Putting Together an Effective Off-Season Plan

These days, competitive junior golfers feel pressure to compete year-round. Thankfully, the colder winter months and the accompanying north winds in Texas offer a unique opportunity to improve without the pressures of high school and tournament golf. With few exceptions, our students look forward to the off-season because they have a plan and the available time to devote to improving their skills.

In order to help a young golfer make significant progress before they begin competing again in 2025, I suggest following these three steps.

1. Identify Areas of Improvement.

By reviewing past tournament performances either from a stat program or from records you keep, identify the possible skills or parts of the game that, if improved, will have the biggest impact on score. Even without detailed stats, golfers are quite good at recognizing how and when they are losing strokes. For example, it could be too many three putts or not hitting enough greens. If there are several possible target areas, prioritize them by those that have the largest separation value – influence on score. 
The stat program we use, SwingU, provides strokes-gained analysis for each part of a student’s game (tee shots, approach shots, short game, bunker play, and putting). This breakdown easily identifies the areas offering the most opportunity.

2. Quantify Your Goals.

Next, by calculating the median tournament score for the previous six months, a young golfer will be able to decide how many shots he or she would like to shave off in order to establish a goal for the spring season. This goal should be realistic – usually in the range of two to three strokes.

Once a goal has been determined, it should be broken down into the exact contribution from each area of the game (e.g. two strokes in total, one stroke each from putting and short game – see the accompanying diagram). With our students, we further divide this information into the amount of time that needs to be devoted to each segment of training and practice – technique, skill development, decision making, and mental game.

3. Detail the Required Actions
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Finally, I recommend providing an additional layer of detail that includes the precise actions that are required to accomplish the goals identified in Step 2. In our example above, in which the goal was to save two strokes, with one coming from putting and one from short game, we might decide that the specific actions for improving our putting by one stroke look something like this:

1. Create and practice new routine in which the practice strokes simulate the actual length of the putt.
2. Test different putter lofts to reduce ball skid.
3. Measure backstroke time and backstroke length twice a week.
4. Devise three distance control drills to improve lag putting. Complete the drills three times a week.
5. Increase lower body stability on lag putts to improve contact.
   
   

The off-season offers junior golfers a chance to make important changes that will benefit their game in the long-run. By putting together a well thought-out plan that addresses just a few key areas, young golfers increase their odds of achieving the goals they’ve identified. As always, it’s best to seek out the advice and help of your child’s coach or instructor when putting together your plan.