7 Ways to Make Golf Off-Season More Productive

For many players in the north, snow and brutally cold temperatures herald in golf's off-season. Golf clubs are carried into the garage from the trunk, and, instead of walking the fairways, golfers find themselves wandering the local PGA Tour Superstore.

Even though spring will be at your doorstep before you know it, a little preparation now will get you out on the course with the first official mowing of the short grass!

Golf for Beginners, a leading blog for amateurs of all levels, has created a list of seven ways to make the golf off-season more productive. You may not be playing golf now but, chances are, you are thinking about it, so why not plan ahead!

1. Identify ways to improve your game and score. Do you flub a lot of your chips? Are you regularly 3-putting?

2. Find a good teaching professional and talk about your weaknesses. Many pros teach indoors and/or, not every day is too cold to get into the sunshine.

3. Clean out your golf bag - junk accumulates! From old, half-eaten snack bars to the hundreds of tees you have stashed in all of those pockets, your golf bag can get really heavy! Rummage through your clubs during the offseason to identify which ones you just don't use and replace them with clubs that you want to try at the range come spring thaw.

4. Regrip your clubs - after reviewing which golf clubs you intend to keep in your bag for the new season, check and regrip the slippery ones!

5. Re-cleat, and clean your golf shoes - do this task regularly as I have been lax here only to find out that some soft spikes do not come out easily if they have been in their socket for too long! Your golf shoes will last longer and give you years of good gripping power on the course.

6. Tis the season for deals! Think ahead for spring - now is the time to find sales on golf balls ...for all the balls you will lose next year!

7. Practice your putting in your living room. If there is one part of your game that you can always find a place to practice, it is your putting! Get out that red Dixie cup and dunk a few, or drive over to the local superstore in your area and roll a few putts while purchasing your golf balls, soft spikes and new grips!

Photo: Footjoy Ladies LoPro golf shoes

Must-Have Techie Golf Game Improvement Gifts

With the industry producing high tech golf equipment for the past several years, advancements have led to an overall game improvement model, helping players with everything from swing adjustments to course distances. In this article, Golf for Beginners takes a look at a few "must-have" golf gifts to augment your game.

1. Golf GPS: Comes in a variety of styles from apps and watches to hand-held devices, the golf GPS is a must-have for your bag...as long as you aren't in a tournament. They can record distance, statistics, and scores.

I personally carry the Bushnell NEO, a golf rangefinder which I received as a gift and which gives me basic distances from where I stand to the green.

2. Swing/Game Analysis: Aside from lessons with a golf teaching professional who has all of the latest techie gifts on-hand, there are portable swing analysis golf gifts which don't cost a fortune and offer you shot analysis. Arccos Caddie Smart Sensors, for example, claim that you will "know the exact distance to any point on the course, learn precisely which club to Use in every situation and identify Actual strengths and weaknesses of their game."


3. Golf Simulator: Simulators are pretty expensive so your mates are unlikely to shell out upwards of three thousand dollars so you can improve your game and beat them on the course but, for the hardcore tech golfer, no man cave is complete without this entertainment system.

Basically set up like the golf simulators you see at PGA Tour Superstore (see photo), these simulators can come with a variety of the top courses, retractable screen, real-time shot tracking...even competitions within the game itself.

Read: Golf Gifts Your Dad Will Use

You will probably receive boxes of golf balls, perhaps a golf shirt or even the most flattering golf sportswear as a gift, but tech improvement devices offer you the ability to elevate your game, and that, in itself, is a reason to splurge on yourself this holiday season.


Unless otherwise stated in this article, Golf for Beginners blog did not personally test any items in this blog and cannot verify that they are great gift ideas for you or for your friends and family. These are mainly suggestions and reflect the opinion of the author. Both the author and Golf for Beginners shall not be held liable for any information within this blog.