The season is over. Golf is a seasonal sport. During the winter we focus on different things. Because it’s too cold to go play or even to spend some time on the practice tee. Right?

No! Wrong!

And you know very well that this isn’t true. It’s just a mindset that many golfers take on during the wintertime. Of course it depends on where you are living but often enough if you look outside the window you could very well go play or train with the right clothing and the right plan. So don’t stop just because it is winter and the course is getting emptier. You can not only keep your game in shape during the winter but also improve quite a bit with the right mindset. Of course it’s freezing outside and you can barely hold your clubs then it’s finally time to go inside. Which doesn’t mean that you have to stop to play or to train.

Training inside
There are a lot of things you can do inside. Especially in the short game area. Try working on your putting game for a couple of weeks. If you have the room you can even train some chipping or your full swing. Try taking the same approach that you have on the practice tee. How about working in chunks of time while focusing on the different areas of your game. For instance you could do a two or three hour training session two or three times per week. It could consist of some putting chipping and working on a different aspect of your swing.

Trying new things
Wintertime is also a great time to try out some new sport. How about trying other sports that are played with a club like tennis or hockey if you haven’t tried that before. And it’s never a bad idea to do some fitness. So go to the gym or lift some weights at home. And if you’re not in the mood for training your body at least train your mind. Take some golf books off your shelf and work through them. How about reading those that have collected the most dust.

With these motivational ideas I conclude part one. In the next part we take a look at some equipment and tools for training golf during the winter.

The information age
Again nice title, ey? but bear with me these things actually have to do with golf (and pretty much anything in life). I think we are currently not living in the information age but in times of over information. Just think about it. Never before in history was so much information so easily available to the public. Moreover we are bombarded with information every day all the time. And we have to consider all the time whether the information is relevant for us or not. So we are using a lot of our focus and mental energy about relevance before we begin to think about the information itself. That isn’t necessarily good or bad. We just have to keep these facts in mind when we are learning new things or when we are growing in general. Which leads us right to…

The right mindset (the magic pill)
The abundance of information and things to do leads a lot of people to some kind of snacking behavior. What I mean by that is that they jump from one thing to another to another without really focusing on one thing at a time. They want instant gratification without putting in any amount of work. They’re looking for the magic pill! Let’s say if someone would actually come around the corner and offer you a magic pill. If you swallowed it you’d automatically become the best golfer on earth. You would shoot an 18 on every round without even trying. No strings attached it’d just be that way. Would you take the pill? I doubt it!

Yet I have the feeling that most golfers are looking for just that pill. Even when they are saying that they just want to become a little better you get immediately the feeling that they are just looking for the magic pill. But they wouldn’t take it if you’d offered it to them. So what are they really looking for? And most importantly what are you looking for?

Having a plan (what to look for and where to look)
So before you go to the practice tee the next time ask yourself what you want to achieve. In fact thinking about the following questions could be an even better training than going to the practice tee.

• Why do I play golf? What do I enjoy about it?
• How and why did I start to play golf?
• What defines success golf for me?
• What do I want to achieve in golf?

I seriously mean that! Take the time to answer these questions for yourself. Write your answers down if you can!
That should give you some insight of where you want to go, the starting point of your plan. So with that in mind try to formulate a clear set of goals you want to achieve with your practice sessions. Try to include a measurable outcome and a realistic timeframe.

For example:

• I want to improve my long game and hit at least 70% of my fairways in a full 18 hole round by March 15 this year.
• I want to win at least two rabbit tournaments until the end of this season.
• I want to be able to enjoy a full round of golf without being frustrated no matter how good or bad I play by the end of this year.

Your goals can be anything but choose a realistic time-frame and make them attainable. That means that you should have a feeling in your gut that you could achieve them if you worked towards them. Finally make a step-by-step plan with actions you can take. If you have a local Pro show him your plan and talk to him about the goals you’ve set for yourself. Which leads us to the last step — taking actions.

Taking action (walk your talk)
The single most important tip I can give you here is to spend two hours of practice for each hour of reading or planning. I for myself have spent so much time with gathering information and accumulating knowledge that my actual skills are way behind the things that I know. So go play more and read one article on my blog or one book less!

Thus far I have planned the following sections for my blog:

Training and Improvement
If you ask 10 different golfers how and what they are training you get at least 12 different answers. In this section I’ll cover different training methods and plans that worked for me and improved my game.

Reviews of books, equipment and gimmicks
There are a lot of golf books and training aids that promise to make you a scratch player in a couple of minutes. I always look around and read a lot of golf books. Now and then I stumble upon a real gem that doesn’t promise a quick fix but a real way for improvement.In this section I review books, training aids, equipment etc. that provide real value and ways to a better game.

Moments and fun facts about and around golf
Golf is a sport that features moments and stories only life can tell. In these posts I cover some of the most memorable moments the sport delivered thus far.

My journey
I still have a lifetime to learn and improve myself. Now and then i’ll post about my own successes, failures and ways on and around the golf course.

I created this blog to share and to connect so feel free to comment or shoot me a mail if you like. I’ll update at least once a week. So stick around or subscribe to my RSS feed if you like what you read.