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Seasonal ebbs and flows

McLovin

McLovin

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Albatross 2024 Club
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When does your golf game finally round into form in a given year? Do you get there with lessons, practice, rounds?

Although I’m in a warm climate and don’t worry about weather restrictions, my golf is very limited for the first 4 months of the year due to work. I always start my season in late April, and come out of the gate very rusty despite practicing during the off-season. It takes me 2-3 months of rounds before I start to feel good about the game.

But then I hit a wall, and start regressing, usually in September or October. By the end of the year I’m annoyed at my game, and not all that unhappy to have to shut it down when January rolls around.

Do you experience seasonal ebbs and flows?


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I’ve never played more than a handful of rounds from October through mid March so normally my game is in mid season form by mid May and then I just play and don’t hit the range much. This year I’ve done more practice and playing than anytime in the last 25 years and my index has crept up a bit, go figure. I’ve struggled posting sub par rounds this year with only 2 out of 55 rounds played. I attribute it to mostly much more difficult greens at my new course that I really am still fooled by on each and every round. On the bright side, this next revision my index will drop about a stoke and be closer to my long term “normal”.
 
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Last year I took a two month break in the brutal July and August heat and it cost me big time. I thought I needed a mental break but I was not the same golfer when I started again. This year I am taking an indoor lesson every Saturday and driving range Sunday morning. I have been playing once or twice a week as well and I am playing the best golf of my life right now.

Like captain Mclovin I can play golf year round so that is exactly what I plan to do.
 
Typically I come out of the gate with low expectations and yet somehow play pretty well early in the year. This of course leads to higher expectations that by June usually derail my train until I embarrass myself in the club championship (bottom flight). Then I take a week off, get my expectations back in line and generally go out to enjoy the weather and people I golf with that then leads me to playing pretty well through the end of the season.

Sometimes it's just playing through it that gets me turned around, other times a refresher lesson or hitting the range hard to figure out my misses, but that has been my jam for the last couple years.
 
Real good stretches and REAL bad stretches can come or go at anytime for me. Doesn't seem to correlate with amount of play or practice, weather, or anything at all. Wish I knew why and when.
 
Generally it starts terrible, gets into decent shape by summer, the heat and humidity generally causes a bad stretch and then starts again in the fall with it getting into decent shape (for me) by Christmas/Holiday season...
 
On average, my index is 2 - 3 shots lower when the temperatures are consistently above 70 degrees than when it is below.
 
Fall is typically when I'm able to play more, once the molten hot sun starts to cool, thus that's when I'm usually feeling better about things.
 
I am going to guess that nearly everyone's game starts to suffer the more they think or that they focus on mechanics. I think this usually creeps in after a bad round where several shots just didn't go your way. Our inclination is to start making changes which often lead to more bad shots. In reality everyone has bad days and we would all do better just to shrug them off and move on. I mean look at the pro level. JB Holmes owned Royal Portrush for 3 days and then shot the worst round of the tourney on day 4. He isn't going to go scrap his swing after that round. Golf is a game of %'s. if you hit 40% of GIR there are naturally going to be days where you hit 60% and days where you hit 20%. The 20% days are not reasons to start adding swing thoughts and scrapping gameplans. Generally speaking our worst rounds are really 3 or 4 below average shots costing us 7 or 8 strokes and our best rounds are 3 or 4 excellent shots saving us 7 or 8 strokes.
 
Sox_Fan said:
On average, my index is 2 - 3 shots lower when the temperatures are consistently above 70 degrees than when it is below.
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As a short hitter this is big for me. I can easily shoot 4 or 5 strokes better on a dry 90* July or August day then I can on a 60* day in April or May where the course is moist.
 
If we can get some golf played in the months of Jan and Feb then usually by end of March I can be in a good position. This year is was later and was May before I was able to find my game.
 
DataDude said:
I am going to guess that nearly everyone's game starts to suffer the more they think or that they focus on mechanics. I think this usually creeps in after a bad round where several shots just didn't go your way. Our inclination is to start making changes which often lead to more bad shots. In reality everyone has bad days and we would all do better just to shrug them off and move on. I mean look at the pro level. JB Holmes owned Royal Portrush for 3 days and then shot the worst round of the tourney on day 4. He isn't going to go scrap his swing after that round. Golf is a game of %'s. if you hit 40% of GIR there are naturally going to be days where you hit 60% and days where you hit 20%. The 20% days are not reasons to start adding swing thoughts and scrapping gameplans. Generally speaking our worst rounds are really 3 or 4 below average shots costing us 7 or 8 strokes and our best rounds are 3 or 4 excellent shots saving us 7 or 8 strokes.
Click to expand...

Solid stuff right here. I couldn't agree more. I find it hard to fight off the urge to over react.
 
My game usually peaks about 3 months into the season. I got a late start this year due to school and family requirements so I’m just coming into form. I’ve only been able to play 2-3 times a month since I started in May, but I enjoy chipping and putting when I don’t have time for a full round. We’re moving to Washington state next week and have joined the local country club for the first time in my life. I’m very excited to get on a well-manicured course and practice facility. Like Tahoebum experienced, I expect my scores to get a little worse at first, but then improve quickly. I’ve always putted better on fast greens.
 
Every year winter destroys my game. This year was the worst ever. Its so hard to practice when its freezing cold outside. I typically struggle the first couple months then around August game starts to come back so I get 1-2 months of what I would call decent golf in then its time to shut her down again. Its a vicious cycle
 
There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to when my game is good or bad. My game seems like it's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and can snap back and forth at any moment.

About the only thing that is predictable is that I usually play pretty decent at the beginning of the season. I think I get rid of my bad habits over the winter break and come out fresh.
 
Historically I play my best golf from Jan-March. Courses are soaked and soft, daylight is precious, and I'm just happy to be out there with the umbrella. The firmer the courses get, the worse my game gets.
 
Real good stretches and REAL bad stretches can come or go at anytime for me. Doesn't seem to correlate with amount of play or practice, weather, or anything at all. Wish I knew why and when.


Exactly This...
 
I play similar amounts through the year, I don't mind winter golf and still hit the range every now and then. I have periods of solid play then months of crap
 
I go through the seasonal ebbs and flows constantly. The only real time I dont have a big fluctuation is if I can regularly hit balls 2-3 times a week and play a round or 2. It gets tougher and tougher with not enough time in the day. Barring any major tournament or event I will typically shut it down come November and let my back and knee get some recovery time in until spring.
 
October/November is when my handicap and scores are generally at their lowest. I'm no longer mopping sweat off my face and hands before every shot, the courses tend to be at their firmest, driest and fastest, the putting greens are fully healthy and firm and at least in October and early November it still isn't cold enough for the ball flight distance to start falling off like it does in January/February.
 
I definitely experience the ebbs and flows. Typically, my game comes out of winter ok for the first few rounds. Not spectacular, but not terrible. From there, it goes way downhill in a hurry. I usually feel like I should be playing well in May and June, but I almost never do. July gets a little better (although not this year) and then I play my best golf from August into early October. After that, the weather usually gets spotty and I can't play as often.
 
My ebb flow is between mediocre and garbage most of the year... I usually find a sweet spot for a while where my game seems relatively decent but usually quickly regresses


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Typically I try and peak around August each year so I am ready for Club Championships in mid/late August timeframe. This year has been a cluster as I lost almost 2 months over the winter (rehab time, training) with a pinched nerve in neck when I could do nothing, then once season began I tore my bicep tendon which has set me back about a month and for the last week now dealing with another pinched nerve/dead arm/back spasms on the other side.

Anyway, I was planning on taking some lessons this year but haven’t found a stretch where I felt healthy enough to make the investment. I hate to say the year is a write-off but been challenging. Still having a blast so still focusing on Club Championship last week of August with lower expectations (might be a good thing) and beyond that our closing club Ryder Cup weekend. So for 2019 my focus will be on finishing on top when the year is closing out.
 
DataDude said:
As a short hitter this is big for me. I can easily shoot 4 or 5 strokes better on a dry 90* July or August day then I can on a 60* day in April or May where the course is moist.
Click to expand...

#parkinglotrollout
 
Early in year I am generally a little inconsistent but tend to maintain HCP index.

Sometime in late May or early June there is generally 6-8 weeks of poor play if not collapse.

Always seem to post my best run of good scores in August & September and get the index respectable again. After that my interests change, weather changes and the consistency suffers.


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