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How Does Winter Impact Your Game?

I always lose plenty of speed during 5-6 month hibernation and touch around green (chipping) takes forever to regain touch.
 
Normally it zaps all my speed, which I don’t have much of that anyway. Takes a little bit to get back going. Thankfully this year I’ve been hitting a lot in the garage for the past month.

All that said, I still kind of like a winter break.
 
AZ: other than cold mornings affecting my Parkinson's crap where my Left hand tremor gets very pronounced and make's it hard to take a proper grip, winter doesn't do much to my game.
 
Wedge game suffers significantly and apparently my driving suffers as well but the amount of slices on the range today 🥴

Quite sad as I was playing great even into winter but then non stop rain for weeks closed down stuff and then got covid for two weeks and been coming back from that. Winter was actually going really well. 🫤
 
For me the winter layoff is like a complete reset to my golf game - the older I get the longer it takes me to relearn how to swing a golf club. My first few rounds of the year can be really demoralizing and frustrating. I'm usually good for a couple of shots that will never happen again for the remainder of the season (I'm looking at you, shank that hit a tree five feet in front of me on the tee box)
 
baylrballa said:
First round back is fantastic, then I slowly regress back to the mean.
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This Up Here GIF by Chord Overstreet
 
Oddly, I usually shoot some of my best scores early in the year. 🤷‍♂️
 
Everything. I have to shake off 6.5 months of rust every spring - usually takes a couple weeks to start feeling somewhat normal again.

I long for an indoor setup at home.
 
Sim Golf from Dec-March
Leagues start: 2nd week in April and 1st week of May
 
It has affected me less this year than in the past as I have the Skytrak in the basement and have been able to continue swinging. I have been doing the wedge matrix more this winter and my first round out my short game was pretty sharp for early in the year. Love how having this seems to be really paying off.
 
My short game has never really been a strength before so I never saw that part of my game impacted. For me it was always driver that suffered. Cold temps, bundled me, and soggy fairways made for short drives. Something in my head can’t accept hitting it well short of my average so my tempo and what little technique there is suffers. But admitting it was a big mental step for me and I’ve played some really surprising golf lately.
 
Lots of rust, usually my first couple times out are great, then it hits the fan for a week or so. Obviously the weather will start to warm, the back will ease up and I’ll setting into my game but usually takes a few weeks of consistently being able to play before things settle in.
 
Negatively. I take 4-5 months off a year and come back rusty with everything. Driver, irons, chipping. The only thing I maintain is putting bc I practice a bit on the back yard putting green.
 
I go all in with sims, so there’s really no off season. First couple of sim sessions there’s an adjustment period, and likewise the first few rounds outside in the spring. But overall I’d say winter is a net positive for me, which wasn’t the case until sim golf came along.
 
Chipping and short putting gets better as that’s all I do in the basement. The rest of it gets bad…
 
The good: I usually lay off from the time we quit playing (usually sometime in November) until the first of the year. I think it's good for me to just forget about golf for a while, watch college and pro football, etc., etc. Then usually in January I start walking at the local park to keep my legs in shape. I'll chip and putt regularly in the basement too.

The bad: This year has not been a good off-season. At Thanksgiving, my wife and I got bronchitis from our grandson. Took us both a couple of weeks to be totally over it. Then after Christmas we left for Florida. Usually, that's a plus, b/c I can walk, practice and play in warm weather. The first week in Florida, the weather was unseasonably cold and rainy, so couldn't do much of anything outside. Then we both got Covid....me first, then my wife. It was relatively mild, but I've felt weak ever since. I played twice and practiced a few times, so I guess I had a club in my hands once a week, but I would've liked to do it more often. Since we got back home, I've played twice, but I still feel like I don't have my legs back, and I'm more tired and don't feel like practicing.

Bummer, but I'm starting to get my energy back....walked a couple of miles today, and plan to play and walk Tuesday in 60 degree weather. Just have to stay patient and keep working at it.....
 
I always feel like I take a bit of a step backwards after winter. It really depends on how much I get to play during the winter months. This past winter, weather and work kept me off the course and my last round I could tell I haven't played much. Lots of rust, mostly with short game and putting, but everything just felt a little off. If I had to go for 3 or 4 months without swinging a club, I'd be in trouble. The game would probably be in shambles. lol
 
Lay off's effect my short game.
 
Phil75070 said:
Here in North Texas we don't officially have an off-season and having to report all scores they definitely suffer in the winter and my handicap is the highest it will be all year. Course conditions are at their worst as the grasses used predominately for the fairways goes dormant, so all lies tend to get very tight. Add to that, there is a lot of moisture from either the weather or, in late winter, from the course itself watering to try to promote growth resulting in little roll and a lot of mud being picked up on the ball, shoes and clothes. Then there are the cold temperatures and wearing several layers of clothes that don't help, and, if still cold, finding your shoulders up around your ears promotes a lot of thin shots.

Despite all of that, having lived in the Chicago area for over 20 years, I'll take the poor weather and conditions over not getting to play at all.
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So much this. I love being able to play all year. I took it for granted before living in Illinois for 6 years and learning what a true off-season was.

But the conditions make it really hard to score consistently. Like you said, it's a lot of tight dormant Bermuda, muddy or bare lies. I know my handicap will go up a bit in the winter. I use the winter months for any major equipment or full swing tweaks and hope to have everything locked back in about this time.

I tried to work on my short game the last two winters....but it's so hard to do on thin tight lies.
 
Destroys it- I wish I had room for a sim somewhere but just not in the cards at this time.
 
When taking the winter off from golf activitys it usually takes a few rounds to get the rust off.
Playing in a Sim league def helps prevent the winter rust.
 
Every April it takes me 4 shots to get out of a bunker....

And I can't make putts until June
 
brians said:
Getting my legs back is the toughest part. I walk a ton (20,000) steps per day, but golf course walking is much different.

Basement putting translates well on the course. But it’s a struggle big time with chipping and short iron game feel for the first few weeks.
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You walk 9 miles/day and walking a golf course is the toughest part?
 
Winter sux for the golf game, that's for sure. It's not easy to keep a good game when you're lucky to play/practice once or twice a month.
 
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