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Winter Golf

By: Jeffrey Palmer
Palmer Golf Institute at Lora Bay
www.palmergolf.ca

With the season winding down it is easy to start feeling blue. The prospect of the lack of golf is enough to make collective golfers' stomachs turn. With the start of the new television season, our golf season in this part of the world also ends.

So the question remains: how does one stay excited about the game and stay focused for the next season? Here are some ways this winter to keep motivated and stay focused so you have the edge come Spring 2010:

Get Golf Fit

Okay couch potato, join a gym and hire a trainer. Get pumped – physically, as well as mentally - by outlining a winter program with a professional. While your buddies are watching football and drinking beer, you will be working out to get in the best golf shape of your life. This will not only increase your distance, lower your score, and get you excited about playing again, but the chicks will dig your new physique more too.

Work on Your Stroke

Buy a putting mat, get in your basement, and work on your putting like you are possessed. Hit putts for 30 minutes each night for six months, working on pure single lever pendulum technique. I would also recommend getting a stand up mirror so you can watch your stroke and work on your rhythm. Do this and you will be a killer from six feet and in.

Watch Your Posture

With the stand up mirror I recommended in the putting section, work on your set up and your posture. Grab a golf magazine and emulate a pull-out pro. Remember that we want athletic posture that will promote a free pivot. Bend from the waist until your arms hang straight and unlock the knees so that your weight is evenly balanced on the balls of your feet. Take mini-swings engaging your core and maintaining your spine angle. Get visual using the mirror in the basement, and you will get better.

If you do these three things, your game will improve over the winter even if you don't hit a single ball in the off season. You will look - and feel – better, and be ready to win all the Nassau money early next spring.

10/09

Jeff Palmer CPGA, AAB

Jeff Palmer, Director of Golf at the Raven at Lora Bay, is an 18 year veteran in the golf industry and has learned from the games finest instructor's.

Jeff graduated from the San Diego Golf Academy in 1991 and turned professional the same year. He attended the PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit in 1992 and 1994 where he learned from such world renowned instructors as Jim Maclean, Butch Harmon, Jim Flick and Bob Toski.

Mr. Palmer has served as the Director of Golf and then the General Manager at the Shanghai Links Golf and Country Club from 1998-2003 and also as the Director of Golf at the Big Island Country Club in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii from 2003-2006.
Palmer's teaching philosophy hinges on the development of sound fundamentals as well as empirical, statistical data capture to identify opportunities for improvement.

In 2008 Jeff formed the Palmer Golf Institute at Lora Bay to help his clients achieve their goals through higher learning and success planning. The PGI offers second to none one on one and group coaching for novice, intermediate and advanced players. The PGI also places a strong emphasis on junior golf offering weekly classes and summer learning camps for young developing golfers.

Jeff Palmer was voted the Instructor of the Year in 2002 by the Shanghai Area Golf Course Operators Group in the People's Republic of China.