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Midnight Shift golfer . How do you guys manage it?

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Mystery Meat

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Business has really picked up in the steel industry, so I have been given the night foreman position to help make things run smooth. Was invited into a group of other foreman managers that I work with who have been doing midnights for decades. Real die hard golfers who play 5 to 7 days a week teeing off right when we get off at 7am. They really have the local hook up and tagging along with them has allowed me to play some top notch local tracks.

Been playing now 3 days a week, but just seems that I'm having trouble adjusting to golfing right after working the midnight shift. It will take me about 4 to 5 holes to feel loose and nimble. The early holes have been pretty ugly thus far, but mid round I feel like I'm ready to play. This group is considered the "dew sweepers" by many. And that name is so true as the courses are completely soaked every round I have played with them.

Any tips for a new midnight shift golfer? How do you guys manage it and feel loose and ready to play? I can only do this 3 days a week and not the 5 to 7 like the other guys in the group. I literally collapse once I get home after the round of golf. But playing some great courses, and I posted a few on here
 
Many years ago I worked 11:00 to 07:00 a.m. shift and played golf after work. It's tough but I was young and excited about having the mornings off for golf. Just make sure you get 8 hours of sleep somewhere during post golf to replenish your body. I was lucky as my shift was from Sunday - Friday morning and I had all weekend off.
 
I was a midnight worker and we would play after work all the time. Some guys would drink beer, others coffee me personally I would grab a lot of water and a cigar and I was good to go. For me water always wakes me up and I just like cigars.
 
I did the midnight shift for a bit and headed straight to the course after. I don't recall having issues with getting started. If I remember correctly, I would start losing it after the turn. Just remember running it of steam towards the end of the round. And just like you, I crashed as soon as I got home.
 
Other than the cigars (yuk), jitzy has it right. Treat it like going after work 5pm, but crash after golf, you'll need it.
 
That shift is great for getting out early and playing 18. Did it for the few months I worked mids
 
I work graveyard shift and I am too tired to golf right after work. Haven't tried in awhile though, maybe I should give it another shot
 
I worked over nights for a few years, and never could play well after work. We worked 12 hour shifts, 6-6. I was usually up by 2. So by the time I could get to the course I had been up for 17 hours and by the time we were done it was 21. I never struggled to get going by I was usually zapped long before the back.

I much preferred to play in the afternoons before work. It only required me to get up an hour or two earlier than normal vs staying up an extra 5 hours. Plus we normally had the course to ourselves especially in the summer.
 
Many years ago I worked a night audit shift 11-7 for about 6 months. At first I was so excited by all the golf I would get to play in the am when I got off.

But it never really worked. I was always fighting to stay awake by 600 am and couldn't wait to get home to bed.

I played maybe 3 times in those 6 months.

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I tried 2) different scenarios:

a) go right to the course
b) go home and sleep until 1 and get up and go play

both tough. I can do 9 holes but 18 is rough. So I try for 18 before my scheduled turn off knowing I can play and not worry about coming back into work that night. These guys have been doing 18 holes 5 to 6 days a week for decades. A little to rough for me. Next month I'm on 3 pm to 11pm, so that might be a little easier on me

still fun to think I'm playing golf avid again
 
I worked third shift 20+ years ago and nights on a few road construction projects, and I still only played in the evenings before work, the same hours as today after work (late afternoon/evening rounds).
 
Don't want to discourage u but I've been working 12 hour over night shifts for 3 years, and I have tried to golf at 7am, and I simply can't, it's horrible. The only thing I can do is sleep 7-1 then play around 2. And even when I do that I still feel off. My days off are the only days I play and feel normal.

Everyone is different tho. Some guys I work with feel fine after work and have morning beers with friends, then go to the beach. Others go enjoy their families. If I'm not in bed by 7:30am after work I need an IV of caffeine just to keep my eyes open.
 
I work 6pm to 6am on my nights rotation (2 out of 5 weeks), and 6am to 6pm on days...so after being at work for 12+ hours, I don't want to golf regardless of the time of day...
Now, what I do is is just flip the AM and PM. I wake up at 4:20 AM/PM, and go to bed around 9 or 10 AM/PM.
So if you wanted to work 8 hrs, and golf after, just sleep until 10 or 11pm, wake up, eat, go to work, and then you've got the rest of the day to do whatever you do. then you go to bed whenever you need to get your normal amount of sleep.

The keys to sleeping during the day are...black out curtains, comfortable eye mask (curtains don't get all the light), a sound machine (I like the rain noise), and a few mg of melatonin a half-hour to an hour before you go to bed (since the sunlight you're seeing just before you go to bed keeps your body from making melatonin)....

...I'm actually just leaving from work now...so gotta jet! If you got any other questions, just ask!
 
I currently work 5pm to 2:30am. What I do is golf before work. Its difficult sometimes and sometimes it means I dont always get a good night's sleep (only 6 hours, sometimes) but it beats not playing.
If I worked 3rd shift like you do, Id just golf early in the morning. You could go home, get cleaning up, grab your gear and tee off at 8am and still be able to get home and get some sleep before you have to go in to work.
 
I've golfed after my last night of the week, but not in the middle. I walk 4-8 miles at work apparently (according to someone's fitbit)... Usually pretty tired afterwards.

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I work the 6pm-6am shift. I usually play on my days off which I have every other weekend off and a couple of days off during the week. A few range visits, putting and chipping and play the next day.
 
My body never adjusted to graveyard shift. I was always too tired to do anything but just crash after work. Even then I never slept very well.

Unlike many I preferred swing shift if I couldn't work days. I could get off work at midnight, go straight to bed and be up by 8 AM, play in the morning, and still have a few hours before I had to get to work. It was a much more normal sleep schedule and my body seemed to take it a lot better.
 
Worked th graveyard shift for about 10 years. My social life suffered and I never saw my friends but I would get off at 8 am and be golfing by 9 or snowboarding by 9:30 and the gym was always quiet at that time. I loved it for those types of things but wouldn't do it again or recomend it.
 
Just an update / I know I started this thread and this is the outcome . I started the season with less than 8 rounds into July. Finished the season with 51 rounds while being on nights for a few months. Played tons and tons tons of golf. Unfortunately I hit a rut where my body literally couldn't function unless I slept first. Now i won't play unless I sleep beforehand . So I pushed my rounds back to 1pm ish when on nights . Or early am if I work afternoons


was fun playing a lot of great courses with my co workers who work nights . But my body just could neve adjust , by the 9 th hole I was toast
 
Scrap Iron said:
Worked th graveyard shift for about 10 years. My social life suffered and I never saw my friends but I would get off at 8 am and be golfing by 9 or snowboarding by 9:30 and the gym was always quiet at that time. I loved it for those types of things but wouldn't do it again or recomend it.
Click to expand...
Agree ... And the older you get the tougher it is
 
When I worked 11-7 during college summers I would get home, grab a snack and sleep 8-2. I played a few times before work at twilight rates. Wouldn't work so good in the winter though. That schedule worked best for me. As a college student I was used to staying up late and sleeping to the afternoon (at least on weekends).
 
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