johnjm22

You're probably right. My basic thoughts when I play golf are "swing nice and easy, keep your eye on the ball, and take it one shot at a time." After coming back from a layoff, that's typically the only thing going on in my head. Like many golfers, I have a tendency to come over the top. When I try and correct this, it starts adding layers to my though process. Then things start snowballing, and eventually I end up not knowing what I'm doing with my swing. This eventually leads me to quit for awhile so I can start fresh again later. Then the cycle starts over again. Finding a balance between working on your swing and still keeping things simple seems to be the trick, but I certainly haven't figured out yet.

Good post. I can definitely relate to a lot of what you're saying. Whenever I take the "I'm just here to have fun" approach, and not focus on an outcome, I seem to play my best golf. However, I think this approach has limited upside. At some point, you have to actively practice and work on specific aspects of the game in order to improve; and that's when the trouble starts for me. Thanks for the post. That's a good point you make about longer term goals being a hindrance. That might explain why I play my best when I care the least (about my overall outcome). A graph of my playing quality would be a long horizontal line from left to right, with a bunch of dips in it. Haha. Yes.

I find that I play my best golf after coming back from an extended period away from the game (like a month or so). When I'm playing on a regular basis (and actively trying to improve my game), it seems like my swing slowly gets worse, less natural/fluid feeling, and I start fighting it. In order to get my game back, I usually have to stop playing for a while. This cycle has been going on for nearly a decade. I've been playing for 20 years and I can honestly say that I'm not any better now than I was 10 or 15 years ago. Anyone else ever have a similar issue?