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Long break, important round in few days, how to prepare?


bones75
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I'm in my early 40's.  Middle of the pact in fitness (not uber fit, but no couch potato).  

Haven't touched my clubs in ~6 mos, but now have a round in 4 days w some old buddies I'm highly competitive with (important to me to do well).

So.... do I hit the range for the next 3 days? Play 1 practice round or 3?.  Unfortunately I've reached that age where I will certainly feel at least a little sore the next day if I haven't played in a long while. 

I know there's no single right answer to this, but any thoughts?  All you seasonal golfers who can't play every winter cuz of snow and such just baffle me.  Im a california guy, and most years don't go more than a month w/o getting a round in.

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I would hit the range a couple of times and just work on making good contact and starting the ball on the target lines you want. Playing a round wouldn't hurt as well. At least the round would not be your first time out.

Not much you can do with 4 days after a 6 month lay off from golfing.

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I had the same issue.  My consistency was a problem and I just tried to work on the very basics on the swing and hoped the rest would follow.  It was a bit messy, but here's a tip, I lost loads of shots on and around the green.  If I was in that situation again, I would spend most of my time on a short game practice area, cos that's what was hurting my score the most.

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3 hours ago, bones75 said:

All you seasonal golfers who can't play every winter cuz of snow and such just baffle me.  Im a california guy, and most years don't go more than a month w/o getting a round in.

Last winter I was actually able to get some driving range sessions with heated/covered bays in December and Jan, followed by the first round of the year in Feb. on President's Day. Not quite the same but still helped me stay loose.

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I'd get in one range session and after, one round.  6 months shouldn't make a lot of difference in a 9 hcp.  Shake off a bit of rust and I bet you don't notice much difference at all in your score...

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I think short game it´s the part of the game we get out of touch after not playing for a while, so i suggest to practice that area as well.

Day 1 - Start with putting, then chipping, pitching and shorts from the sand. At that moment you already did some half or 3/4 swings. Then hit a small bucket of balls and go home. (75% short game, 25% long game)

Day 2- The same as day 1 but this time take more time hitting balls. (25% short game, 75% long game).

Day 3- Play 18 holes and try to shoot as low as you can. 

The most important it´s to enjoy been back playing golf. Don´t bother if you don´t play like you used to  6 months before.  

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8 hours ago, bones75 said:

I'm in my early 40's.  Middle of the pact in fitness (not uber fit, but no couch potato).  

Haven't touched my clubs in ~6 mos, but now have a round in 4 days w some old buddies I'm highly competitive with (important to me to do well).

So.... do I hit the range for the next 3 days? Play 1 practice round or 3?.  Unfortunately I've reached that age where I will certainly feel at least a little sore the next day if I haven't played in a long while. 

I know there's no single right answer to this, but any thoughts?  All you seasonal golfers who can't play every winter cuz of snow and such just baffle me.  Im a california guy, and most years don't go more than a month w/o getting a round in.

I'd say play a round with me on Friday late afternoon in San Diego, cause I'll be out there Friday. Okay, so that's just a personal reason because I couldn't get anyone else to play down there. . . :-D

Seriously though, hit the range for about 40 or 60 balls, then practice your short game. The next day play a full round, but take your time and use a golf cart to reduce fatigue. Stretch out a lot before and after the practice session and the round.

 

 

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Practice lag putts and virtually dismiss practice focused on getting putts on-line or green reading. I wouldn't worry about read so much. A good lag can get you close to the hole with even a sub-par read.

Don't over-swing. Just make good contact. Don't care so much about distances.

Practice chipping close. You're likely not going to hit a lot of greens.

Practice a comfortable rescue shot. Like a knock down trap 7i to get you out of the woods under some branches and up the fairway 50-100 yards if you're lucky.

Sounds like a good plan for your situation, to me!

I really don't think you need to play a round. You were a 9 hc from what someone else said, so you know how to conduct a round. I'd just hit the practice area a few times. But not for too long.

Edited by jkelley9

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Others have covered things well.. just some ideas for The Day...

On day of  round: Pre-round you are warming up, not practicing (from LSW). Chip and putt, hit a few full shots. Then... get a copy of scorecard, find the par 3 hole distances, and hit a couple of tee shots representing each par 3.

Then relax, tee off and have fun! (Fun is allowed in golf! :-O)

Edited by WUTiger
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Don't overdo hitting balls in the 3 days before the round.  And do more light practice swings, getting the timing back between your hands and body, than anything else.  The day before the round only chip and putt. 

I like that par 3 idea for the range before the round.  Never heard that one before.  Good advice.

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Thanks for all the advice.  Lots of good ideas.  I'm been taking these long breaks a lot (had kids last few years), and always had trouble balancing getting practice in and being sore/spent.  

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1 minute ago, bones75 said:

Thanks for all the advice.  Lots of good ideas.  I'm been taking these long breaks a lot (had kids last few years), and always had trouble balancing getting practice in and being sore/spent.

I'm in a similar boat as you (have a round to play at my best or lose $$s, but only have a few weeks to prepare. . .), but I found that being not sore/spent helps more than anything else. Just hit a few long balls to get your swing again. Something like 40 to 60 at most. The spend a lot of time on your short game. At least, I found that my short game is the first thing to crap out with long gaps between playing. It doesn't take much to get it back, but you only have a couple days now to practice.

Actually, I might be able to play a round with you in San Diego on Friday late afternoon. Get in 9 holes or something? Maybe we should post in the "San Diego Area" thread to see if we can hook up?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/6/2017 at 7:34 AM, bones75 said:

Thanks for all the advice.  Lots of good ideas.  I'm been taking these long breaks a lot (had kids last few years), and always had trouble balancing getting practice in and being sore/spent.  

How'd the competitive round go? Mine is coming up in a week or so. . .

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1 hour ago, Lihu said:

How'd the competitive round go? 

A meh, but fairly satisfactory 84 considering the break. I had like 9-10 pars or better. got lucky on more than a few scrambles, but a lot of doubles+. My biggest lesson learned after a long break: don't try to go after it.  it cost me a bunch of penalties trying to rope a few out there.  Aviara's beautiful tho, almost disneyland like.  Watching LPGA highlights there on youtube made us all sad about ourselves.

Edited by bones75
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6 minutes ago, bones75 said:

A meh, but fairly satisfactory 84 considering the break. I had like 9-10 pars or better. got lucky on more than a few scrambles, but a lot of doubles+. My biggest lesson learned after a long break: don't try to go after it.  it cost me a bunch of penalties trying to rope a few out there.  Aviara's beautiful tho, almost disneyland like.  Watching LPGA highlights there on youtube made us all sad about ourselves.

Aviara looks really nice, but really wow expensive. 84 is great, that's right to your handicap.

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Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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4 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Aviara looks really nice, but really wow expensive. 84 is great, that's right to your handicap.

Yea, I can't gripe about the final score in the end at all, and came out even on the nassau's. But I admit I was pretty lucky all day... 2 skull'd shots that ended nicely on the green, a few lucky bounces, sank a few 10 footers+. I wouldn't expect the same if I replayed it.

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Also, I think the advice I got in this thread helped a lot. Really having a club in my hand everyday for the 6 days previous to the round felt like the difference.  3 days doing 15-20 minutes of swing drills in the backyard, 1 short range session + a few minutes on short game, plus two practice outings of 14 holes and 9 holes.  But because I did it daily, it was much easier to start where i left off the previous day.

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Note: This thread is 2377 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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