Golf Year Round? Maybe not so Good!

[Archie44]

So we moved to Arizona in June from dreary and rainy Minnesota, endured the oppressive hot weather and I played some of my best golf in my life in June, July, August and late September.  Now, I am so tired of the game, cannot hit the ball solidly and have nothing good to say about the game.  My ONLY life change was that I started drinking scotch again...49 days now...so it's time to stop.  It is just so nice to be on the hot golf courses all day and come home to a cool home and have a drink or 2 or 3 or 4.  (Oh, and I gained 15 pounds which all went to my gut)  Of course, along with the scotch comes the mandatory grilled steak...and then I cannot sleep.  I joined a high-end golf club here in AZ and there are two courses.  Both are stunning and both are really fun to play.  But when I can't hit the fairway from the forward tees, and lose dozens of the TaylorMade TP5x golf balls--well, it's time to rethink.  Being retired is no fun at times.  I can easily stop the scotch but am worried I will not be able to go back to good ball-striking again.  Fat and thin shots are getting really old!...but so am I.  The "flipping" in my impact position is impossible to correct despite all the lessons, videos and 100's of practice balls!  Not looking for sympathy (that can be found between sh!t and syphilis in the dictionary.  HA!). Just want to play bogey golf again...for now.  Thx for any feedback!

[Patch]

No sympathy for the OP  here. Just take a month, or two off from golf. @Archie44 is probably burnt out...from the extra sunshie. We get well over 300 days of sunshine in our neck of the woods/desert..

Go fishing. Work on another hobby for a while. Funny thing about golf is that your clubs, and the golf courses will always be available later on.  You will be fine. 

I golf year around, for 11 months. I take the month of October off, from serious golf every year, just to avoid what the OP discribed. 

I still practice everyday, and will play a round or two in October, but mostly I just "R&R" my body, and golf equipment. Maybe try to learn a new shot or something. 

[David in FL]

Some of us just make it look easy, but not everyone has the fortitude and character to handle 120+ rounds of golf a year, good scotch, and a big fat steak multiple times a week.

As Dirty Harry famously said, “A good man knows his limitations...”   You might just be better off playing bridge, drinking wine spritzers, and eating a nice salad with the ladies.   

 

 

[iacas]

Golf burnout aside… what's the biggest swing you can make where you hit a non-flipped shot with a 7-iron? Can you hit a chip without flipping? Can you hit the 7-iron 30 yards? 50 without flipping?

That's not an unsolvable problem.

[Piz]

Everything in moderation...including moderation.  The problem with free time is figuring out how to spend it.

[dennyjones]

2 hours ago, Archie44 said:

Being retired is no fun at times.

If you only retired to play golf in a warmer climate, you probably should not have retired.  

Find another hobby, take up hiking, bike riding, swimming, volunteering your time, anything to take a break from golf.     I enjoy golf immensely but that wasn't why I retired. Life is too short to be limited by just playing golf.  

[Buckeyebowman]

Sometimes it's good to take a little break from golf. Look at the pros. They all have a game that we envy, yet they take a break now and then to decompress. Where I live the break is kind of imposed on us! Yet, I believe that I have played golf in every month of the year, just not every year. 

I'm also retired and do a lot more than golf. I fish, hunt wild game and edible wild mushrooms. Plus, I have yard and veggie garden work that keeps me busy during the warmer months. Always something to do.

And iacas is right. Your release looks pretty "flippy". 

[pganapathy]

@Archie44 I know it is easy to say get away from the game, but I struggle with that idea.  For me golf is the most addictive sport I know and I would play it twice to thrice a week for the rest of my life if I could.  However, what comes with playing regularly is that errors creep into your game without realising it and soon become a problem.  Repetition of good shots is something you want, but the bad shots getting ingrained is a bigger problem than you might imagine.  The more you play, the more you should get lessons, or at least have a pro look at your shots to weed out any mistakes creeping in.  There is a reason pro's have coaches.

Once you get that sorted out, you will enjoy your game a lot more.

[DrMJG]

When I got back to golf, it was also in AZ.  In the very hot months the number of times I play or even do lengthy range sessions is WAY cut back (in part because my Dr Recommends it).

Even in great weather (today was 81º), I try to hit a round 1 or 2 at most times a week.  I need to keep it from seeming a chore.  The temptation is to play every day and perhaps if money allowed I would play more.

[Rkrider99]

Moved from Wisconsin to Florida so I could play golf everyday. After about 3 years of daily golf, and watching my game slowly deteriorate, I gave it up. Just took the clubs and threw them in the garage. 3 years later, we moved to a golf retirement community, and I'm back to playing 6 times a week. The game came back, and I'm hitting the ball better now then ever, but when I do get in a slump and can't seem to get our of it, I call on the head pro to take a look at my swing.

I am retired, but yes, there are days that it seems like I'm going to work, making sure I get up early to be at the course by 8 AM.

[Sandy Divot]

In the last 2.5 years, I have had surgery for prostate cancer, along with 3 follow up procedures because of complications, and a heart attack. I play, and walk, every day Mon- Fri. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be able to do that. I'll admit there are some days that I feel a bit of burnout, but I'm always glad after I played. The heart attack came despite a lot of regular exercise, good numbers on labs, no symptoms, and no family history, so I would tell the OP to start taking better care of himself, and be thankful. Also, if golf is causing this much stress, find something else to do, but do something.

[mcanadiens]

Personally, taking a break sounds like a good idea. It hasn't been a very pretty season.

Realistically, that break will seem plenty long enough in a few weeks time when I race to the course because the temperature is supposed to crack 40 degrees.

[ncates00]

Without seeing your swing, you might want to feel like you start the downswing with some right wrist bend, maybe even feel like you hold that wrist bend through the swing.  Others like to feel the left hand be flat, but I prefer to feel the right wrist bend back to start my downswing, and then I release it through the shot for some snap.

[FlyingAce]

My instructor tells me that the more golf I play, the more I need to take lessons, not just to get better, but to make sure I don’t develop any bad habits unknowingly. I play 4-5 rounds a week and see my instructor every other week for swing checks. I have bad days on the course and will get frustrated - I usually stop golfing and see my pro right away instead of trying to figure it out myself. 

Do you have anyone you are working with? I find it beneficial to have lessons regularly. I see it like a car tuneup - car is running fine but you still get an oil change/service regularly just to make sure things are doing well. Same thing with golf.

[gbogey]

I once played 56 rounds in 80 days, partly for the challenge of seeing how much golf I could play in a short time, walking the vast majority of the rounds.  First sixty days I played really well, last twenty days much less so due to a combination of body fatigue and bad habits sneaking in to become routine.  When I retire I am hoping for 3-4 rounds per week.  Anything more is likely diminishing returns on multiple fronts.  Also just had three weeks between rounds, which is a long time for me - first round was rusty but second round was pretty close to normal.  Basically the body needs a rest. 

BTW, I am by no means a fitness buff or in great shape, but 5 pounds can have meaningful impact on my golf game.  If someone has really added 15 pounds, their golf game is likely to suffer.

[RayG]

You can burn out on Tiddlywinks if you are constantly playing it.

When my Mom and Dad retired to FL in 1988- Dad never played more than 2X a week. and usually only once a week in high summer. He would go out with me when I came down so he would pass on one of his weekly games to join me, or I would get in on his weekly game (usually a group of 20-25 that went out at first light).

Granted, he was lucky to break 95 for his efforts- but he always had fun. When he couldn't play anymore, he didn't moan and bitch about it. He went bowling instead. Although he was happy to ride along with me when I came down and do some chipping and putting around the greens. That was his secret weapon when he played and he didn't lose it after he stopped. He found plenty of other stuff to do with Mom until she passed, then he went on to do volunteer work in the area. Mostly for the church in their citizenship class and ESL classes.

[Bucki1968]

Well I still work, play golf year round, drink beer and scotch and eat as much steak as possible. Ironically, I think the golf is burning up enough calories so I don't really gain weight ( I also have a job where I am very active) so I play as much as possible. As far as the golf part....I believe that golf is like any other sport. When things start to go wrong, go back to fundamentals. Check the basics and go from there. 90% of the time that seems to work.

[Cantankerish]

I think that just about anyone who witnesses their ability in anything slowly and inexorably deteriorate is going to want to quit.

 

I agree with the folks recommending moderation, and not just with the golf.  It reads as though you promised yourself a particular lifestyle when you retired and went whole hog into it as soon as you got there.