Indoor (winter) training

[jc@bg]

Rockford mentioned in another thread that he is about to begin his indoor (winter) training regimen. Would some of you share your thoughts and experiences in this regard? Living in northern Ohio, we have a little of what you would call winter, but I usually do my best not to acknowledge its existence--mostly by teeing it up at a local cow pasture where you slip $5 under the door and play on Christmas Eve if you want. It's only 9 holes, and they may not have mowed (picked up leaves, sticks, trees, or expired fauna) since September, but I *think* you could call it golf. Sort of.

Still, I yearn for a slightly closer-to-home or warmer venue, especially when the wind chill drops to -20 F and the greens have a snowdrift problem (what're golf course thinking, with no snow removal?). What do you do?

[Rockford kind of answered this one already, in the other thread, but I'm hoping against hope that someone can put us on a $19.95 DIY setup that works in garages with 8-foot ceilings.] :sobbash:

 

[bdcrowe]

Rockford mentioned in another thread that he is about to begin his indoor (winter) training regimen. Would some of you share your thoughts and experiences in this regard? Living in northern Ohio, we have a little of what you would call winter, but I usually do my best not to acknowledge its existence--mostly by teeing it up at a local cow pasture where you slip $5 under the door and play on Christmas Eve if you want. It's only 9 holes, and they may not have mowed (picked up leaves, sticks, trees, or expired fauna) since September, but I *think* you could call it golf. Sort of.

Still, I yearn for a slightly closer-to-home or warmer venue, especially when the wind chill drops to -20 F and the greens have a snowdrift problem (what're golf course thinking, with no snow removal?). What do you do?

[Rockford kind of answered this one already, in the other thread, but I'm hoping against hope that someone can put us on a $19.95 DIY setup that works in garages with 8-foot ceilings.] :sobbash:

I have little offer here, since in Chattanooga my Winter routine consists of playing most every weekend.

One thought I had with a buddy is to buy one of those $150 golf simulator thingies off ebay that hooks up to your computer and interfaces with TW 2004 video game. I'm not sure how accurate the thing is, but I feel you should chance the $150, give it a test-drive, and report back to me. If you have good success, I'll shell out the dough with no gamble involved. It seems the right thing for you to do.

Spend your $ here...

 

[bdcrowe]

Sorry to double-post, but this is in addition. I think I want one.........

http://www.vmatrix.com/clients/qmotions/video/index.html

 

[DaveE]

I have little offer here, since in Chattanooga my Winter routine consists of playing most every weekend.

One thought I had with a buddy is to buy one of those $150 golf simulator thingies off ebay that hooks up to your computer and interfaces with TW 2004 video game. I'm not sure how accurate the thing is, but I feel you should chance the $150, give it a test-drive, and report back to me. If you have good success, I'll shell out the dough with no gamble involved. It seems the right thing for you to do.

Spend your $ here...

bd, I got one of those for Christmas last year and it was crap. It was an older model, pre-software, but had a read-out that was suppose to give distance and direction. The bad news is that it thinks every club and every shot goes about the same distance. I'm not a big hitter but I can hit a driver more than 140yds. Another problem with it is that the height adjustment will not allow the ball to be lowered close enough to the mat to effectively hit irons. I just felt fortunate that my wife had bought it local so it could be returned.

I wish someone would invent one of these that works. I hate not having a range nearby.

 

[bdcrowe]

bd, I got one of those for Christmas last year and it was crap. It was an older model, pre-software, but had a read-out that was suppose to give distance and direction. The bad news is that it thinks every club and every shot goes about the same distance. I'm not a big hitter but I can hit a driver more than 140yds. Another problem with it is that the height adjustment will not allow the ball to be lowered close enough to the mat to effectively hit irons. I just felt fortunate that my wife had bought it local so it could be returned.

I wish someone would invent one of these that works. I hate not having a range nearby.

If it seems too good...........

 

[Rockford35]

Izzo Golf makes the best practice nets. They cost a little more, but they sure are quality. They fold up like a tent, and are easy to put up. They're not really meant for hitting the lofted clubs, but you'd be alright hitting 7 iron down to your driver with no problems.

Some of their models don't come with the tee or mat, but the tees are about 6 bucks for 3, different heights of course. The mat you can buy at your local hardware store for about 3 bucks for a square yard.

This would keep your muscles trained over the winter, but you'd still have to work on the short game come spring. There's really no way to train that without taking divots. That's pretty much a given.

Here's the link to Izzo's nets. They have a bunch of them.

http://www.izzo.com/practice_nets.asp?pnMenuOrder=1

R35

 

[Youngun5]

i have a pvc frame with nylon netting built in, by itself the balls come screaming back at you, (learned the hard way) but i put some tough old carpet on a 2x4 and string it up and hit into the carpet and the ball goes dead and drops straight down, i'll be hitting into this about 3 hrs a day during the winter to get used to my Ta1's (ordering tomorrow) i've heard nothing but good thoughts about the izzo nets, if you go to your local golf or sporting goods dealer, you should be able to find something very reasonable,

NOTE: many of the popup nets aren't to be used indoors take the certain precautions to avoid career ending injuries

:sobbash:

 

[Loop]

There's an indoor driving range located in an air inflated dome. They charge by the hour. But I'm really giving a thought about the golf nets. In Golf Town, when you try clubs, they let you hit on the net. And there was this device in golf town that could detect your ball flight, clubhead and ball speed although I'm not sure it is that accurate. Now I just have to know where I can find it.

 

[Rockford35]

Golfsmith sells them. They're expensive tho.

The nets that I was talking about are both indoor and outdoor. And the balls just fall dead when you hit them, so no worries there.

R35

 

[SiberianDVM]

Ressurecting old thread.

I'm thinking about getting a practice net to use on the days I can't get to the range.

They aren't exactly cheap, are they? On Ebay, there are ones priced from $50 to $250.
Does anyone have an opinion on minimum size, shape, quality, brand, that they would like to share?

 

[Rockford35]

Izzo.

Of the 4 or 5 i've seen, they are by far the best. They fold up tight and come with a bag for hiding them away.

R35

 

[goatster]

my regimen consists of bowling twice a week in leagues so i have somewhere else to vent my pent up anger.

instead of smashing a little white ball i smash white pins.im also closer to be a good bowler then i am being closer to being a good golfer.

since i average 185 in bowling and about 45 in golf.

 

[cabinessence]

I don't like doing much golf work during snowy months...it just seems to ingrain my bad habits. Working out and getting fit is always a great alternative.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Well, the Izzo nets turned out to be a little too expensive for my wallet; I ended up getting a cheaper but still functional net.

Now, what is everyone using for a hitting surface? Iron shots will have to be hit off of something other than the real grass, obviously.

A scrap piece of carpet?
Buy a 1' x 2' surface for $20?
Has anyone ever tried a FlexTee?

 

[Silver]

Sib, one of the ranges near me clears out their beat up mats pretty regularly...that might be an option if any of your ranges use mats.