Indoor Golf Tips

In this article, I’ll share my best indoor golf tips so you can learn why its beneficial to practice golf indoors and ways to setup practice so you benefit and improve at golf away from the course.

I’ve built myself a putting green and chipping area to take advantage of extra space in my basement and practice my golf game. I also use my garage for the golf simulator to practice on simulator golf courses to I can play courses like TPC Sawgrass and Augusta National.

Here’s my tips for indoor golf practice…

Why Practice Golf Indoors? Pros & Cons

Practicing golf at home gives me a chance to work on my skills away from the golf course and I believe it has helped me become a better player. I stay sharp during the winter months when it’s poor weather outside and golf courses are closed down.

Coming back from several months off of golf in the spring is never fun as you feel out of shape and feel like you lost your skills from the layoff.

Adding some at home golf practice can help lessen this as you keep your golf muscles active and keep the putting stroke improving.

While there are helpful advantages to practicing golf indoors, there are also cons.

One con of practicing indoors is the lack of true feel for putting green speed. Most putting mats are going to roll different speeds than actual greens at a golf course.

Another con is the difference between hitting off artificial mats and hitting from fairways and rough at an outdoor course. You can’t simulate taking divots with your golf swing on artificial golf turf / hitting mats.

4 Ways to Practice Indoors

Tip #1: Find a Local Indoor Golf Practice Facility

The first place to start with, is looking around your city and seeing if you can find any local golf facilities that offer indoor practice centers.

These indoor golf facilities may offer simulator rentals you can rent for an hour or two and practice your golf swing. They might also offer indoor putting and chipping greens to work on short game too.

Most indoor golf practice memberships will run $50-$100 per month if you elect to join via a monthly membership subscription.

Tip #2: Setup a Practice Area in the Garage

The next option to consider for practicing golf indoors is to look at using your garage as a practice space.

If you pulled the cars out of the garage, you could setup a hitting net to hit balls into for practicing the golf swing. And if you have the space, you can create a golf simulator to play on.

Or you can skip hitting actual balls and use the space to make practice swings too. If you don’t feel safe hitting real golf balls, purchase rubber golf balls instead.

Any at home golf practice setup should include purchasing:

Here is a photo of my garage golf setup at my previous home.

This setup consisted of purchasing a golf turf for the floor. Then I bought a quality golf hitting mat with a plastic ball holder, and rubber tee.

The cage is steel poles and I stretched a golf net behind my projector screen to give a double layer for stopping the golf ball. I draped black cloth around the cage to close it in and illuminate the golf simulator screen brighter.

The projector hung from the garage ceiling and it was the Optima Short Throw.

Lastly, I set down the Mevo+ swing analyzer and connected it to a TGC Simulator software.

Tip #3: Basements with 9ft or Taller Ceilings

Does your basement have taller than normal ceilings? If so, you might be able to make full golf swings without worrying about hitting the ceiling with the golf club.

The basement can be a great place to turn into a man cave, setting up a golf practice facility inside your own home.

Just like with the garage setup, you can find space in the basement to setup a hitting net, chipping net, or putting mat to work on different areas of your golf swing and short game skills.

You can also create a golf simulator setup with a screen, a net, and a simulator device like the Mevo+

Tip #4: Find Open Space in Your Home

Maybe you don’t have tall enough ceilings to make a full golf swing. Maybe you don’t have a basement to setup practice.

That’s okay. Instead, find open space where you can hit a few chips or practice some putts. There are various golf training aids for putting and chipping that don’t take up much space you could use to practice golf indoors in open space you find in your home.

Training Aids to Use During Indoor Practice Sessions

Indoor golf is about being creative with the space and the training aids you have access to. You may need to purchase a few golf training aids from online or a local golf shop to improve the quality of your indoor practices.

Here’s my list of golf training aids that would be worth considering:

Putting Mat – gives you a surface to hit putts on and can simulate a putting green
Chipping Mat – gives you turf to chip from so you don’t scuff floors or tear carpet at home
Alignment Aids – help you work on proper alignment for golf swings, chip shots, and putts
Weighted Clubs – help you build power and swing speed
Hitting Net – save yourself from drywall damage and use a hitting net to stop the golf ball on full swings and chip shots to practice hitting real golf balls
Foam Balls – if you fear causing damage to your home from real golf balls, then purchase foam golf balls to practice with instead
Landing targets – create or purchase targets you can land the golf ball on to practice distance control with your chipping and pitching
Golf swing analyzer – whether you get a golf simulator or a launch monitor, these devices can be used to analyze your golf swing as you make swings during practices

This is just my short list of training aids but you can find many more if you jump onto Amazon and search “Golf Training Aids”.

Add a Fitness Routine to Your Indoor Golf Practice Schedule

Another way to focus on golf indoors during winter months or bad weather seasons is to create a golf fitness routine.

Setup a workout space in your home with weights, medicine balls, kettlebells, workout benches, etc. so you can use a variety of fitness equipment to do a variety of golf specific fitness exercises.

We’ve covered golf fitness extensively on the blog:

I also created a golf fitness program that comes with my Golf Training System so you get not just golf drills and practice plans but also off-course improvement from having a fitness routine specific for golf.

Best Drills for Indoor Golf Practice

I’ve written a couple of guides on both Indoor Chipping Drills and also Indoor Putting Drills that I encourage you to read to get an idea of different drills to make a practice plan with.

But in short, a few drills I like for indoor practice include:

Filming your golf swing – make practice swings and record your swing. Review the footage to analyze what your swing looks like and notice any faults you’re making by comparing your swing to online videos of professional swings.
Putting from 3 feet – make a golf drill that practices putts from 3 feet so you can get really good at these close range putts to finish off saving par. We hate seeing students 3-putt after they miss a short putt inside 3 feet
Chipping landing distance control – work on hitting chips to different distances by setting down landing targets to land the ball on. Distance control is key for becoming great at chipping and pitching in golf.

Golf Practice System for Lower Scores

Learn the exact golf practice routines thousands of students at Foy Golf Academy are using to lower their golf scores.

Follow these step by step practice plans and watch video lessons to learn how to improve your golf swing, chipping, and putting fundamentals.

Get access to hundreds of golf drills to practice as well as content on the mental side of golf, fitness plans, worksheets, and many more resources. This is a complete golf practice system.

Start Following These Practices —> Nick Foy Golf Practice System

Work hard,

Nick Foy, Instructor