While some players can play golf all year, many can’t play in the winter. Golfers who live in areas where winter hits hard often put their clubs away as soon as the season is over and stop thinking about golf. Smart golfers, on the other hand, work on their games in bad weather. They practice putting on their carpets, read articles featuring golf tips, and/or go to health clubs to work out. Doing these things can help you chop strokes off your golf handicap next year.
One way to refine your swing over the winter is to practice in front of a mirror. Mirrors are great learning tools. They can help you see if you’re hitting checkpoints in your swing and eradicate swing flaws that hurt your ballstriking. In fact, there are numerous mirror-driven exercises that can improve your swing. Below we describe four exercises used in golf instruction sessions to help students refine their swings, which improve their ballstriking.
Increase Your Body Turn
We often see players in golf lessons take the club back with little upper body turn. They’re afraid they’ll turn too far and miss the ball, so they keep their turns short. But an armsy backswing encourages a slice. To develop a good body turn, stand with your back to a mirror and place your hands on your hips. Without moving your lower body, turn your upper body all the way around to the right until you see yourself in the mirror. Do this exercise several times a day to ingrain the feeling and increase your flexibility.
Add Power To Your Swing
Many weekend golfers can add an extra 20 yards to drives by simply widening their swing arcs. More distance off the tee means shorter approach shots. The following exercise helps you achieve those extra 20 yards. Stand with a mirror just off your right side. Now simulate your backswing so that your arms hit against the pane. Take your swing all the way to the top. Make sure your hands are slightly off your right shoulder at the top. Now complete your downswing. Push your hands against the pane again as you come down to the ball. Do this as often as you can for best results.
Improve Your Ballstriking
If you stay on the right same plane when you swing your irons, you’ll strike the ball solidly every time. It’s called consistency. Here’s an exercise we use in our golf instruction sessions to help students stay on plane with their swings and build consistency: Stick a long piece of tape on a mirror at about a 55-degree angle. Then set up your mirror off your right side. Make a swing. Track the shaft up the tapeline until your arm is parallel to the ground and the club’s butt is pointing to the floor. You should be roughly parallel to the tapeline. Practice this exercise until being on plane is ingrained.
Learn To Come Down Inside
You must come down from the inside to hit powerful shots—a fundamental we emphasize in our golf lessons all the time. But you must be careful not to come too far inside. Otherwise, you’ll hook the shot or push it the other way. To learn the correct swing path, stand with your front side facing a mirror. Take the club back to where it is parallel to the ground. At this point the shaft should be hidden from view in the mirror or slightly visible to the right of your hands. If you see the club to the left of your hands, you’re too far inside.
You can even use a mirror to improve your putting with this drill:
Square Up Your Putting Stance
It’s critical you square up your stance when putting. To check your position, place a mirror on the ground. Set a ball on top of it. Take your stance so the ball covers your left eye when looking down, and your eye line and shoulder line are parallel to the putter face. Do this exercise until the feeling is ingrained.
The winter is a great time to work on your game if you can’t play. Reading books or articles that offer golf tips, practicing putting on your carpet, and working out regularly at a health club can help play better next spring. Do the exercises described above faithfully and build consistency, improve your ballstriking, and chop strokes off your golf handicap.
