There are a lot of good reasons to work on improving your golf game at home.
It can save you a lot of money, allow you to make the most of your time, and even teach you to get better at self-diagnosing swing faults.
Set Up A Net In Your Backyard Or Garage
No matter what level your game is at, the best way to improve is to get more swings in.
And being able to do that at any time without having to drive to the range or pay for a bucket of range balls can give you a huge advantage.
Sure, there are limitations to hitting into a net, but even if you can’t see the ball-flight, you’ll know if you hit the ball solid or not.
Getting in more reps of simply working on solid contact rather than always worrying about the ball flight can actually go a long way to helping you improve. Many golf instructors will agree that it’s easier to fix direction than it is to work on solid contact. So practice simply hitting the sweet spot every time while working with the net.
Then when you get to the range, if you have any directional issues, it could be as simple as a quick setup or grip adjustment.
If you’re not sure which one to choose, check out our guide on the best golf nets for home.
Use A Home Launch Monitor
If you want to take your home practice into a net to the next level, a decent home launch monitor is going to make a big difference.
As compared to just using a net at home, adding a launch monitor to your setup will allow you to see approximate distances as well as supplementary stats like ball speed, swing speed, launch angle, smash factor, and many more.
Of course, which of these measurements you’ll have available to you depend on the specific launch monitor that you choose.
If you want a more complete breakdown of the current options, you can CLICK HERE to check out our guide to the best launch monitors on the market.
The options out there range from basic devices around $200 that will give you a reasonably accurate reading on your shot distance all the way to more advanced golf simulators that can cost from $2000 to $20,000.
Putt On Your Carpet
If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly way to improve your game, then one of the easiest ways you can do that is to simply drop a ball on the carpet, pick a target and work on your putting stroke.
This is a time honored tradition of golf.
Even pro golfers from decades ago were known to spend some time the night before a tournament putting into a turned over cup in their hotel room.
The key to making this work is not to worry too much about speed. You’d be hard pressed to find a carpet that matches your local green on the stimpmeter. Instead focus on your stroke itself and making contact consistently in the center of the putter face. This will help you control distances on the green with more consistency too.
Practice In Front Of A Mirror
If you go to just about any golf instructor, you’ll probably see a large mirror near the hitting area.
There’s a good reason for this. The instant feedback of seeing your swing in the mirror can be very eye-opening and allow you to make adjustments to your swing quickly. You might be surprised at how different your swing looks compared to how you thought it looked in your head.
Of course, making this assessment requires a little bit of knowledge about good swing positions, but it can be extremely beneficial for a golfer of any skill level to see what their swing looks like.
Record Your Swing On Video
While we are on the topic of learning what your swing really looks like, the best way to accomplish that is by recording your swing.
This takes a little more preparation and planning than just setting up a mirror, but it can be much more valuable. One of the limitations to using a mirror is that you have to be looking at the mirror while you are swinging. So while it is great for getting instant feedback on how certain swing positions feel, you can’t really see how your entire swing looks without using a camera.
The good news is that most modern smartphones have cameras built-in that are quite capable of taking great swing video. For example, the current iPhone model will let you take slow-motion video at 240 frames per second. That kind of high-speed video recording works perfectly even for fast swingers.
Of course, you can also invest in much higher speed video cameras, but the benefit isn’t worth the extra cost unless you have other needs for a high-speed video camera.
Improve Your Fitness
The golf swing is more of an athletic move than most average golfers are willing to admit.
Improvements in strength, flexibility, and stamina can be a great way to improve your game without taking any lessons.
Two areas that you should focus on when it comes to your golf game are the core and the legs. Those are generally the two main engines of the swing and increased strength in those areas will pay big dividends on the course.
Practice Your Grip
You might think that improving your grip is just a matter of changing it once and being done with it.
However, you’ll find that over time, you’ll have a tendency to revert back to the old grip that you are more comfortable with. So changing your grip actually takes practice.
So if you want to make changes, you can benefit significantly from taking the time to grip the club the way you want and then making practice swings with it. Periodically re-check your grip to ensure that it still looks the way you want.
Many amateurs can use some improvement on their grip. If you want to learn a little more about the grip, check out our guide on the pros and cons of a strong vs. weak golf grip.
Regrip Your Clubs
You might be surprised how much of a difference new grips can make on the course.
Old and worn out grips can cause you to grip a little tighter to prevent the club from slipping out of your hands. This added tension can cause all kinds of issues with your swing and can even exacerbate physical issues like arthritis.
On the other hand, a new tacky grip can be more comfortable and promote a more relaxed grip on the club. This will promote a smoother, more fluid swing. The decreased tension in your hands actually flows to the rest of the body causing your entire swing to become faster and more efficient.
If you never did this before, we’ve got you covered on this guide on how to change the grip on your golf clubs.
Work On Swing Speed Training
In addition to a good fitness regimen, there are specific things you can work on to improve your swing speed without even having to hit a golf ball. These are easy to do in your backyard, garage, or even in the house if you have the room.
There are generally two ways to improve your speed. Heavier clubs and lighter clubs.
The heavier clubs will help you build more strength in your swing. You don’t need significantly heavier clubs. In fact, if you still have one of those lead weight doughnuts that go around the shaft of the club to make it heaver…get rid of it. That’s too heavy and can actually slow down your swing.
One of the easiest ways to add weight to the club is to simply swing your driver with the headcover on. It’s a good idea to wrap a rubber band or something around it from preventing it from flying off, but that’s all the added weight you need.
Then grab something real light. A shaft without a clubhead works well here. I even took one of those driveway markers you see a lot of players using for alignment practice and wrapped a bunch of athletic tape at one end to make a grip. The lack of resistance and light weight will train your body to speed up and activate those fast twitch muscles.
Learn Course Management
Golf strategy and course management is one aspect of the game that amateurs ignore more than any other.
Sure, we all know that trying to make that 225 carry over water with a 3 wood from the fairway is a low percentage play…but we do it anyway.
Probably the easiest way to drop a few strokes is with better course management.
Learn to identify danger zones and play away from them even if it means giving up the chance at a miracle shot. Take the extra shot to get yourself in position for an easy pitch onto the par 5 green rather than going for it in 2 with a high risk play. Aim for the center of the green instead of short siding yourself on a tucked pin.
These are just a few of the simple things that you will realize if you took the time to educate yourself on good course strategy.
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