Have you ever experienced golf burn-out?

[BallStriker]

I've had stretches where I have played a lot/worked a lot on my game......obviously when you are devoting that kind of time, there is an expectation of improvement (and obviously you have made big strides from picking it back up).....the "wall" for me is that frustration of getting to a point where I no longer see improvement, or being slowed way down.....at that point, I really felt like every round was a grind to play well and continue that improvement...........finally, I realized that I have limiations in the game and simply need to remember to have a great time (unless you're playing for a living, there HAS to be perspective)....I'm not saying you don't have it, but try going out the next time, forget about score (no intention of posting it for HC) and just have a good time...maybe two or three rounds.....maybe get really drunk on the back 9 one day.......this game is a fukkin blast....enjoy every second you have with it.

[ohiolefty]

Urrgh. Thanks for all your comments so far.

[fmk123ster]

Their are two basic approaches to dealing with this kind of setback. Approach A. push through it. This can lead to higher levels of frustration but also leads to higher levels of bot game and satisfaction. Golf is a mental game and this is a very common problem. Approach B is to just take a break, give yourself a breather and dont think about it. This tends to help most people.

For me I tend to obsess for option A is always my go to.

Good luck

[Golf'nBiker]

Lefty, regarding 'burnout', I have a similiar feeling.  I have tho, narrowed it down to what the burnout is caused from. Thursday dog-fights!  Each THUR I go out and try so frik'n hard to whoop the other 25+ players that i simply fall apart.  I also play w/a handful of guys on TUE and shoot very nicely..aka, relaxing.  I shot a 39 on the front on TUE, that w/a triple bogey on #8!  THUR, I'm bound and determined to do the same, add heavy rains and I just can't get into it and didnt even finish the round.  I was so frustrated and disappointed in my play that I considered not playing on THUR for awhile.  All that to say, if I/you can seperate what is burnout v. what is supposed to be a relaxing and 'fun' experience, things should(?) improve.  Now executing this might be more difficult...for me anyway.  G'Luck.

[Chrepper]

I was in the same boat, scratch golfer playing tournament after tournament.  I was always trying to get to the next step.  It got to be too much, and so did my attitude.  I took a year off, came back, and now I'm happier.  I don't play competitively anymore, and I limit my practice sessions to 20 minutes.  Most of all, I try to enjoy the little things in golf.

I hope you find your way.

[cart7]

I hit a plateau 25 years ago. 8 handicapper with scratch golfers I played with telling me to move to the next level via better clubs, tour balls, lessons, etc. I quit instead. 25 years later I'm trying to catch up on all the advancements in equipment and learning how 25 years of aging has made hitting a golf ball harder because the body just doesn't move like it used to. That said, there is a ton of info available for anyone to improve their game today that wasn't available all those years ago. I'm enjoying this renewed interest in the game.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Yes. If I play more than one round a week, I feel out of balance, since I have so many other things that I want to attend to.

Since May, I have played two 18-hole rounds for myself. The rest of the time I have played once a week with my 12-year-old grandson at a local nine-holer. We play from the red tees, I take six clubs. We have a good time together and it doesn't take all day. I don't know when I've enjoyed golf more, having fun with this really nice kid and not stressing about the handicap thing.

[MiamiDave]

Well I picked the game up about three years ago I and was hooked immediately. I spent the last three years hitting thousands upon thousands of balls I even had a couple of accidents at home trying to improve my swing. I got to the point where I was a pretty solid player I was shooting low nineties and sometimes high eighties so pretty decent. As for ball striking I hit it like a single digit handicapper my putting was pretty bad. Just recently I last week I was playing and played terrible. I shot about a 100 on Saturday and not much better on Sunday. I was playing with my cheap set of clubs and gave them away to a foreign couple on the 17th hole. I felt a great sense of relief after doing so It was starting to feel like a job.  I will pick it back up perhaps but not any time soon.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I get burned out if I play more than twice a week. I just have more to do with my time than play golf, as much as I enjoy it. I can only do a 6-7 hour trip, home to home, that often. I go practice a few other times a week, because that's fun and it only takes two and a half hours home to home.

[Redhill]

I play golf from about April 1 to October 31 of each year and then clean up and oil the clubs and put them away and go hunting.  Come next April I'm ready to go and can tolerate 3-4 rounds a week if the back and knees are ok.

I once OD on golf.  Playing in a charity tournament to raise money for a high school football program.  We played at the end of June and teed off at a little before sunrise and played until past sunset.  We did have carts and I logged 108 holes.  The next day my hands and back were too sore to move other than from the bed to the shower and then back to the couch.  My wife was very sympathetic and said "Maybe this will be the cure"

I found that for me a complete break from golf to pursue another hobby was working and besides it's too cold and snowy in Idaho in the winter

[nevets88]

I get burned out if I play too often because it takes a minimum of an hour to get to a course, usually alot more. Sometimes I have to take public transportation and that's 2 hours one way although I get alot of reading done.

If I lived 15 minutes, even 30 minutes from a course, totally different. That commute would be a cakewalk.

When I travel and am in places with a car and courses just a 10 minute drive away, that is so nice.

[jetsknicks1]

I experience burnout after our annual golf outing. We'll play 5 or 6 rounds in three days. By the time I get homwe, I don't even want to look at my clubs. It usually lasts about 3 weeks before I'm looking to go out again.

[Spyder]

The only time that I experience golf burn-out is on Sunday mornings when I'm being lectured on how much I golf. Then, when I kiss the wife goodbye and get in my car, the burn-out is over and I'm ready to play. (I need to hit the 19th hole first though and have a few cold ones to ease the tension though, then I'm ready!)

lol It's like the Microsoft Powerpoint commercial, where the little kid presents the "Why I need a dog" presentation to his parents. 30 seconds later the husband comes in with his "Why I need to golf on Sundays." presentation and gets the cold shoulder, as the kid is playing with his dog in the background. +1 to that commercial.

[Golfs-for-Fun]

Originally Posted by ohiolefty

My question to all of you, especially the better players and/or the ones that have really worked hard to get better at the game, is this: Have you ever 'burned out'? Felt like you've hit a wall or a plateau based on mental stuff and not physical? If so, what did you do? Share your story. I feel like I could have written a book on the topic, and almost did...just feeling bad about my game and, in some respects, myself and my own actions since I've become such a mope about a game that should be fun.

Im a new player, just really started about 3 months ago, so its probably not likely to happen for a long time.

But knowing myself I'll have to be careful because once I feel the challenge is gone in something I lose all interest.

I was hitting the range or course every day for the most part the last few months trying to get better, but as soon as I recently changed my swing and played at the course and saw a huge improvement for some reason it had already started losing the challenge or something. Til that last round I could wait to go work on something, but after seeing how many good shots I had this time around just by making the changes, Im now fearing that I'll get to the point where its not a struggle or there is nothing 'new' to learn.

It pretty much happens like that with everything I do. Once the challenge and mystery is gone, thats pretty much it. It isnt 'fun' anymore.

Someone on another forum mentioned 'skins' or something like that. Playing for money. Im wondering if maybe that would keep the interest up if I felt challenged to win or lose something.

I dont know. I just dont want to see my interest disappear over this 'plateau' sort of thing like youre talking about.

[inthehole]

This is my first full season (started golfing last fall at 46 years old).     Logged 62 rounds since this April to date.    My problem is physical, not mental ... my aching back is taking the fun out of it - haven't really done anything athletic since high school baseball 25+ years ago.      At this point of the year, the golf game is almost over due to cold weather & my back couldn't be more pleased ... advil sales in my county will drop off dramatically.    If I lived in a warmer area, I'd have to quit for an extended period to heal up the back, which would kill me.      Not sure how I'm going to cope next year ... I'm going to work on developing more of an easy, fluid swing thats easier on my back (all those fat shots are particularly tough on the back too - gotta work on that).     For me, thats the only thing that will keep me from playing alot of golf ...

[Golfs-for-Fun]

Originally Posted by inthehole

This is my first full season (started golfing last fall at 46 years old).     Logged 62 rounds since this April to date.    My problem is physical, not mental ... my aching back is taking the fun out of it - haven't really done anything athletic since high school baseball 25+ years ago.      At this point of the year, the golf game is almost over due to cold weather & my back couldn't be more pleased ... advil sales in my county will drop off dramatically.    If I lived in a warmer area, I'd have to quit for an extended period to heal up the back, which would kill me.      Not sure how I'm going to cope next year ... I'm going to work on developing more of an easy, fluid swing thats easier on my back (all those fat shots are particularly tough on the back too - gotta work on that).     For me, thats the only thing that will keep me from playing alot of golf ...

Not sure if it will help but I was living on Ibuprofen when I let some idiot try to teach me to golf years ago. My back always hurt so I had to quit.

What it was for me that was causing it, which I understand now, was trying making a lightning fast backswing then trying to crush the ball. I was pulling back muscles out as fast as I could swing.

This time about 3 months ago when I got back into it I have paid attention to a slower, more rhythmic backswing which I can make sure Im doing by counting to 3 before I start the down swing if I start speeding up again.

If you can slow your swing down it'll really help with the back pain.

I havent had to take a single Ibuprofen and Ive been living at the range and course this past few months.

And my distance has actually INCREASED. I got my first ever 270 yard drive just a few days ago!

It was really odd because I thought I'd just go ahead and hit the driver but take a really easy swing and just hit it short and controlled.

I was up looking for my ball thinking it didnt go more than about 160 or so and was about to pull another ball out when I see one up by the bridge just about 270 out. (the fairway raises some so you can loose sight of where your ball ends up at on this particular hole if you go over the top).

I walked up and checked and sure enough, its got my red sharpie pen mark on it. and its definitely in the direction I saw it flying. It was just on the left side of the fairway about 8 inches from the bank of the creek. A hell of a drive for as much effort as I had put in !

Trying slowing your swing WAY down especially on the backswing because that seems to set the tone for the swing as a whole.

Hope this helps because Id hate to see someone else give up for more than a decade like I did for no real reason.

:)

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by Golfs-for-Fun

Not sure if it will help but I was living on Ibuprofen when I let some idiot try to teach me to golf years ago. My back always hurt so I had to quit.

What it was for me that was causing it, which I understand now, was trying making a lightning fast backswing then trying to crush the ball. I was pulling back muscles out as fast as I could swing.

This time about 3 months ago when I got back into it I have paid attention to a slower, more rhythmic backswing which I can make sure Im doing by counting to 3 before I start the down swing if I start speeding up again.

If you can slow your swing down it'll really help with the back pain.

I havent had to take a single Ibuprofen and Ive been living at the range and course this past few months.

And my distance has actually INCREASED. I got my first ever 270 yard drive just a few days ago!

It was really odd because I thought I'd just go ahead and hit the driver but take a really easy swing and just hit it short and controlled.

I was up looking for my ball thinking it didnt go more than about 160 or so and was about to pull another ball out when I see one up by the bridge just about 270 out. (the fairway raises some so you can loose sight of where your ball ends up at on this particular hole if you go over the top).

I walked up and checked and sure enough, its got my red sharpie pen mark on it. and its definitely in the direction I saw it flying. It was just on the left side of the fairway about 8 inches from the bank of the creek. A hell of a drive for as much effort as I had put in !

Trying slowing your swing WAY down especially on the backswing because that seems to set the tone for the swing as a whole.

Hope this helps because Id hate to see someone else give up for more than a decade like I did for no real reason.

:)

THanks for the tip ... I have an fairly slow backswing - like to think it's "controlled" - but I'll definitely work on that next year  (I love watching Ai Mayazoto - would like to develop a swing like that).

[johnclayton1982]

I may get flak for this, but I suggest walking the course instead of taking a cart.  It *really* helps to fight burnout.  You get a nice, long walk to your ball to think about how pretty the course is, and how you arn't working, etc... It also makes you tired, which releases endorphins, and keeps you in a pretty good mood no matter how badly you are playing.  It also gives you good exercise, so you feel like there was a point to playing even when you don't play well.

It has been my experience that walkers are 100x less likely to have tantrums / bad mental attitude than cart riders.  Not saying all riders are bad, but I think there is something maddening about drive/ride, then hit the ball, then *immediately* ride to the ball and hit again.  Its really easy to lose perspective in a cart when you are bashing it all over the place.  Anyway, try walking for two weeks.  You won't go back.