When the days shorten and the temperatures drop, putting your clubs away is a must for a slow start to the new season.
There are various ways to keep your game going, but they don’t involve standing on a driving range in freezing temperatures and hitting hundreds of balls.
Mental performance coach Duncan McCarthy has worked with golfers on all major tours.
He helped Erik van Rooyen to two wins on the PGA Tour, did the same for Marcus Armitage on the DP World Tour and helped Ashleigh Buhai win the Muirfield Women’s Open in 2022.
evaluate
You have to be realistic, but if you want to do something in the winter, a good way to start is to look back at your last season.
Obviously it’s good to identify the good stuff, but also identify one or more areas where you’d like to improve a little bit next season.
I recently had a client who wanted to get healthier, stronger, and softer. So it might be cold, but you can still improve your golf by not hitting the ball.
So, over the next few months, find a physical therapist, join a gym or take a local fitness class. Alternatively, you could even start walking, depending on your level, or buy some fitness bands and do 10 minutes of exercise at home every day. This is not necessarily an unrealistic thing.
Target
I think it really helps to define some small goals that you want to achieve during the winter. If you’re really keen on continuing to hit balls and keep playing, then a small investment in a putting mat may be necessary to keep your focus. There’s no finish line to it, but having small exercises will certainly help.
You can even have a small golf club shortened to about two feet long. This way you can do some mirror work and use it indoors. You can always practice your moves, hitting the ball is fine, but it’s a move and you can train it.
half set
If you do keep playing, make it fun. I always use a half set in the winter; I’ll take a driver, no fairway woods, and use an even mix of irons, wedges, and putters. I then switch to the odds for the next round.
It’s fun and will keep your imagination flowing all winter long because you don’t have to win the game. You just have to pay attention and have a little fun, but also understand that the fun a person has with golf isn’t just about the direction of the ball or the score of their shot, that’s going to be part of the enjoyment.
Another part of the fun of golf can be the people you play with, the conversation, and general fun.
exercise
Another area of golf where you can have fun is most likely exercise. You’re out there and it’s good for your mental health. The clocks changed and everyone got lower.
But playing a round of golf, even if it’s raining, even if it’s windy, even if it’s cold, is much better for your mental health than canceling the game and choosing to sit indoors in the warmth. This is negative because then you start thinking about your thoughts.
mental strength
In the winter, you’ll have more time to pick up a book, or you might spend some time working on your mind games with someone, discussing visualization, steps in a pre-shot routine or just clarifying certain areas of the game.
You can work on improving your self-talk, or your personal growth, because this has a huge impact on how you play, how you react, and how you talk to yourself. There are many different areas where people can improve.
positive side
There are always setbacks and many of us will reflect on the worst shots of the day, but you have to find a way to keep moving forward. You have to keep a positive attitude. No matter how bad a day you had, you need to ask yourself what you did well.
How can we do things better?
I could tell you to keep a journal and write down all these things, but that might not be realistic.
Ask yourself on the drive home, what two things did you do well today? Pat yourself on the back and start shifting your mindset this winter to look for the things you do well rather than the things you don’t do well.
About Duncan McCarthy
Duncan is a mental performance coach who has worked across all sports, including women’s Grand Slam champion Ashleigh Buhai
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