Welcome to GOLF’s Top 100 Teacher roundtable, where some of the best instructors in the business answer the game’s most pressing questions. The goal? To help your game and lower your scores ASAP.
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow — and that means we’ve got six more weeks of winter (at least). It’s a bummer that our furry forecaster has extended our winter blues, but on the bright side, it leaves plenty more time for off-season practice.
The off-season isn’t the most fun time of year for a golfer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be productive. In fact, if you know what to work on, you can come out of the winter a much more complete golfer than ever before.
So, what should you be practicing this off-season? Below, a group of GOLF Top 100 Teachers discuss.
1. Speed training
The best area to focus on in the off-season is swing speed. It doesn’t matter where the ball is going in the winter, so forget about technique and build up your swing speed. You’ll thank yourself come summertime. —Jason Birnbaum
2. Distance control with wedges
If you have access to a simulator, work on your distance control on wedge shots. Wedge practice indoors with a simulator providing feedback is a great way to have your distance wedge shots dialed in once the snow melts. You can gain a feel for your swing speed relative to carry distance, which is a great way to practice 30-100 yard shots. —Tim Cooke
3. Make swing changes
Practice form and the motor patterns you want to change. Without the pressure or expectation of hitting a ball, the off-season is perfect to work on new patterns, new feels, and incorporate them into your nervous system and memory. —Dr. Alison Curdt
4. Find the center of the face
Practicing indoors? Use face spray on the clubface and make every swing about one thing: finding the center. Don’t chase ball flight or speed, chase the strike. When you can consistently find center face, distance stabilizes, start lines improve, and mishits get smaller. Own the strike, and everything else in the swing gets quieter. —Mark Durland
Titleist Vokey SM11 Tour Chrome Wedge
Titleist Vokey Design’s new SM11 wedges feature a new precise CG position across each grind in a loft, meaning every wedge will now perform the same way with the same strike.
