Golf Practice Ideas at Home
Golf is a challenging sport and it can frustrate golfers quickly, especially beginners who haven’t had as much experience playing and haven’t had as long to practice.
Practice is the key to quickly improving at golf and making it a much more enjoyable time on the golf course.
While many golfers may shy away from practice due to the time commitment it takes, if you consider practicing golf at home then you may find more motivation to practice golf more often.
In today’s article we share several golf practice ideas for the indoor golf practice session that can be completed from home.
And if you want more content on indoor golf practice we have written additional articles and created a golf practice plan you can follow to improve.
- Best Indoor Golf Putting Greens
- 13 Best Chipping Drills for At Home Practice
- 8 Best Indoor Putting Drills
Putting Drills to Focus on Swing Path
If you want to practice golf at home, one idea is to start with putting. It can easily be done indoors with or without a golf ball.
You’ll want to focus on the putting stroke and getting it fundamentally solid so you can strike better putts on the green later on when you make it out to the golf course.
There are several putting path drills that can be done at home.
Book Path Drill
This golf drill involves using two large (thick) books that can be placed on the ground parallel to each other. Use your putter as a guide for getting the books to lay about 1 putter head width apart, leaving a path for the putter to swing between the two books.
Then making putting strokes trying to keep the putter path straight to avoid making contact with the two books. If your stroke isn’t straight, you’ll get instant feedback as the putter bumps into one on the books.
Start Putts on a Straight Line
If you struggle with hitting putts that start on your intended line then this at home golf drill is for you.
You’ll need a coin like a quarter that can be set on the ground about 1 foot in front of your golf ball. Set the putter down behind your golf ball and aim your putt at the coin.
The goal is to strike a straight putt so that the ball rolls straight to start and rolls over the coin. The coin will cause the ball to go offline so don’t worry about the end result. With this drill your focus is on the start of the putt, getting the ball to start rolling straight on your intended line. Once the ball hits the coin, the drill is over.
Repeat several reps until comfortable and then move the coin away another foot so it’s now 2ft from your golf ball.
Then move the coin 3 feet away, 4 feet away, and so on until you build skill hitting straight putts that start rolling on your line the first several feet of the putt.
To hit the ball straight on line, you’ll want to focus on your swing path as well as putter face angle. Putter face angle is a drill we will work on next.
Putting Gate Drill with Tees
During the putting stroke if your putter face is twisting, it won’t come back to the ball square. Instead it will make contact with the ball at an angle which can push the ball off line. This results in pushed putts that go right or pulled putts that go left of your intended line.
Put extra focus on watching the face during the putting stroke to ensure you keep it aimed straight and don’t turn or twist the face open / closed.
For this putting drill, you can set up two tees or objects to form a gate entrance about a putter width wide but slightly less than putter head width.
The goal is to make a putting stroke so that the putter face strikes both tees at the same time. One tee should make contact on the toe side of the putter and the other tee on the heel side of the putter face.
When the putter face strikes both tees at the same time, you get feedback that the putter face is square (straight perpendicular to the putting line).
If the toe hits the tee before the heel on the putter face, this tells you the putter face was coming into the tees on an angle and vice versa if the heel hits before the toe.
This putting drill will test your putter face squareness as well as your swing path and how well you can keep both straight.
Chipping Drills at Home
Another easy way to practice your golf game at home is to work on some simple chipping drills. I’ll outline one chipping drill you can do every day to build skill fast!
It’s called the towel drill.
This drill tests your ability to hit golf balls straight on line with where you are aiming. It also tests your ability to hit golf balls the correct distance so they land on the spot you’re trying to land them.
For this at home golf drill, you’ll need to purchase a chipping mat which can sustain the impact of the golf club. It’s not recommended to chip off hard flooring or carpet. Once you purchase this chipping mat with artificial turf, you’ll want to set 5 or 10 golf balls nearby.
Next, find a small bath towel or wash cloth and a tape measure.
Measure out 5 feet away from your chipping mat and set the towel on the ground, laid out flat to create a landing zone to land golf balls. This is your target you’ll aim at and hit chips so the ball lands on the towel before rolling off.
Set up a barrier several feet after the towel to stop the golf balls so they don’t keep rolling and run into your walls and floor trim causing damage.
Hit one ball at a time, taking aim at the towel. You’ll get feedback from this short game drill on how well you hit chips straight on line as well as how well you can control your chipping distance.
Once you master 5 feet (8 out of 10 successes), then move the towel back to 7 feet, 9 feet, 11 feet, and so on.
This one indoor golf drill will quickly improve your chipping.
Golf Swing Power & Distance
If you’re looking to add distance to your golf swing and hit golf shots with more explosive power, then it starts with your fitness at home.
Incorporating exercise into your daily lifestyle is a great way to build muscle strength and flexibility which both will help your golf swing add power.
Start with core workouts, making strength gains to your abdominal muscles. This muscle region is what helps your body generate power in the golf swing.
It’s the bridge between power from your legs that gets transferred to your upper body during the golf swing.
In addition to ab workouts, you should also do some basic leg strength exercises. The legs are also great power generators that will add distance to your golf swing.
Stretching everyday can also benefit your golf game. Having increased range of motion in your muscles is an easy way to unlock extra distance. Your body can make a fuller turn in the golf swing, producing more speed and power.
Back exercises are important to help prevent injury. Strengthening your back muscles will also add power to the golf swing.
Lastly, focus on some cardio too! Go on daily walks or ride your bike to build the cardiac muscles. Golf is a long-duration cardio workout itself. You’re out walking around on a golf course for hours which can wear your body down and cause your golf swing to perform worse as the round goes on longer.
Having steady cardio exercises incorporated into your everyday life can help you out on the golf course.
Overall, these are the basic fundamental tips and drills for practicing golf at home that will bring you the best results the quickest. These simple golf drills will help you lower your golf scores at least 5 to 10 strokes if you practice them at home frequently and build skill.
I always recommend tracking stats so you can see the improvement over time! It will be even more motivating when you start noticing your improvement thanks to stats being tracked and analyzed.
Here’s a full set of programs that offer step by step golf drills as well as stat tracking worksheets. Complete this program at the golf course in addition to doing the at home drills in today’s article.
