has a great way about his teaching and tons of great content with drills to tap into our natural athletic abilities. Shawn’s Flat Footed and Feet Together drills really leveled up my ballstriking this year. At $9.95 a month, it’s a no brainer to have access to Shawn’s HUGE library of content.
Evidence Based Golf
I have read a LOT of golf books. Some of them leave me feeling completely perplexed but Evidence Based Golf is not one of them.
Eric Alpenfels and Bob Christina do an excellent job of laying out this book with different issues a golfer might be having, then showing the results of their studies on different drills to improve those issues.
They lay out the problem, what drills they test, how they tested, and the results with recommendations. It is an extremely easy read with a TON of actionable content to improve your games. I found myself going back to this book repeatedly this Summer to give me ideas of things to work on when practicing or how to improve specific aspects of my game.
A lot of what I like with the drills mentioned in this book are that they are more externally focused to allow our bodies to self organize to the task at hand. Not to mention they have a great section on how to practice to see benefits translate to the course.
Vision54 Weekly Action Self Coaching
I used this Vision54 resource for roughly 3 months this past Spring and loved it. Each week, you receive a different practice sheet via email that cues you to try out all different feels, focuses, balances, etc. to start finding out what works best for you in your Think Box, Play Box, and Memory Box.
It was eye opening to me to see that certain processes I had been trying to follow were not conducive to hitting good shots when compared to others. The exploration creates a lot of skill development and excitement to practice new things. Again, at $20/month, it’s a relatively cheap resource that returns the value in bunches.
Wrap Up
There may be other resources that I use here and there throughout the Winter but these are going to be my bread and butter.
If you look at these and don’t feel they are going to help what you are working on, please feel free to reach out via comments or email and tell me what you’ve got going on. I’ve read/watched/and listened to a LOT of information on improving one’s golf game and I would love to help out.
Looking forward to hearing from you and until next time,
Enjoy the odyssey!
-Nick