Can You Play “Too Much” Golf?

Recently I normally shoot 39 - 41 for 9 holes on my home course..  Wanted to take a St. George, UT vacation for a week and play on various courses, so I played every day at home for 4-5 days to practice...  (Didn't want to pay big prices and shoot crap).  Took off and played 5 days out of a 7 day trip.  Sand Hollow = 81,  Coral Canyon = 75,  Sky Mountain 77, and another I can't remember = 75....  Came home Sunday,  and Monday evening I played in our normal League night ........ Shot a 53.  Couldn't swing a club to save my life.  Topping it, Chunking it, Slicing off the tee (and I 'don't slice)..  Absolutely everything I tried felt totally foreign.  Was NEVER comfortable over a shot.  It's taken a couple of weeks to get that crap out of my system, and am just now playing my normal game.   Did I just play too much ????  I can't help think about the Pro's that play every day or hit 100's of balls daily ... THEY benefit from more play ... All I did was ruin my normal game for a while ....  But I had a blast in St. George .. played my ass off !!!

Thoughts?

Yesterday was my 8th day in a row and I was asking myself the same thing. Not so much because I blew up a round but something was missing. I didn't feel as focused and into it as I usually do. Fortunately this week is when most courses here aerate and sand greens so I can take a few weeks to lay back and get ready for fall golf.

It isn't an affordability issue with me as much as time. When you have wifey and a 2 year old priorities kick in like an instinct lol. One day.....one day Ill have the time to play more golf but I settle for twice a week for now.

I've played 4 rounds in the last 6 days and I'm feeling it a bit.   Like any other physical activity, you can certainly overdo it.  Getting older doesn't help either.....

Ditto (3.5 rounds in 4 days).  Had hard time getting up today to go to work.

I think it was likely more of an issue with focus than fatigue, though I do believe over-playing is possible. When you were practicing for your trip, you wanted to really dial things in and likely focused on making good passes on the ball. While on your vacation, you were obviously focused playing these new courses. I would say once you returned and played your local course again, you just didn't have the drive that you had the week before. After a couple bad shots it sounds like there was a sort of mental block and things compounded from there.

As you mentioned, the pros play every single day and it clearly works for them. I would say they have days though, just like you and I, where they just can't find the same level of focus that they have during their tournaments.

I played 81 holes two weeks ago over a 4 day period in the worst heat of the year.

• Prior Sunday - shot a 74
• the long stetch - Wed to Saturday - scores moved from right around 80 (my normal) to high 80's (only one good 9 hole stretch in there really)
• then played a tournament the following Friday - 94 (first 18 was straight) and then a decent 2nd 18 with a scramble/4ball format where I shot pretty good, but still had some 'weird' shots

I went from a season best 74 to season worst 94 in just two weeks.

1 - worn out from the heat

2 - focus was just plain crap by the end

3 - expectations were out of line with my plan

4 - all my old faults returned and VERY difficult to correct even when I knew what I was doing - stance got really wide and I pretty much shut down my lower half or even reverse weight transfer as a result

5 - my body just wasn't doing what my mind was telling it to even when I recognized the issues

played a couple times since the 94 now and both back in the 70's, but right during and after the busy stretch it was like I was a totally different player

it's a learning lesson - stopping and resetting is not a bad thing

On the plus side, my tan lines are about as dorky as humanly possible

In the week prior I played 90 holes in a 7 day stretch with varying results. This past long weekend + Friday off I played every day early in the morning followed by a busy day with the family. My scores were 92,93,94 and 105! Being a 22 handicap I was convinced that after my 2nd round I would break 90 but as everyone said I think I just ran out of steam. Specially the last back nine of the last round.

One day I hope to regain my former glory and shoot consistently in the 80's again!

(Ironically this was with recently aerated greens, which made putting nearly impossible. The three nineties rounds could have easily been in the eighties!!).

Congrats on playing some fine courses in St George. I just got back from there and Mesquite last month and played the same courses along with Wolfcreek and the Palmer courses in Mesquite. Personally I don't thing you played too much. I think you were focused on paying well when away and then lost focus when you returned Easy to do. I play daily year round( yes, over 340 rounds per year) and I don't get tired. That's my thing, job, hobby, etc so I really enjoy getting on the course daily. You'll get back into the groove at home in short order

You can over do it if you're body isn't conditioned properly... Just like any other sport or activity. Most of the pros are conditioned (golf specific) to play as much as they do. I started golfing my freshman year of college. I played football and was very well conditioned... For football, not golf. On the occassion I played 4 or so rounds of golf in a week during the Spring, I did get sore. Toward mid-summer my body could handle it a little better. So it all comes down to how your body is conditioned, and what type of load you put on it. I'm jealous of your trip to St. George. I moved out to Salt Lake last year and have been trying to find the time to make a trip down there and play the courses!

For me it is a matter of focus on consecutive days and managing to play or practice with a specific goal in mind. Here's my best example of this:

- Before a recent invite tournament (take 4 guys, only use 3 scores) I played a twilight round of 9 holes at a course near home with the intent of hitting greens to try and make birdies. My goal was to outscore the two people I was close to in the team standings in an attempt to overtake them before regionals come around. I played well, hitting 6/9 greens and shooting a 38 (debatable as a 37 due to a possible ruling goof, but I prefer to play it safe with my scores) on the par 36 course.

- The invite comes around the next morning and I find out I'm playing with the top 3 players instead of even just one of the two I am trying to beat out for a spot. I lose focus that day with three holes to go closing with a triple and two bogeys to shoot an 83 instead of a 78. My tee shot on the 3rd to last hole (a par 3) somehow managed to hit a tree overhanging the teebox that hadn't come into play for any of those in my group including one with a high ballflight. After that I, unfortunately, mentally shut down and lost focus of what I was trying to accomplish.

So long as you can play a lot of golf with purpose, it will do you more good than if you played less. However if you are just playing for the sake of playing, then you are doing yourself a disservice and would likely be better off taking a break that day.

I suppose you can play "too much golf," but doubt that's the real culprit.  My guess is that you came home tired (unless you do it all the time traveling takes a toll on most of us, even if there's no golf) and then managed to introduce some minor swing flaw because of it.  Lack of focus, as suggested, probably helped to both introduce that flaw, and worked against your identifying it easily.  Being human, frustration built up and the game went to pot.  Only a minor variation in my normal swing plane can have real weird effects, probably the same for you.  So take a few days off and forget about it.