Back at golf after a decade away due to major surgeries

[scotth]

Physical therapist gave me the attached file to get me started on the planks.  It is a very slow 30 day work up to 4 minutes.  Started with that 2 years ago, and now do 5 minutes every morning.

See what your doc says.

30 day plank challenge.rtf

[satchmodog]

3 minutes ago, scotth said:

Physical therapist gave me the attached file to get me started on the planks.  It is a very slow 30 day work up to 4 minutes.  Started with that 2 years ago, and now do 5 minutes every morning.

See what your doc says.

30 day plank challenge.rtf

Excellent, thank you ☺

[Patch]

Interesting. I too had to take a lengthy break from the game due to various surgeries. I was a 6 before the install of various plates, and screws. Luckily nothing wrong with my spinal column. 

What I found on my way back was to forget my pre-surgery distances. I tried to put the ball out there like before, but my control was pretty poor. 

Once I started doing just easy swings, and making good contact, my scores became much more respectable. I never made it back to a 6, but I stayed at 9 for quite a while. I just gave up the distances, and relied more heavily on my short game. 

Just a thought. 

[scotth]

10 hours ago, Patch said:

What I found on my way back was to forget my pre-surgery distances.

Definitely.  Beginning of the summer when I started playing again was at least 40 yards shorter with the driver and 10 - 15 yards on every other club.  

Luckily most of that distance is back again with lots of patience, and practice and better swing mechanics.

May never have old distance, but it is close...... and hope springs eternal to maybe be longer than ever with all the new club and ball technology, and launch monitor technology.  

Have explored that some, but like @satchmodog said in another thread, wanted to make sure back could handle golf again before I start spending money on new clubs.

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by scotth

[satchmodog]

10 hours ago, Patch said:

Interesting. I too had to take a lengthy break from the game due to various surgeries. I was a 6 before the install of various plates, and screws. Luckily nothing wrong with my spinal column. 

What I found on my way back was to forget my pre-surgery distances. I tried to put the ball out there like before, but my control was pretty poor. 

Once I started doing just easy swings, and making good contact, my scores became much more respectable. I never made it back to a 6, but I stayed at 9 for quite a while. I just gave up the distances, and relied more heavily on my short game. 

Just a thought. 

Indeed. I have lost a good deal of distance right off the top and I can get most of it back by really attacking the ball, but the results are often frustrating. I have found that taking an easier swing gives me damn near perfect shots(well, perfect in my world, which is highly imperfect). Right now I'm getting 180 -200 with a 3 iron even with a softer swing. The faster swing nets   more distance only on occasion with some wild results most swings. I have pushed the ball out to 230 or so but I am actually picking up bad habits trying to regain distance. My swing is choppy now and strikes are so inconsistent.I'd be better served just taking a lighter swing and building muscle memory and getting my coordination back. I've proven to myself that I can still hit, so now it's time to dial it back and move from there. I always had a terrible short game, so that's something I should work on.

[satchmodog]

2 minutes ago, scotth said:

Definitely.  Beginning of the summer when I started playing again was at least 40 yards shorter with the driver and 10 - 15 yards on every other club.  

Luckily most of that distance is back again with lots of patience, and practice and better swing mechanics.

May never have old distance, but it is close...... and hope springs eternal to maybe be longer than ever with all the new club and ball technology.  Have explored that some, but like @satchmodog said in another thread, wanted to make sure back could handle golf again before I start spending money on new clubs.

 

I also have to get it in my head that I am 50 now and not 40. Even at 40 I was noticing a small drop off in distances. The swing still feels awkward even after a summer of 3 buckets or more per week.It may never feel right or smooth again, who knows. The nice thing is I have a friend who obsessively buys clubs off Ebay and I can borrow all sorts of lengths, blade designs and offsets. Getting fitted may be next summer's thing.

[Billsy]

In the off season, go see your fitness professional to see what your body can do. 

Then address those muscles and then see the golf professional to see if your optimal swing is achievable. 

If you are not built like Jason Day why should you expect to swing that way??

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by Billsy

[satchmodog]

13 minutes ago, Billsy said:

In the off season, go see your fitness professional to see what your body can do. 

Then address those muscles and then see the golf professional to see if your optimal swing is achievable. 

If you are not built like Jason Day why should you expect to swing that way??

 

After lying in bed for almost 9 months, I was built like Ralph Kramden.

My biggest issue right now seems to be flexibility and I need some guidance on getting that back.

[scotth]

38 minutes ago, satchmodog said:

I also have to get it in my head that I am 50 now and not 40. 

Try being 54 and having memories of how far you were hitting at 38 as your last reference.....  :)  Was a shocker at first.

 

[satchmodog]

4 hours ago, scotth said:

Try being 54 and having memories of how far you were hitting at 38 as your last reference.....  :)  Was a shocker at first.

 

Oh believe me, I get it. My last game when I was 39 years old was that October. I blasted a drive off the third tee that hit the green 330 yards away. In honesty it bounced a bit before the green and bounded over. Most likely the longest drive of my life. I've pushed countless past 300_ but that one even made me just drop my driver and gloat. Until I took three more strokes to bury the damn putt. My first time out this year I maxed out at 250 and was actually pretty pleased. After that, I bounced a few to the 300 mark. But it seems lime the 250 to 280 are my realistic Max now. Surely nothing to scoff at, but my brain still says I'm a kid. My body tells me I'm Steve Austin(not the wrestler)

[Billsy]

Not to get too deep here but, golf mirrors are lives as we mature. Playing from the tips does not work as we reach 50 and beyond. Do not regret that you cannot hit a driver 330; relish that you can hit your wedges within 7 feet. Putt without fear. If you 3 putt so what! As you change the yardage, change your goals. 

[scotth]

41 minutes ago, Billsy said:

Do not regret that you cannot hit a driver 330; relish that you can hit your wedges within 7 feet. 

LOL.  Clearly our golf games are in different worlds.    The only time I ever put a drive out 330 yards it was on a super sunbaked fairway that was also pretty steep down hill fairway, and anytime I throw a wedge to 7 feet it is a happy accident.

But I get your point.  Gave up playing the back tees at the beginning of the summer.   Heck, sometimes for an ego boost lately I have played from the senior tees, just to see what driver, 8 or 9 iron or wedge feels like on a par four.  

[satchmodog]

1 hour ago, Billsy said:

Not to get too deep here but, golf mirrors are lives as we mature. Playing from the tips does not work as we reach 50 and beyond. Do not regret that you cannot hit a driver 330; relish that you can hit your wedges within 7 feet. Putt without fear. If you 3 putt so what! As you change the yardage, change your goals. 

I remember my father getting more and more into his short game as he got older. He never could hit drivers due to a back injury in the 70s, but for whatever reason his easy swing just worked so well with irons. The older he got, the shorter his shots got, but he kept working on accuracy. And I fear the putter, always have lol