#AskCoachFranz - 3 - [practice]

Question: It is now winter. Are you coaching now and how can that benefit me, as I am thinking of competing next year in some local amateur tournaments?

Answer: Winter is the time to work on your mechanics/fundamentals and strength and conditioning, so that when the playing season starts in Canada, you are ready.

Too many people wait until March to start their prep. Whether you are a recreational player or a full fledged competitor, you can never start too early. In fact, since you are intending to compete next year, I hope you have continued your training after the golf courses closed.

For your practice in winter, you should apply our 3 stage plan. Every practice right now should have 3 components- 1.Technical 2. Rhythm, motion and feel 3. Competition simulation.

This applies to all aspects of your game.

For a putting practice session of 60 minutes:

- 20 minutes: Keep your lower body from moving and keep the putter face square between the feet, doing pre-determined drills and using your alignment rod as an aid.

- 20 minutes: No technique. Using target drills, work on feeling the putts and establishing your consistent rhythm; 2 : 1 for example.

- 20 minutes: Complete drills (ex; the clockwork drill) to simulate the pressure of playing. Phil Mickelson loved that one, doing 100's, saying that at 76 you could feel the pressure, and he would use that feeling in key tournament moments.

At Golf and Performance we utilize a specific blueprint, tailored to each student to help get them ready for their competitions or if they just wanted to drop their score significantly from one season to the next. There is a definite difference between simply working on your swing and taking it to the next level of shot making, and score lowering, and winter is a great time to focus on the requisite elements for both.

Be sure to keep this in mind, and play well.

Analysis via Skype has now been introduced for our distance students. Contact us if you would like the details on that:

Attn: Claire (Client Services) - golfandperformance@gmail.com