Playing golf when tired/sleepy...don't do it, no matter how bad you want to play.

[dave s]

Agree. I quit playing in a regularly scheduled Sunday morning group because of having band gigs the night before. Yeah ... finally hit the bed 1-2 am and be on the tee for our 7:52 and 8:00 tee times on Sunday morning. Plus, we WALKED 18!

A typical round for me was, 'four holes and I'm already 6-over.' Broken record. Then, I'd play the middle 9 or 10 holes around +2 then the wheels would come off at some point during the last 4 holes, sandwiching in a double-par or worse on occasion. Would 'run out of gas' down the stretch.

Usual score was mid-90s which cost me $10-20 above green fees for the day. Perfect example of playing 'tired' and donating for the effort!

dave

[hjacknicklaus]

hi all

very interesting topic, i say that because i had 2 hip replacements and a 6 way bypass......and as the dr.s change medication i can feel a sluggishness i love the game.......but with diavan and toprol

hard to get in and out of cart......not really hard.....i just feel like i want to hit from the cart

h

[Dub]

When I'm sleepy or tired, my game just goes out the window. My mind wants to play, but my body wants to take lazy, out-of-sync, chunky shots. Then my gameplay is poor, and I think about how I spent 40 bucks, and that makes it worse, so I just have to finish the game out to at least get my money's worth. And having a start time around noon is bad for me as well, as my circadian rhythm tends to drop around 1 to 2pm. Sometimes drinking a can of Red Bull works, sometimes it doesn't.

Your statements mirror thoughts I recently had. I played a round on a morning following a virtually sleepless night...up working on some stuff..headed over to the course and proceeded to post some big numbers. One of the worst aspects of that round was lag putting.....absolutely no feel.

[montru]

I was working with a personal trainer last year and needed to lose a few pounds, I started taking the Hydroxycut fat burning pills and my game just went to pieces, I spoke to a couple of guys at the gym and they said they had a similar problem, I quit taking them and everything fell back into place within a week.

[squaddie]

Your worst enemy in golf can be a lack of quality sleep. Once I got into the game I played my first round of golf unexpected, by being invited along to a casual game with coworkers in the afternoon, but only having 4-hours sleep the night before. It was the worst round I have ever played, resulting in me slicing the ball every other hole. I tried to compensate with caffeine (cokes and coffee) but it was no use.

Never again will I play a round of golf without adequate sleep.

[Chad Collins]

Originally Posted by Rusty2228

Here is a story counter to the general opinion:

I had a friend who was extremely hungover, as in puking between holes. He normally shoots around 90 when he plays. This day he shot a 79, his best round ever. He swears it was because all he wanted to do was hit the ball and get back in the cart and hit it as few times as possible.

I can not quit laughing right now.  This is so hilarious.

[Chad Collins]

I tried to hit balls at the range today after being completely fatigued.  It was just terrible.  I hit like 10 an just quit an went back to the putting green for 20 minutes

[golf55]

why would you play if you feel tired? I don't have any fun if I'm playing sleepy.

[Chad Collins]

Well, I work at a country club and I had about an hour to kill.  I went to work early thinking Id see what I could do at the range.  It wasnt worth it at all.  Ill remember this for the future!

[tomvk77]

It depends on the situation. If i'm going to the course in the weekend for an early teetime i think you are correct about this.

However if i go straight from work after a very busy day, i'm playing my best golf.

[MS256]

I've been tired and sleepy for about 45 years.

Seriously: I have overworked and underslept my entire life. Always was envolved in any sport going at the time and was never willing to miss anything for sleep's sake (not something I would recommend). Had 7 day a week and usually 10 to 12 hours a day (usually night) very physical blue collar jobs and preferred to work 3rd shift so I could work on my farm all morning, work out with weights and go for a run around noon, play with the kids in the afternoon, and play in my softball or basketball leagues in the evening. (Only thing missing was sleep).

Now I have finally turned over a new leaf! Got 7 hours of sleep last night.

Feel like I could shoot a 60 today with no problem (JUST JOKING).

[Slice of Life]

If I didn't play tired, I'd never play. Haha.

With that said, my best round EVER, was when I was hungover and got about 4 hours of sleep before teeing off. In hindsight, I think I played well because I forgot how to think.

[Fourputt]

This is silly.  Back when I was working and my home course had a pretty useless automated phone in reservation system (I'd sit there hitting the redial over and over for an hour, and by the time I got through the earliest remaining time would be 3 PM ), we used to get to the course at 3:00 AM to be first in line for the walk-on times on Saturday or Sunday.  The course used to hold every 4th tee time open for day of play reservations, and they could only be reserved in person.  We had a very civilized system.  The first car in the parking lot started a list and put his name at the top.  He passed it to the next car, who did the same and so on down the line.  When the pro opened the shop at about 5:15, the last guy handed the list to him and he called each name in order to choose our times.  My buddy and I used to take 2 times (and we always ended up paired with someone if we didn't have four), the first one the earliest we could get, depending on how early we got on the list, and the second one around noon or a little after.  We would walk 18 holes, take a break and have lunch, then walk another 18.  First tee time this time of year is 5:33, and we tried to get that one.

The point being that to be at the course at 3:00 meant getting up by 2:30, which meant a short night's sleep.  I actually found out that I played worse if I had a full night in bed, and I got in the habit of staying up late and getting up early on tournament days.

Now, being hung over is another thing though.  My worst round in memory was played with a bad hangover, first round of the '92 club championship.  While carrying a 10 handicap I shot 104.  Never did that again.

[ApocG10]

I play a lot of 6am tee times, and I'm just fine as long as I'm in bed by 11pm the night before. I have tons of energy though. I eat right, run, and go to the gym every day, so golf is just liesurely fun.

[Meltdwhiskey]

I think the sleepy/tired thing might affect the younger folks more.  When I was in my 20's, I hated doing anything early in the morning. I still don't like getting up, and I definitely prefer afternoon rounds. But once I am up, it seems to be all the same weather I got enough sleep or not.  And like a few others have said, I've spent many years not getting enough sleep.

However, I do find that I am more limber later in the day. Those first few swings early in the morning are short and tight.

[dsc123]

I shot a record low two weeks ago on about 4 hours of sleep.  I was up past 1am brewing beer and teed off around 5:45.  I routinely play on 5-6 hours of sleep and haven't noticed any negative side effect.

[TJBam]

Hungover I'll shoot pretty average, but putting feels terrible. I liken this to the "Stupid monkey" practice routine - except I'm just a "drunk monkey."

It's like a female friend put it: "I'm more fun with vodka because it helps my brain stop thinking so much." (sic)

Well one might benefit from playing hungover because it helps them relax and just shoot the damn ball!  Also cracking up at Rusty2228's anecdote.