Top 10 Winter Golf Hacks

Golf Monthly

In this video, in association with Ping, Kit Alexander talks through his 10 top winter golf hacks

Transcript

00:00Welcome to this golf monthly video in association with PING. I've come down to

00:05Peterborough Milton Golf Club and today I'm going to be sharing with you 10

00:09awesome winter golf hacks. You can use these to keep playing through the winter,

00:13keep enjoying your golf and maybe even shoot a few good scores as well.

00:30Balls of course a vital bit of equipment. We've all got our favorites that we like

00:36to play with throughout the summer but it's worth re-examining that in the

00:40winter. Something a little bit harder can really help you. It might fly a little

00:43bit further and when it is softer you don't need quite so much finesse and

00:47spin around the greens. The color as well another important thing. Yellow balls or

00:53other brightly colored balls as well can be really really helpful if you're

00:56playing a little bit of frost or generally have trouble seeing the balls

01:00especially as the leaves start coming down. Get something a little bit

01:03differently colored, something a little bit firmer and getting the right ball

01:06for winter could really help your scores. When it comes to putting it's vital that

01:13you change your perception of putts in the winter. Now there's going to be more

01:17grass on the green and more moisture as well so what that means is there's more

01:22friction so putts run slower and they break less. If you're used to playing on

01:27really quick greens through the summer you have to get used to the fact that

01:31they're going to be a lot slower and they're going to break less so take time

01:35to calibrate yourself to winter greens. Go and spend some time on the practice

01:40putting green and when you're out on the course if you do like to visualize an

01:43aim point or a false hole that you're aiming for make sure you adjust that

01:48appropriately. Play for slower speeds and less break. My next tip concerns the

01:53one item of clothing that I will never go on to a golf course without wearing

01:58the moment it gets below about 10 degrees centigrade and that's one of

02:02these things here, a base layer. They're absolutely brilliant, stick it on

02:06underneath whatever you're wearing, it's skin tight, super comfortable and it's

02:10amazing how much of a difference just that one relatively thin layer makes to

02:15your temperature throughout a round so the moment those temperatures start to

02:19plummet get yourself a base layer. If you're able to it's a really good idea

02:23to carry your clubs in winter even if you like to use a buggy or a trolley the

02:29rest of the year we know that can really churn up courses as they get wetter and

02:33softer underfoot so get yourself a small little bag maybe even play with a half

02:38set and a pencil bag but it avoids having to go around all the little

02:42signpost areas churning up the course with a trolley or a buggy get the clubs

02:46on your back and go out for a nice winter stroll. There's nothing worse than

02:51playing golf with cold hands once the freeze sets in there's no going back so

02:57it's absolutely vital that you keep them warm and toasty throughout the round.

03:01Traditional way of doing that a nice big old pair of mitts that you can chuck on

03:06over the top of everything else. Alternatively you can get yourself one of

03:10these a little wearable hand warmer now I am fully channeling my inner Tom Brady

03:16here look like an NFL quarterback but actually they're really really handy as

03:20well with mitts you've got to find somewhere to store them with a wearable

03:24hand warmer like this you just wear it the whole time as you're walking down

03:28the fairways in between shots out in front keeping your hands nice and toasty

03:32the moment it's time to play just whip it round the back it's totally out of

03:36the way and you can play your golf shot without messing about. As golfers we all

03:42suffer from a little bit of ego so this next bit of advice well it works all

03:46year round but especially in winter and that's take one more club you'd be

03:51amazed how much winter conditions can knock off your carry yardages into

03:55greens whether that's simply just the colder temperatures going into a stiff

03:59breeze or even rain knocking your ball out of the air so when you're working

04:04out your yardages and what club you're going to hit remember it's not going to

04:08carry as far and it's not going to release as far when it lands as well in

04:12winter most of your approach shots are all carry so club up at least one and in

04:18some conditions maybe even two or three clubs make sure you get your approaches

04:23back to the hole. It's brilliant having adjustable clubs and coming into winter

04:28is the perfect time to take advantage of that right now the courses well they're

04:33softer you want as much carry as possible so you can crank up the loft on

04:38your driver even move the weight back a little bit as well that will help higher

04:42launch and a little bit more backspin which will keep the ball in the air for

04:47a touch longer don't go too far you don't want to be ballooning it but if

04:50you just make a few little tweaks to give you a few extra yards of carry off

04:54the tee that'll really help you drive the ball further in winter. It's really

04:59important to make sure that the soles of your shoes are clean and clear of

05:03debris before you play any shots if they're not and in winter it's easy to

05:08get grass and mud leaves and if you're playing in really cold conditions the

05:12ice can get compacted under there pretty quickly as well the last thing you want

05:16is to lose your grip in your feet when you're hitting a golf shot so make sure

05:21before every shot you check the soles clean out your cleats you can use a tee

05:25or a pitchfork but also don't do it on the green or near the apron or on a tee

05:30go to a quiet area of the course somewhere where balls are less likely to

05:34find and you're not likely to cause too many issues by leaving a little patch of

05:38mud so just get your tee out and give them a quick clean before you hit it's

05:44well worth investing in some really high-quality outerwear not like it used

05:50to be these days the technology involved is absolutely fantastic it's all

05:54breathable windproof waterproof stretches in all the right areas so you

05:59can swing as well I've already got my waterproof trousers on as you can see

06:03reasonably slim fitting nothing too baggy like you used to get also a top

06:08like this that really stops the wind absolutely vital and of course everyone

06:13needs a waterproof as much as we'd like to play in Sun all day long all around

06:18the year we know that doesn't happen especially if you're playing in the UK

06:22so get yourself a really good set of waterproofs as well yes they can be

06:26expensive but believe me if you do play golf year-round good outer layers will

06:31more than pay back your outlay on them the short game it's an area that we all

06:37know we need to practice and just because it's winter you don't need to

06:41neglect it either and the reasons for that are twofold firstly winter golf

06:45often more difficult so you might find yourself needing to recover more often

06:50and secondly well the type of shots you're going to play around the greens

06:54could be totally different in winter as opposed to in the summer you can get

06:59some very different lies perhaps you've all even lying on mud softer greens

07:03enable you to play with a little bit less loft or do even different things so

07:07make sure you get down to the practice area the short game area and see what

07:12you can and can't do in winter and if there are shots you're not quite

07:15confident on perhaps playing off of a more bear lie give yourself a bit of

07:19confidence by practicing them if you've got a razor-sharp short game through the

07:23winter as well it'll keep you scoring well and actually it'll feel a lot

07:27easier when the summer comes around off of slightly better turf there we go that

07:32is your 10 winter golf hacks in association with ping I hope you're

07:37going to find those helpful if you've got any yourselves add them into the

07:41comments below as well please remember like and share this video because we

07:46have got loads more great content coming your way from the golf monthly

07:50YouTube channel

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