David Boote’s winter plans

My season on the Challenge Tour ended around a month ago after another hard fought year. Lots of ups and downs for me, culminating with a 65th place finishing position on the OOM to retain my card for next year.

In reality, this was disappointing as my goal is to be playing on the European Tour. However, as always, there were plenty of lessons learned, and I’m already putting some good work in to be ready to restart in February in South Africa.

As I write this in early December, I have around a month until I head out to Thailand for some warm weather training! Before that, some hard yards are being made off the course.

One of my main goals this winter is to get physically stronger in the gym. If I can make some small improvements and set up a good regime now, it will help me to maintain my strength and weight levels throughout the season ahead.

Travelling on the golf circuit imposes stress and strain on the body and by the end of the year this can take its toll on the golf swing. Time well spent in the gym now and through the season also gives a benefit to mental health with a different focus to the normal one of good golf statistics!

I use my local leisure centre in Banstead and normally start very early morning with 30/40 minutes of swimming followed by an hour’s exercise programme from my strength and conditioning coach.

In the pool I concentrate on single or double lengths at full pace in order to encourage my fast-twitch muscles to activate which will help to create swing speed.

In the gym I work on functional movement exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts and other push/pull exercises. The overall aim is to create more stability in my golf swing as well as more ground force for speed. Another goal for my off season is getting back to basics with the golf swing.

During the season it is difficult to maintain levels of technique with the amount of competitive play and travelling. On the Challenge Tour I don’t have the luxury of having my coach travel with me to events, so a lot of the technical work has to be selfregulated.

Whilst competing it’s easy to get out of kilter with grip, posture and alignment as you are trying to keep things as simple as possible and not worrying about what your swing ‘looks like’. Now is the chance to put in some hard work with my longtime coach, Neil Matthews, as well as practicing out on the courses and great facilities at my home club, Walton Heath.

It’s not all about golf however... I can finally enjoy spending time at home with friends and family. This year I was away for around 30 weeks and it makes you appreciate the time you have at home even more. I’m lucky to live within a short distance of central London and it’s great to spend time exploring the city and seeing friends. I also enjoy the off season as it is a chance to go to as many Wrexham AFC games as I can!

My family have been huge Wrexham fans our whole lives and luckily there are quite a lot of matches in the London area to get to and we often travel up to North Wales to watch them as well!

The recent takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney has lifted the profile and hopes of the club and seems to have put Wrexham back on the football map! Football trips are often accompanied with a visit to Prestatyn Golf Club or across to one of my favourites in Wales, Royal St. David’s (I promise it’s not just because of the name!).

@davidboote123