As we head into the off-season, it’s time to put some proper work in and go into 2027 as better golfers, writes Northern Golfer editor Dean Bailey
We’ve all heard it before, but a great short-game and knowing how to get the ball close to the flag from inside 100 yards is fundamental to good scoring. This off-season I’ll be working on this part of the game in more detail than ever before, and here’s why I think you should too.
An important place to start is understanding how far you hit the golf ball with every club in your bag. This used to be a case of heading out to the practice field with a bag of balls and pacing out how far you’re hitting each one. These days, a visit to a driving range or studio with Toptracer, TrackMan, FlightScope or any other ball tracking technology makes this job a lot easier.
If you want to go a step further, personal launch monitors are getting better and cheaper all the time, with the devices available from the likes of Blue Tees Golf, Shot Scope and Garmin providing key data in small and powerful devices which won’t break the bank.
Spending a couple of hours diving into your yardages in detail is incredibly insightful. Not only does it give you a solid baseline for playing out on the golf course, it can also identify issues with your clubs such as a gap at the top of your bag between the irons and woods, or the need for an extra wedge at the bottom end of the bag.
Knowing your numbers on the range is the first step. From there, you can develop shots which give you options – ones which fly lower with less spin to make accessing back flags easier, ones which stop quickly with lots of elevation and spin… there are lots of ways to get the golf ball close. I’m not suggesting every player needs a complex set of swing positions with every scoring club – though these do work for lots of the world’s best players – but a solid understanding of how you use your clubs and control carry, flight and spin is useful.
Having a plan to develop these skills makes range sessions a lot more interesting in my experience. Bashing balls isn’t an ideal practice strategy, and while completing drills and practising in blocks as you repeat a motion is a key part of getting better, bringing variation to your sessions and developing new skills is very rewarding and can be a lot of fun at the same time.
If you’d like to see what this looks like at a very high level, check out Northern Golfer columnist Chris Paisley on Instagram – where you’ll find some great videos on lots of different ways to get the ball close to the hole.
Getting down to details and moving from estimating what you’re doing to knowing what you’re doing can transform your game.
Start developing your plan now, speak to your coach if you need to, and put the work in to hit the ground running in 2027.
