Playing every day.. Can it affect your game at all?

[Cabrisses]

What's going on guys!? So, I am new into this forum, but do have all the forum exp. So bare with me if my style isn't fitting in just yet. Anyways, I play golf everyday now at a course down the road from me. I have a gold membership so it's basically all free :) So, like I said. I play golf everyday now, yet I noticed blisters and such on my right hand. Now, these do hurt a bit of course! From this, I took off on Saturday, then played Sunday. On Sunday, I played 9 holes and shot even. Today, I played again and had some ugly drives and other shots. I believe this is all happening from me playing everyday. While when I took a day off, and played the day after that. I did great!

So, has anyone else noticed a decrease in their game from playing everyday versus playing every other day?

Let me know guys! I just want to see if it's all me, mental wise. Or what?!

[mgolfer]

If I play too much my scores get worse and worse. I begin slicing my driver and hooking my irons. I think 2-3 times a week is perfect. Any more is counter productive for me.

[jmanbooyaa]

I generally play 2 times a week  maybe a 3rd time in am before work on occasion. This weekend I played a bit more. Played Friday-Monday. Today I shot my worse score my tempo was off and just wasn't all there. I think it was definitely the case of too much golf.

[gwlee7]

I am the opposite, the only way I can keep my handicap low is to play a lot.

[darkhunter139]

It really depends.  I played 9 yesterday and 18 today and did considerable better on my second round. I usually play 3 times a week and feel like that is perfect for me.

[JonnyFive]

the more i play the better i play. my buddies and i did a "golf day" today lol, 54 holes over 3 courses. Hit some bad shots, hit some good shots, but i felt like i kept improving as the day progressed. Each round kept getting better =p ps im tired

[Cabrisses]

Interesting. Looks like I'll have to do some un-wanted experimenting, cause taking one day off of golf was tough for me! I'll probably just play every other day and see how it goes from there.

[DarkPrince]

For me, last week I played 27 Saturday, 27 Sunday, 27 Monday, took Tuesday off, practiced Wednesday and probably played 9 or 18, played 19 holes cuz of a match play tournament, Saturday I played 36, and Sunday I played 18.  In that span of time, I've only had my irons for like 12 days now, but I've broken 80 twice, once with a 79(old career low), and the other day with a 76 (new career low).  My friend who used to be scratch before a car accident told me that she used to play 18-36 a day and hit the range/putting green to try and keep things flowing and go lower, I took her advice and I've made major strides. But I'm also single, 23, working full time at a retail job 5 days a week where I'm either off at 3pm, or don't go in until 3pm so I have  the time/drive to do it. The problem I'm running into now is having to watch that my callouses aren't turning into blisters. I've been playing for about 2 weeks without a glove now cuz I just haven't had a chance to get a new one (small hands :P) so I've had to 'tiger' tape a few fingers now, and I've got one callous on my palm at the base of my middle finger on my left hand that is now threatening to turn into a blister and is SUPER painful on mis-hits.  I didn't get to go out today, but I'll surely be out practicing harder/longer/more often for now to see if I see any more improvements occur or if I just happened to get in a groove/click for a short period of time.

[Dr. Strangeclub]

Any motor skill improves most rapidly if you practice EVERY day.  When you are not learning, you are forgetting.  If you are not playing or practicing, you are forgetting.  The one thing every low single digit handicap I've ever played with had in common was that they had spent a long period of uninterrupted play at some point in their lives, when they were at the course or range almost every day of the week for months (even years).  Golf has this in common with every other skill, including playing of musical instruments, chess,  or darts.  It is also surprising how quickly high level skills deteriorate;  in the words of Paderewski, the great 19th century pianist, "If I miss one day of practice, I notice it.  If I miss two days, my critics notice it.  If I miss three, my audience notices it."

I would suggest that if you want to improve as rapidly as you can, you almost have to do SOMETHING with a golf club every single day. Oddly, it doesn't take all that much to continue the march forward, since relatively short periods of practice rekindle the neurons that were active the day before, restoring the memories and bolstering the new neuronal pathways laid down the previous day.  Simply swinging the club for 5 or 10 minutes, chipping in the back yard,  putting on the living room rug -- practically anything, even studying your positions in front of a mirror -- suffice to keep you moving forward in your acquisition of golf skills.  And a day off moves you backwards.

To the original poster, I'd suggest that the pain of the blisters (lighten up on that grip! ) or minor stiffness from unaccustomed exercise might explain things falling apart a bit for you better than overplaying.

[NM Golf]

I play or practice pretty much everyday. I find that after playing 4-5 days in a row, I get tired. I don't think its actually physical, i think its mental. So If I have a big tournament or money game coming up I tend to try to take a day off from playing a few days before the event. For example. If I have a tournament on Saturday, I might only hit a small bucket or chip and putt around on Thursday. Friday I would play and then Saturday I would be as sharp as I can be. I rarely take an entire day off when I don't touch a club at all.

[awmgolfer]

I teach in public school and also coach our golf team which our season starts in the fall. So I spend most of our summer on the course playing with the kids as they like to go out a lot. It's not uncommon for me to play 27 to 36 holes almost every day. Usually one of the kids texts me in the morning to see if I can play and then after lunch someone else will text and ask and no way will I say no. I went out to play with our golf pro yesterday as we have similar games and pace of play but by the end of the round I could have cared less how well I hit the ball and where it went. I decided when I hit that point it's time to take a day or two off. I will be going out with one of the kids today but will only play inside 100 yards, small swings. My game also started reflecting being tired, just making some stupid and careless mistakes I never usually make. Since our winters are so long, 5 to 6 months, it really is hard to stay off the course even for one day if the weather is nice but there gets to be a point where I need to force a small break.

[TXjammer]

I play 4-5 days a week.  A bad day is a good thing for me.  It means I've gotten a little "lax" and makes me focus again.  A really good day usually follows a bad one.

[Shanker]

Last week while I was "off" from transitioning to a new job I had the opportunity to cure my golf craze.  Usually I will play a round once a week.  Last week I had the opportunity to play as many rounds as I possibly can, with the wife's approval and grand parents watching the kids...AWESOME!  I was able to play a total of 5 rounds, one every other day...The first 3 rounds were pretty good shot 87, 89 and 91.  The last two rounds were 96 and a lousy 102...

So it appears to me the more I play the more I suck and I was pretty exhausted by the end of the week...Each is to his or her own but I'll stick to 2 rounds a week max...it keeps my golf craze flowing...

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangeclub

I would suggest that if you want to improve as rapidly as you can, you almost have to do SOMETHING with a golf club every single day. Oddly, it doesn't take all that much to continue the march forward, since relatively short periods of practice rekindle the neurons that were active the day before, restoring the memories and bolstering the new neuronal pathways laid down the previous day.  Simply swinging the club for 5 or 10 minutes, chipping in the back yard,  putting on the living room rug -- practically anything, even studying your positions in front of a mirror.

I REALLY like this.  Not everyone has the ability to play a round or practice everyday but everyone can certainly practice movements or feelings in front of the mirror, backyard, or wherever.

The only thing I would say is that it's imperative to learn the proper positions in a golf swing through research, teaches, this forum, etc., so that when you do indeed practice those positions, you are practicig the correct ones.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangeclub

Simply swinging the club for 5 or 10 minutes, chipping in the back yard,  putting on the living room rug -- practically anything, even studying your positions in front of a mirror -- suffice to keep you moving forward in your acquisition of golf skills.  And a day off moves you backwards.

Guilty as charged.  When I'm taking a break from work and/or just standing around outside when I'm out and about, I'll find a window where I can view my reflection.  From there, I'll view my swing and/or certain components of my swing.  I tend to struggle with not enough hip slide and maintaining the flying wedge, so I try to isolate those two and then blend them into my full swing.  Sometimes I get so engrossed in what I'm doing that I fail to notice people walking by me or the people on the other side of the window looking at me.  Recently, I was doing this while my kids were inside a store buying an ice cream cone.  I was doing my "thing" outside when I noticed that a little girl in the store was pointing at me with this perplexed look on her face, her mother was laughing at me and her dad was giving me the thumbs up.  I'm such a dweeb.

[mdl]

Golf has ups and downs.  I wouldn't attribute a worse score after 3-4 days playing in a row to playing too much unless your blisters are affecting your swing.  I get a blister on my bottom hand thumb sometimes when I play a lot.  Just get some good quality cloth athletic tape and cover your blisters.  Works for me.

[montru]

I go to AZ the second week in Sept every year for a tournament, meet up with a lot of friends and play a lot of golf. Last year I played nine rounds in twelve days, including travel to and from FL, by the 12th day I was golfed out, my scores went from low-mid 80's to mid 90's, as much as I love the game, I just did not enjoy the last two rounds.