Three or four months without a putter or a chipping club in your hands is a long time, and expecting to get your touch back quickly is unrealistic. Fortunately, keeping (or developing) your short-game touch during the winter is pretty easy. Stay active with a chipping or pitching club. Chip shots into a pillow (1), making sure your left wrist is flat and your right wrist is bent through impact.

If there is no snow on the ground, try to do some pitching in your back yard or wherever you can find adequate space. And those indoor and heated ranges aren’t just for drivers. You can pitch and chip shots off the mat, too.

I’ve been a professional for 21 years, and I’ve never heard anybody say, “Hey, pro, I’m making too many putts.” So I’d like to see a putter in your hands a lot during the off-season. Stroke some putts for distance. Even though your living room carpet is undoubtedly slower than the greens on your course, you’ll get some feeling for speed control. Practice using a two-by-four board (2). This lets you work on face and path position during the stroke and making good contact. Work on extension of the stroke down the target line, making sure the back of your left wrist and the clubface match up. Working on the fundamentals indoors like this helps you build a better technique.