The last round is played, the clubs go in the closet, and for most of Canada the next tee time is months away. Spring is a lot easier when your hands still remember a wedge. You do not need a simulator or long sessions for that, just a plan that fits a Canadian winter: short days, busy holidays, and a practice space that might be a condo hallway or a garage that is barely above freezing.
Our guide How to Practice Golf at Home All Winter covers what to practise: targets, setup, tempo and green reading. This plan covers when and where: a month-by-month calendar from November to opening day, adjusted to the space you actually have.
First, match the plan to your space
Every drill below uses short swings, slow swings or no ball at all. Before you start, make a slow practice swing to check your ceiling and side clearance, and move anything breakable. Any indoor chipping in this plan is done with foam or soft practice balls. Real golf balls stay outside.
Condo or apartment
Think quiet and compact. Tempo swings without a ball, setup checks in a mirror and putting along a carpet line all fit a living room. The Golf Tempo Trainer is made for this kind of ball-free rhythm work. If you have the length, short chips with foam balls into a small net can work too. If you share floors or walls, keep anything that thumps for a basement or garage.
Basement
Often the warmest spot for practice, and the ceiling is usually what limits you. Stick to short chips and half swings, and test your backswing slowly at the start of every session. A pop-up net and a small mat turn a corner into a chipping station: here is how to set up a small chipping practice area at home.
Garage
The most room, and the coldest. On the chilliest days, warm up inside first, keep the session short and wear gloves between reps if your hands go numb. A garage is a good home for a Golf Impact Bag: slow half swings into the bag, no ball, focused on where your hands and body are at impact.
How the plan works
- Two or three short sessions a week. Ten to twenty minutes is enough. A fixed evening works better than "when I have time", especially once it is dark by supper.
- One honest number a week. The 10-ball chipping drill gives you a score to write down and beat.
- One line per session. In a notebook or a phone note: what you worked on, and your score if you took one.
November: set up and take your baseline
Use the first weeks to build the habit, not to rebuild your swing.
- Pick your spot and leave it set up. A net and mat that stay out get used. Gear in a closet does not.
- Take your baseline. Ten foam balls, one target, count the clean catches. That is your November score.
- Choose one winter project. Write down the part of your game that cost you the most last season: chips that came up short, three-putts, a rushed swing. That is what January is for.
Want a guided first week? The Free 7-Day Winter Short Game Plan is an easy way to start the month.
December: keep it alive through the holidays
December is when most winter plans stall: parties, travel, shopping and very short days. Lower the bar instead of dropping it.
- Ten minutes counts. The 10-minute routine without a ball fits between everything else.
- Tempo first. Slow swings with a tempo trainer or your wedge: pause at the top, swing through smoothly. No ball, no noise, no setup.
- Away for the holidays? Rehearse your grip, setup and pre-shot routine in front of a mirror. That travels anywhere.
If golf gear is on someone's list this year, our golf gift guide for Canada sorts practice tools by budget.
January and February: the building months
The holidays are over, the days slowly get longer and the course is still far off. This is where most of the winter work happens.
January: one project, done well
- Spend most of each session on your project. If it is chipping, chip into the net. If it is rhythm, swing with the tempo trainer. If it is contact, make slow half swings into the impact bag.
- Keep the same setup every rep. Feet, grip, one practice brush, then hit.
- Retake the 10-ball test once a week. Same spot, same target. Write the score down, good or bad.
February: add pressure and variety
- Call your shot. Name the target zone out loud before each chip and only count the ones you called.
- Change something every ball. Distance, club or target. On the course, you rarely hit the same shot twice in a row.
- Play a "first hole". Before your first chip of the session, go through your full routine as if you were on the first tee: one ball, no do-over.
March until opening day: get ready to play
Depending on where you live, your course might open in April or in May. Use the last weeks to move from practice mode to playing mode.
- Compare with November. Retake your baseline test and write the score down. That is where your spring starts.
- Build a short pre-round warm-up. A few tempo swings and a few practice strokes you can do next to the car. The Golf Warm-Up Kit pairs the tempo trainer with the green reader for exactly that.
- Get on the practice green early. As soon as it opens, read each slope with your eyes, then check your read with the Golf Green Reader & Ball Marker. (Keep the bubble level for practice: Rule 4.3 does not allow it during a round.)
What you need, and what you can skip
You can follow most of this plan with a wedge, a putter, a towel and some foam balls. You can skip the simulator, the full-swing net and the long sessions. If you want tools that make each session quicker to start:
- Chipping: the Pop-Up Golf Chipping Net and the Golf Hitting Mat 30 × 60 cm, or both together in the Golf Chipping Net & Hitting Mat Kit. The net is a short-game target for foam balls, not a full-swing enclosure.
- Rhythm without a ball: the Golf Tempo Trainer.
- Contact and impact position: the Golf Impact Bag, best in a garage or basement.
- The whole plan in one box: the Complete Golf Practice Kit brings together the chipping net, hitting mat, tempo trainer and green reader.
Not sure what fits your space? Compare the kits, browse our garage and basement practice tools or see all our mats and nets.
FAQ
Can I really practise golf in a condo or apartment?
Yes, if you keep it to tempo swings without a ball, putting on carpet and, where you have the length, short chips with foam balls into a small net. Check your ceiling with a slow swing first, and keep anything that thumps for a garage or basement.
Can I chip real golf balls into a net indoors?
No. Use foam or soft practice balls for any indoor chipping. Real golf balls belong outside.
My garage is not heated. Is it still worth it?
Yes, with shorter sessions. Warm up inside, keep cold-day sessions to ten or fifteen minutes, and move tempo or putting work indoors when the garage is too cold to be comfortable.
What if I miss a few weeks?
Pick up where you left off and retake the 10-ball test. The plan is built around a score you can always come back to, not a streak you have to protect.
Pick your spot this week, take your November score and put two short sessions on the calendar. Opening day will feel a lot less like starting over.