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How to deal with golf burn out?


Jackal

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I have been playing for 25 years.

Eat, sleep, watch, and read golf.

Play year round. Never go more than 3 days without picking up a club.

Yesterday, all of a sudden, I think I hate golf.

My Son is 17, and a fantastic golfer. High school team, medalist, local hero, etc. 

For the past 3 weeks, my score has been dropping like crazy. 

Went from shooting 45-46 per nine, to 40-41.

Hitting long straight drives, great wedges, and putting.

 

Just woke up yesterday, and don't like golf.

We went to the course, and the whole time was thinking I would rather be at work than here.

How do y'all deal with this? 

Do others get this way, or have I lost the golf bug?

Thanks for the advice.

Always chasing different clubs

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This happened to me a few years ago. I took up another hobby, running, which in turn boosted my golf game.  I still have times when I am disinterested in golf, but as I get older (37) I am cherishing every moment whether that is on the golf course, fishing, work, etc.  And the little times when I think I don’t like golf anymore, something comes up, I go hit a few balls and I’m back at it.

Dont get discouraged with it.  Embrace it, could be just giving you a nudge to look at golf from a different perspective.

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Take a break. Usually after a week off I'm dying to get on the course.

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1 hour ago, Jackal said:

Just woke up yesterday, and don't like golf.

We went to the course, and the whole time was thinking I would rather be at work than here.

This happened to me in college. We were required to be in the gym 3 days/week plus 6 days/week at the course. Tournaments were about once/month and involved leaving at 3-4am, driving to our destination, playing a practice round, then 36 walking on day 1, 18 walking on day 2, then driving back to campus. By the time I made it to my third year of college, I was completely burned out and opted to graduate early instead of play all four years.

After I graduated, I don't think I played at all for a year and only a couple times/year for the next ~5 years. Then I slowly started getting back into it and it was just this year that I played in a tournament for the first time since college, 13 years after graduating. I will say that today, I enjoy nontraditional formats far more than I used to. (Case in point, this year my club had a 'Wacky Wednesday' league where we'd play with some ridiculous rules. My personal favorite was the Hasselhoff Scramble, where any shots played from the bunker or the water didn't count. So if you hit your drive into a fairway bunker and your approach into a greenside bunker, you could get up and down for an eagle.)

I'm not saying you need to take as much time off as I did, but at least in my experience, if the golf bug has bitten you in the past, it never really gets out of your system. Give it time and you'll find the itch to dive back in.

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4 minutes ago, greggarner said:

This happened to me in college. We were required to be in the gym 3 days/week plus 6 days/week at the course. Tournaments were about once/month and involved leaving at 3-4am, driving to our destination, playing a practice round, then 36 walking on day 1, 18 walking on day 2, then driving back to campus. By the time I made it to my third year of college, I was completely burned out and opted to graduate early instead of play all four years.

After I graduated, I don't think I played at all for a year and only a couple times/year for the next ~5 years. Then I slowly started getting back into it and it was just this year that I played in a tournament for the first time since college, 13 years after graduating. I will say that today, I enjoy nontraditional formats far more than I used to. (Case in point, this year my club had a 'Wacky Wednesday' league where we'd play with some ridiculous rules. My personal favorite was the Hasselhoff Scramble, where any shots played from the bunker or the water didn't count. So if you hit your drive into a fairway bunker and your approach into a greenside bunker, you could get up and down for an eagle.)

I'm not saying you need to take as much time off as I did, but at least in my experience, if the golf bug has bitten you in the past, it never really gets out of your system. Give it time and you'll find the itch to dive back in.

Thanks for taking the time to write that.

I appreciate all the replies. Just afraid it won't come back.

Always chasing different clubs

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Like others have said, take a break, however long it takes until you want to give it a go again. I can't imagine any other solution. I assume it won't happen to me because I am out there for three reasons, golf - camaraderie/friends - just being outdoors. Even when the golf itself isn't as much fun, I enjoy the other two. I am sure I'd get burned out on golf if that was the only reason I was out there. Best of luck.

Incidentally, that may be the one advantage those who live up north have over the year round players - I used to live near Chicago. Taking several months off every Winter probably makes golf even more appealing once Spring-Summer-Fall roll around again.

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I concur with a break and agree with @Middler said just move up north, forced 5 months of keeps it fresh for me.

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3 hours ago, Jackal said:

I have been playing for 25 years.

Eat, sleep, watch, and read golf.

Play year round. Never go more than 3 days without picking up a club.

Yesterday, all of a sudden, I think I hate golf.

My Son is 17, and a fantastic golfer. High school team, medalist, local hero, etc. 

For the past 3 weeks, my score has been dropping like crazy. 

Went from shooting 45-46 per nine, to 40-41.

Hitting long straight drives, great wedges, and putting.

 

Just woke up yesterday, and don't like golf.

We went to the course, and the whole time was thinking I would rather be at work than here.

How do y'all deal with this? 

Do others get this way, or have I lost the golf bug?

Thanks for the advice.

Your game got better, but it didn't make as happy as you thought it would?

Or maybe you were movitated by a goal to set for yourself, and you have achieved it?

We all deserve to happy, golfing or not.

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1 hour ago, Middler said:

Incidentally, that may be the one advantage those who live up north have over the year round players - I used to live near Chicago. Taking several months off every Winter probably makes golf even more appealing once Spring-Summer-Fall roll around again.

Definitely true for me. The first round out in the spring is always the best. No expectation and happy just to be out there plus those two conditions usually results in a good score for me.

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Golf didn't burn out for me.  I got really super-angry when they banned the steel spikes, but I kept playing.

I used to love autumn golf just before the snow, and I loved July golf at 95ºF.

I even really enjoyed hanging out at the club even if I wasn't actually playing.

But unfortunately, I physically burned out for golf.  It happens.

 

 

 

 

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Take a break try something else, possibly too much of a good thing. I think it happens to most of us occasionally.
If it’s not fun anymore time to move on to another hobby.


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Left Hand, 

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5 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr       
7 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr      
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2 hours ago, Shankster said:

Worst advice ever!!  Move further south, at least you can surf instead of freeze your butt off for 5 months... 🙃🙃

Its not that bad, I am used to it by now and I enjoy some good winter sports like hockey and broomball, and heck I will run all year round outside too.

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Some things you didn't mention: Playing the same course all the time? Same group of guys or a single? Same tees? Perhaps mixing it up on any of the three mentions would help.


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Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Don't think about it at all, mid  around '93 I went almost 18 months without even thinking about playing. Thought about selling clubs on several occasions.

Then for no reason at all, I picked up a club while in the garage, held it, looked at it and 3 hours later I was back home cleaning the the clubs after hitting couple of large buckets, chipping and putting.  

Then around late '98 I did not play a round of golf until I finally started playing around 2001.

You should feel like you WANT to play, not like you HAVE to !!

 

 

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@Jackal like @Middler mentioned, friends/who I play with is one of the reasons for burn out for me. I got to a point where I dreaded playing with certain friends because of a plethora of reasons. 

Alternately, I found myself missing certain friends who walked away, moved away, or just didn't line up on my tee sheet anymore. The lack of certain people made the game less enjoyable for me too. 

I also used to hit 3,000+ balls a month 2 years ago, then went to 2,000+ until 8 months ago, then down to 1,500 from 5 months ago til last month, and now I am at about 200 balls a month. When I get to the range, I have just as much fun talking to my friends at the range as hitting balls. 

I really don't play golf by myself - for me, there is no point in it. Just sharing that golf is more about the people for me - even if they are strangers because they don't stay strangers for very long. 

Golf is simple - people are complicated.

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Any hobby that is your main focus (and possibly only focus) will get stale and boring from time to time. That's life when you solely focus on one thing only. You get burned out.

Same goes for things like music. After a while you feel like you "run out" of creativity. Or biking - you feel like you've ridden every route and your body just wants a break.

Take a break. Focus on something else for a while. Develop other skills or talents. 

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What a coincidence. Just last night I was asking my wife whether we should take a break from golf and do something more "active", such as tennis. We both played tennis in our youth and our 6 y.o. daughter is taking tennis with golf right now.

I guess the fact that winter is coming makes it an easier decision that usual. I normally give my clubs a last spa treatment around November and don't take them out til March/April, so the 3-4 month break does help with getting the bug back.

For me golf is like having a girlfriend: see her every day and you take it for granted, but see her only during weekends and you'll miss her from Mon to Fri. Or go on a business trip for a couple of weeks and you'll be dying to be back home.

We just went into our 2nd lockdown... golf courses were lucky enough to remain open (only singles or twosomes, unless you are from the same household). You should consider the effects of COVID, if you take a break from golf, is there an alternative in the current situation?

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Living in MI, I get the involuntary 5-6 months off every year.  Even with that, there are times during the season when I don't got out when I have an opportunity, and instead sit in the house and watch Law and Order reruns.

Truthfully, I get tired of it, it doesn't last long, maybe just a day, but yeah, I can admit it.   It is a hard game, and it is fickle.   Sometimes a nice canoe ride is preferable to grinding over a 4 ft. putt.  But knowing the season is short is motivation to get back to it, there just isn't much time to waste.

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I didn't play golf this weekend. Stayed home, and played guitar.

Today, I walked 9 with my Son.

No real swing thoughts. Hit some really good shots, an didn't worry about the score.

My driver is going farther, and the wedges suffered some from the 8 " of rain last week, and nighttime temps in the 30s.

It's fall, I'll have to just hit when I can and want to.

Thanks to everyone for all the comments and good words.

Looks like I'll be part-time this winter.

Always chasing different clubs

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I live in Salt Lake City so there’s a minimum 3 months off. Time off is definitely a good suggestion: but you may have just lost your love for the game. Same thing happened to me with my 1st love, snowboarding: went from going 100+ days every ski season, to maybe once or twice a year. Just didn’t love it anymore. I think it as much to do with my ability peaking/declining as anything else.


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I like golf and have always had a soft spot for it but it's definitely a sport that you can get burnt out on. I worked for three golf pro's through college and within one year of me graduating all three changed professions and quit golf, they simply hated what they once liked. You're not required to golf and you don't owe anything to the game. Take some time off and if you still feel like you want to like golf then go golfing few times to see if you get that spark back because it may require some effort to find it. During college I worked at a bookstore during the winter and they had a 12-step book for quitting golf. I always thought I should have read it but never did for fear that I would actually stop playing. I know it sounds weird but I think it's our self-defense mechanism gone awry. Golf is a hobby (for most) and if it isn't making you happy don't do it. It sounds like you are genuinely not interested in golf and not just going through a rough patch with your swing or some other element of the game.

I suggest you stop playing with the intention of not playing unless you want to. Try not to just take a scheduled "break" and expect to return because then you may never fully disconnect like you need to. Let it come back naturally. However, if you are seriously wanting to get back into golf, I would suggest coming back more for social reasons. Do it to hang out with friends and have a good time and not to try and get you handicap down another stroke. I don't know how you went about golf in the past but most people absorbed by the game are in it to get better and not in it solely for social or fun reasons. Try to join some leagues that play scrambles, drink some beers, and just have fun. I always found that I enjoyed my stroke play rounds more after I played in scrambles. Playing with high handicap golfers who only play scrambles generally have that pure joy when playing golf even if they aren't very good. That joy tends to get lost when you get absorbed into the game because once you understand how everything works the magic kind of disappears. 

Whatever you decide to do just remember that you don't owe golf anything and golf doesn't owe you anything. Deep down I think some people on this forum are probably jealous of those that can straight up quit golf. Don't let golf be a tyranny on what you do for fun in your life. You only get to live once.

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We always take 2-3 week holidays twice a year where we generally do not play golf. I find that after about a 2 weeks I find that I do not really miss it but then do enjoywhen I do finally get back on course. Interestingly we have been in Lockdown for 21 weeks and boy were we itching to get back out on course, not necessarily for the golf, more for the banter and catching up with people. 

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I say Double or triple down on your normal amount of Play!🤪

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On 11/1/2020 at 11:11 AM, Jackal said:

I have been playing for 25 years.

Eat, sleep, watch, and read golf.

Play year round. Never go more than 3 days without picking up a club.

Yesterday, all of a sudden, I think I hate golf.

My Son is 17, and a fantastic golfer. High school team, medalist, local hero, etc. 

For the past 3 weeks, my score has been dropping like crazy. 

Went from shooting 45-46 per nine, to 40-41.

Hitting long straight drives, great wedges, and putting.

 

Just woke up yesterday, and don't like golf.

We went to the course, and the whole time was thinking I would rather be at work than here.

How do y'all deal with this? 

Do others get this way, or have I lost the golf bug?

Thanks for the advice.

You know NOT what you say.  This talk is sacrilegious.  haha.  I've had days like this too, but it's usually when I am playing poorly.  Sorry to hear this, take some time off from golf and then see how you feel. 

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Update. I started playing again last weekend.

Just concentrating on the swing basics.

My score is still pretty low.

The cooler weather & hunting\ football season has emptied the course.

 I'm enjoying it again.

My time in the golf forums has slowed, because I don't want to ( overdose) on golf.

Thanks for all the good words and replies.

Always chasing different clubs

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