After a 3-4 month layoff, how long does it take you to get your swing and scoring back?

[Bill Hendry]

This year, I was lucky enough to go to Florida for about 5 weeks (I live in Northern Michigan where the courses generally close late October to early November and don't open until April).

Putting and woods are fine; irons are another matter. Fat shots, then mostly thin shots - I took a lesson to have an LPGA pro at Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast look at my swing. I was casting the club a bit, so holding on to the wrist hinge a bit longer helped, plus practicing knock down shots to get the feel of crisp consistent contact.

That helped, and after 10 or so rounds this year I am getting more consistent strikes but am not where I was last year. While I love my irons (Mizuno MP-20 MMCs) that I have had are now since 2021 I am wondering when that part of my game will come back or should I start shopping for game improvement irons?! Right now I am missing my Ping G15s that never gave me any trouble. Thoughts? Tips? Trade in the clubs? Thanks!

[Bucky CC]

15 minutes ago, Bill Hendry said:

This year, I was lucky enough to go to Florida for about 5 weeks (I live in Northern Michigan where the courses generally close late October to early November and don't open until April).

Putting and woods are fine; irons are another matter. Fat shots, then mostly thin shots - I took a lesson to have an LPGA pro at Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast look at my swing. I was casting the club a bit, so holding on to the wrist hinge a bit longer helped, plus practicing knock down shots to get the feel of crisp consistent contact.

That helped, and after 10 or so rounds this year I am getting more consistent strikes but am not where I was last year. While I love my irons (Mizuno MP-20 MMCs) that I have had are now since 2021 I am wondering when that part of my game will come back or should I start shopping for game improvement irons?! Right now I am missing my Ping G15s that never gave me any trouble. Thoughts? Tips? Trade in the clubs? Thanks!

Living in Wisconsin I go through a similar downtime over the winter.  The last two off-seasons I've joined an indoor simulator league to help stave off the rust, but hitting off a mat in perfect conditions really only does so much for you.  I'm not expecting to be fully back into my usual scores until late May when the course conditions are back to normal and I have 10+ rounds in.  Even then it will depend on how much practice time I get in and whether I can play at least 9 holes every week.

If you don't already do so I would suggest tracking all of your irons shots the next couple of rounds.  You may think your iron play is poor, but if your driver is putting you in deep rough the tee shot would be more to blame than an approach that may not end up 10 feet from the hole.

[Dweed]

It usually takes me a full season. For the past 4 years I've noticed I start out slow in spring (to be expected) and I gradually get better until late July then fall back for a few weeks and generally peak out end of Sep. As you, I play in Oct and early Nov but due to all the leaves and ground debris I generally don't bother with scoring. Just play for total fun and cringe that the season is almost over.

[Jim Hampton]

This year is taking me a lot longer. I'm 57 and now am doing a lot more office work. My back, shoulder and hips don't want to loosen up like they used to

[Murv]

I always play my best golf after a layoff. Because I try to keep it in play. Aim for center of greens. Take extra club and swing smoothly.  As soon as I think I am swinging well...I try to hit the ball over bunkers to the pin...hook it around doglegs...and so on and my scores go up.     If I only played once every three weeks instead twice a week, my handicap would be lower.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Oddly when I first get back the game is normally on point. I am not thinking about anything or working on anything, but just playing for the enjoyment. There may be some big bad misses, but overall it is good. 

It is a few rounds later I find I have a big dip and maybe it is due to expectations or something, but I have a period where I struggle there and need range time to sort it out. Normally it is just trying to move too fast and took quick and relearning how to slow down. 

In the end it is an up and down season and I have stretches of great play and like recently stretches of rounds which are just not clicking. 

[TSauer]

9 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Oddly when I first get back the game is normally on point. I am not thinking about anything or working on anything, but just playing for the enjoyment. There may be some big bad misses, but overall it is good. 

It is a few rounds later I find I have a big dip and maybe it is due to expectations or something, but I have a period where I struggle there and need range time to sort it out. Normally it is just trying to move too fast and took quick and relearning how to slow down. 

In the end it is an up and down season and I have stretches of great play and like recently stretches of rounds which are just not clicking. 

1000% this for me as well. The beginning of the season is usually really good and then I’m not really sure what happens. I think it starts with a little tinkering and then it all falls apart after trying to fix it. Then somewhere around mid to late summer, it sorta comes back and I end up pretty decent in the fall just before winter approaches. Then the cycle continues. 

[roly_pollie_oly]

Really depends on how long you've been playing for. Living in the Midwest winters are tough to find places to hit at, so swing timing for me was always difficult to come back. Once I found me rhythm I was back to being a hack in about a week! 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I find that it is not my normal game that is off after a layoff it is more the course conditions. Before my move, January and February were off months. It’s too cold to play. The course is in dormant stages until spring. March and most of April the fairways are brown and equivalent to hard pan/ tight lies. Bunkers are compacted and the greens are a little firmer. 
Playing under better conditions helps my scoring. I don’t have high expectations early in the season and I usually don’t keep score until everything is green.