Dec 15, 2023

5 Ways You Can Work on Your Golf Game During the Off-Season with Justin Klemballa

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As winter approaches and golfers in colder climates must take a break from playing on the course, it can be challenging to keep your skills sharp. However, the off-season presents opportunities to work on your game in creative ways. In this episode of the T-Time podcast, host Tori is joined by returning guest Justin Klemballa to share their top five tips for making the most of the golf off-season. Here are 5 ways you can work on your golf game during the off-season:

1. Use Indoor Simulators

With indoor golf simulators becoming increasingly common, the winter provides a perfect chance to dial in your yardages with launch monitors. Justin recommends first finding your full-swing distances for each club and committing them to memory. Knowing exactly how far you hit your driver, hybrids, irons and wedges gives you more control on the course.

He then advises working on wedge distances inside 100 yards using a “four swing” process with quarter, half, three quarter, and full swings. This allows you to master a wider range of precise yardages and strategies for different situations. Simulators also enable course play when you’re not making major swing changes, helping ingrain your improved yardages. Lessons can further harness the simulator’s feedback and repetition as you engrain changes into your muscle memory.

2. Practice Putting

While aimlessly putting on an indoor mat often feels fruitless, focused training pays dividends. Set a goal to make 10 putts in a row to practice pressure and commit to starting the ball on your intended line. Justin also advises paying attention to face rotation, working to minimize the amount the putter opens and closes through impact for better directional consistency.

To correct a consistent miss left or right, also try moving the ball position slightly back or forward in your stance. Products like the Perfect Practice Putting Mat provide helpful visual guides and extended lengths up to 16 feet to hone in techniques. This training will translate smoothly onto the course later since it ingrains the proper motions subconsciously through repetition.

3. Get Golf-Specific Fitness Training

The off-season presents the perfect opportunity to improve your golf fitness without interfering with your play. Working with a TPI-certified trainer allows you to build strength and flexibility in a golf-specific manner, targeting areas key for the swing rather than overall fitness. The soreness and adjustment from intensive training can negatively impact your transition back into playing. So winter provides an opening to transform your body to support faster club speeds and more fluid mobility that carries over seamlessly when spring arrives.

Other specialized training like the Stack golf swing speed system can be conveniently done inside your home as well. Swinging weighted sticks to measurably improve club head speed doesn’t require hitting balls. So you can learn faster swing mechanics through your winter training that automatically appears when you return to the course. This prevents having to consciously generate more effort right away to see improvements.

4. Read and Absorb Mindset Books

With more down time on your hands, winter serves as the ideal stretch to devote effort towards improving your psychological game through reading. As Justin highlights, a compact book like “With Winning in Mind” can deliver a transmitting mental framework akin to a golf swing tutorial click. He also recommends classic titles like Bob Rotella’s “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” or “The Golfer’s Mind” focused specifically on overcoming mental interference.

Other prominent authors in the realm provide added perspectives on peak performance, while workbooks enable active engagement. Understanding excellence as a process of subconscious flow versus analytically trying to force outcomes applies on and off the course. Reviewing these books over the winter primes you to step back onto the first tee in spring with an upgraded mental approach.

5. Follow Guided Golf Swing Exercise Routines

Lastly, Justin and Tori have recorded a grind session video that guides you through targeted motions and positions in the golf swing without requiring full shots. Mimicking this routine three days a week keeps your muscle memory sharp when clubs have been put away. It functions like a workout video for swinging properly and can be done in just 15 minutes once you get the hang of it. Maintaining awareness of what optimal mechanics look and feel like prevents regressing entirely back to square one. Supplementing in additional putting and short game technique tutorials provides well-rounded training for when next season rolls around.

Conclusion

The positivity and possibilities of spring fuel every golfer’s excitement as the calendar turns. Utilizing the off-season intentionally to improve your skills, body, and mindset builds a foundation for meaningful improvement when recordable scores resume. Follow the tips that resonate most with your needs during the winter and enjoy the fruits of a more polished, powerful, and consistent game in the warmer months ahead.

Resources

Mentioned Books

Download the Off-Season Bootcamp!

What you'll get:

The Breaking Bogeys Grind Session to do at home
An Off-Season Reading List
Breaking Bogeys Easy Putting Setup & Technique
New content added throughout the off-season!

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