When you haven't played the game for a long time.....

[Don Barzini]

I'm an infrequent golfer with an unofficial handicap of 24. Usually when I play, I have far too many duff shots, lose far too many balls, miss far too many putts etc. Plus I have this natural fade to my long shots which I can't seem to get rid of.

I've spent plenty of time on the range and in lessons in the past and have improved a bit. But not to the degree I hoped for with the range time and lesson time I'd invested in. Then COVID came along which scuppered golf for me. So (prior to the weekend just gone) I hadn't played for around two years.

This weekend saw me play two rounds of golf with some friends. It had been in the diary for a while, so I'd been to the range last week for a session. But apart from that, as said I hadn't picked the clubs up for two years. With that in mind, I wasn't expecting it to be pretty.

Well I played the best golf of my life! Virtually everything dead straight, hardly any duff shots. Pitching was great, even putting (which is usually a very weak area of my game) was good.

For whatever reason, my head was just in a good place. When standing over a shot, I just had two thoughts going through my head - keep your head down and don't try and swing too fast. I was able to picture the shot and somehow deliver it. In the past I've had all the stuff from lessons going through my head and that's what's messed me up.

I have actually found this before. If I don't play for a while, I play better than I do when coming off the back of a load of lessons and range time. It should be the other way round shouldn't it?!?!?!

Has anyone else had a break from golf and found this sort of thing happens?

 

[Orikoru]

Coming back from both lockdowns I have generally played pretty well. I think sometimes a long break helps you forget some bad habits that you might have picked up where you were compensating for certain things, and helps you reset back to the basics.

 

[jim8flog]

The first rounds after lockdown 1 and lock down 2 were two of my best.

My problem is playing too much really and getting tired.

 

[fat80b]

I think for me, it comes down to expectation and pressure. I don't have any natural ability and didn't start young so need to practice to become OK / consistent.

Hence first round back when I haven't played for a while, I don't expect to be much good and I can play what's in front of me a bit more and just try and put a swing on it. I tend to play alright and surprise myself. Often, the first round back after a lay off is OK followed by a dip in scores in the rounds thereafter.

As the more I practise, the more pressure there is to deliver and there is a dip where I underperform despite putting in the hours, only for it to then come good again... at least that's my theory....

 

[Imurg]

Coming back from both lockdowns it took me at least a month to be able to post a respectable score.....