Rude Awakening

[Bullitt5339]

I just refigured my handicap from after my back surgery, through the winter, and it really opened my eyes to how bad I was playing a few months ago. I'm back to playing about where I was before surgery (low 90's), but those bad rounds really put a dent in. I didn't have all my old data, so I could only go from August to today, and up until about 5 rounds ago, I couldn't break 100.

So, my handicap one year ago was an 18.0, now it's a 30.3......... I've got some work to do.

For you guys that have had serious medical conditions, how long did it take you to recover? I had to figure my handicap for a tournament on the 5th of March, and I'm glad I did, although I'm playing much better than a 30 now, I'll need all the help I can get.

[WUTiger]

I've had abdominal surgery twice in the past 13 months (both arthoscopic, for different adventures). Big thing is to slowly work your way back into shape. The gym and rehab sessions will get you started. This is especially a good time to work on strengthening/slimming your core, and increasing flexibility.

Once your physical rehab is going, you can putt and hit some short chips, and then some partial pitches. One thing you'll find, it's easier to have a smooth takeaway on partials when in rehab; you just don't jerk them like can happen when we're at full speed.

You'll know when you can hit full shots. At the 5-week point, I hit some demo R9 driver shots. Went with a very smooth swing, only about 70 mph clubhead speed (85mph before surgery).

And, this is a good time to check over your basics: Grip, stance, railroad-track alignment.

That's how abdominal recovery works; not sure about back recovery. You might ask your surgeon - lots of them play golf. Also, lots of physical rehab units have info on recovery exercises for specific sports.

Good luck!

[JetFan1983]

I'm in the same boat as you. I was a 19.2 before my back injury, and I haven't played 18 holes in almost a year. I will probably end up being a 30 handicap when I finally tee it up again too.

I'm going to be positive about it though because honestly, I'll just be happy that I can play again. I've been working on my fitness since November, so my body type is drastically different than what it was last year. I have good knowledge of the swing and short game, but it looks like I'm really going to be re-learning golf entirely this season.

Could be much, much worse for us. We are healthy enough to play, and for me, that's enough. I will be in no rush to be that great player I want to be. I will be in no rush to hit the ball 50 yards longer than my average. I will be in no rush for anything golf related. I'm going to just have some fun, stick to the fundamentals, and keep my pace of play up.

[Bullitt5339]

I'm very happy that I'm playing again, after my first few rounds I almost resigned and figured that I'd never be able to get my hips turned again, because at the time I really couldn't, so I became all arms, pushing everything 35 degrees right. I ended up just lining up way open, and hitting like that for quite a while, shooting 100-108's that way. But continuing to play, I kept getting more loose, and could actually start using my hips again. Slowly but surely, and with a couple lessons along the way, I shot a 93 today, and still think that I gave up quite a few shots that I shouldn't have.

I figure now that I'm playing 2-3 times a week for exercise, and I'm actually making what resembles a golf swing again, it should be fun to watch my handicap drop again. I've paid a lot more attention to my short game, putting and actually hitting the fairway instead of worrying about driving 290 yards. My game is still on and off, but it's finally fun making decent shots again. I can laugh off the bad ones, which I couldn't do before. I just enjoy riding in the golf cart a lot more than walking now, even with my push cart. I'm still not in shape enough to walk 18 without being extremely tired at the end.

I did hit 10 fairways today, so it's the small victories I'm enjoying right now.