Winter Golf Practice at Home: 5 Indoor Drills to Keep Your Swing Sharp

When the course closes for the season, your swing doesn’t have to go into storage with your clubs. A little winter golf practice at home, even 20 minutes a few times a week, can keep your putting stroke, short game, and swing positions from going stale before spring. You don’t need a simulator or a dedicated golf room. You can adapt several of these drills to a small indoor space with a putting surface, a towel, soft foam balls, and a mirror or phone. The impact-position drill also requires a suitable impact bag.

What Does Good Winter Golf Practice at Home Look Like?

Good winter golf practice at home is short, specific, and safe for indoor spaces. Instead of trying to rebuild your swing in the living room, focus on skills you can rehearse indoors: putting start line, chipping landing spots, and the swing positions you worked on during the season. Small, frequent sessions tend to stick better than an occasional long one, and they’re a lot easier to fit around the holidays.

Before using a club indoors, clear the area of people, pets, and breakables. Check that the club can move through every position in the drill without approaching the ceiling, light fixtures, walls, or furniture. Slow motion doesn’t reduce the space a club needs. If clearance is limited, rehearse the movement without a club.

5 Indoor Golf Drills at a Glance

Not sure where to start? These five drills target different parts of your game. Use this quick guide to choose what to practice and how to track your progress.

Drill	Skill Focus	Track Progress
Coin Drill	Putting start line	Count putts rolling over the coin out of 10 attempts.
Towel Landing-Spot Drill	Chipping landing accuracy	Count foam balls landing on the towel out of 10 attempts.
Slow-Motion Mirror Swings	Swing-position awareness	Review four checkpoints: setup, halfway back, top, and impact.
Impact Bag Drill	Impact-position rehearsal	Complete 10 gentle, controlled rehearsals using your instructor’s checkpoint.
Short Mobility Routine	Comfortable rotation and movement	Complete three minutes of controlled mobility movements within a comfortable range.

5 Indoor Golf Drills to Keep Your Swing Sharp

1. The Coin Drill (Putting)

Place a coin on the carpet or a putting mat about six feet away and try to roll putts directly over it. A target that small forces you to focus on start line, which is the part of putting you can control on any surface. Short putts matter more than most of us admit. A 2011 report on Mark Broadie’s strokes-gained research noted that PGA Tour players made about half their putts from just under 8 feet. Count how many of ten putts cross the coin, then try to beat that score next session.

One heads-up: carpet usually rolls slower than a real green, so judge this drill by line, not speed.

2. The Towel Landing-Spot Drill (Chipping)

Lay a towel on the floor as a landing target and chip soft foam practice balls toward it using a small, controlled motion. Count how many land on the towel, then move it closer or farther away after every five shots. Use this drill to practice choosing and hitting a landing spot, not to judge the carry or rollout you’ll get with a real golf ball outdoors. Keep the target area clear of people, pets, and breakables.

3. Slow-Motion Mirror Swings (Positions)

Stand in front of a full-length mirror (or prop up your phone and record) and make swings at about quarter speed. Pause at four checkpoints: setup, halfway back, the top, and impact. Compare each one with what you worked on this season or with your last lesson notes. Slow reps give you time to compare your positions with your lesson notes or video feedback. Only rehearse the top of the backswing if you have enough clearance for the club. Otherwise, practice the movement without a club or limit the drill to positions that fit safely in your space.

4. The Impact Bag Drill (Impact Position)

A purpose-built impact bag gives you a target for rehearsing an iron impact position without hitting a ball. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and use gentle, short rehearsals rather than forceful strikes. If your instructor has given you a specific impact-position checkpoint, use it here. Try 10 controlled repetitions, remembering that this drill rehearses a position—it doesn’t confirm clean ball-first contact.

5. A Short Mobility Routine (Body)

Your swing can only turn as far as your body lets it, and winter is when hips and backs tend to tighten up. A short routine of open book stretches for upper back rotation, slow hip rotations on the floor, and split stance turns with a club across your chest can help keep things loose. If you want a few more moves, our pre-round golf warm-up covers three that work just as well in the living room.

Off-season conditioning may also help swing speed and driving distance. In a University of Pittsburgh study, a small group of recreational golfers did a golf-specific exercise program 3 to 4 times a week for 8 weeks during the off-season. They improved torso, shoulder, and hip flexibility and increased clubhead speed and driving distance. If you have an injury or back trouble, check with a doctor or physical therapist before starting a new routine.

The study included just 15 male recreational golfers and used a broader strength, flexibility, and balance program. Its results shouldn’t be interpreted as the expected benefit of this short mobility routine.

How to Build a 20-Minute Winter Golf Practice Routine

String all five drills into one quick session you can run two or three times a week.

What you need:

• A putter, a wedge, and an old mid-iron
• A coin and a towel
• Soft foam practice balls
• A purpose-built impact bag
• A full-length mirror or a phone to record your swing

1. 1
   Loosen up (3 minutes) Run through the mobility moves: open books, hip rotations, and split stance turns. Move slowly and stay in a comfortable range.
2. 2
   Rehearse your positions (4 minutes) Make 8 to 10 slow-motion swings in front of the mirror, pausing at setup, halfway back, the top, and impact.
3. 3
   Rehearse your impact position (3 minutes) Using a purpose-built impact bag, make up to 10 gentle, short rehearsals following the manufacturer’s instructions. Use a checkpoint from your instructor if you have one. Focus on controlled movement rather than forceful strikes.
4. 4
   Work on chipping accuracy (5 minutes) Chip soft foam practice balls toward the towel, counting how many land on it. After every five shots, move the towel closer or farther away. Focus on hitting your landing spot rather than judging carry distance or rollout.
5. 5
   Finish with putting (5 minutes) Roll 10 putts over the coin and write down your score. End with five putts in a row from about three feet so you finish on a make.

4-Week Winter Golf Practice Scorecard

Free Printable Practice Tracker

Are your indoor golf drills getting more accurate? Use this free scorecard to track your putting and chipping results each week. Repeat the same setup for four weeks to see how your accuracy changes.

Putting: Score Out of 10 From about six feet, roll 10 putts toward a coin. Count the putts that roll over it.

Chipping: Score Out of 10 Chip five soft foam balls toward a towel. Move the towel to a second spot, then chip five more. Count how many land on it.

Make it a fair comparison: Use the same starting positions, towel size, and two towel locations for each weekly test. Keep people, pets, and breakables clear of your indoor practice area.

Download the Free 4-Week Scorecard (PDF)

One page. Print it, record your weekly scores, and see what changes over the month.

Shop Indoor Practice Gear

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The Bottom Line

Winter golf practice at home works best when it’s short, specific, and regular. Five drills cover putting start line, chipping landing spots, swing positions, impact-position awareness, and mobility. Combine them into a 20-minute session two or three times a week, including three minutes of mobility work. Keep every movement slow, controlled, and within the available space, and you’ll have a practical way to maintain your fundamentals until spring.

Ready to set up your practice space? Browse golf training aids at Rock Bottom Golf and keep your game warm until the course opens back up.

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Last Updated on October 27, 2026 by Danny Kapp