Swing and fatigue

[delboy159]

I am just getting into the game and starting to swing consistently. However, I am finding that fatique is becoming a factor in my enjoyment of the game. I read some of you guys saying "I played a round on Friday, Saturday and really felt the benefits of the two rounds when I played on Sunday."

For me I can't play two rounds of golf in two days - my swing will be very tired and my game will fall apart.

My typical week would be.
Tuesday - a round of golf.
Thursday - Practice (chipping, putting, little in driving range - but not much)
Saturday - Round of golf
Sunday - a little bit at the driving range.

If I play a third round in the week - or go to the driving range once more - I will be unable to play golf for a few days in the next week - my shoulders will be too heavy and tired.

For example -
Sun - Par 3 round of golf
Mon - Par 3 round of golf
Wed - rest
Thur - Par 3 again
Fri - Rest
Saturday - 9 holes of golf (played really well)
Sunday - chipped and putted at the driving range (no swings at all, just on the green)

On Monday I went to play a round of golf with my father. I took the following scores
5 (180 yrd par 3)
6 (140 yrd par 3)
10 (400 yrds par 4)
12 (360 yrd par 4)
then it went "okay" for a few holes ( 7 on a par 4 etc.)
Then 13 on a 480 yrd par 5.
I say I probably hit high 60's for the front 9 - I can brake 50 and am aiming to break 45 by the end of the summer - those scores were soo unlike me

At that point my father said - "I can't bare to look at you - come on we'll just go home" - I jumped on the suggestion.

Basically - because I had done soo much last week - not that I did massive golf - Par 3's and a 9 hole golf - but still that was very much my limit. The body just couldn't swing.

Is this normal for beginner golfers? If I could physically play more often I think I would.... Peoples similar experiences would be appreciated and any advice on how to increase my fitness levels would be a nice bonus.

[gord962]

Re: Swing and fatigue

Being that the muscles used in golf are not used regularily, it takes a while to get them into shape. That being said, it shouldn't take more than a month working on them 4 days a week to get them into shape.

Have you had a lesson? It seems you are dedicated enough to the sport that you should seek some professional advice.

If your shoulders are THAT sore at your age, I think it may ahve something to do with your swing. I have two bum shoulders (injured 8-10 years ago) and I dislocated my right shoulder over the winter playing hockey, yet I never have problems with my shoulders golfing. I have problems in every other sport (baseball, volleyball, hockey, etc) but golf seems to be fine.

More than likely your problem is that you are swinging too much with your arms. Again, check in with you local teaching professional and get a lesson or two to get you on the right track.

[delboy159]

Re: Swing and fatigue

Thanks for the reply.

I am getting a few lessons - and they are helping a lot. I know my arms get too involved on the "tired day", but I can't help it.

It's not that my shoulders are sore at all - my arms have no stiffness and soreness at all - as you said I got over that after a month or so of a little bit of golf.

The problem is that my shoulders feel heavy and slightly, only a small bit, numb - which really looses feel and control on the backswing. It probably is a case I will adapt to this and thus develop in time. The fact is my body has only been introduced to golf for a 3 or 4 months, so I can't expect it to be able to swing comfortable 5 or 6 times a week straight away.......

[Epicycle]

Re: Swing and fatigue

I'm not sure if you get The Golf Channel on TV (insert cable) where you are but they have a decent show on there called Golf Fitness Academy. I usually catch it on Mondays but they replay it often ... anyhow, they usually cover a lot of different exercises to get in shape for golf to not only handle flexibility but also power and endurance. I suggest checking it out if you can or have someone tape it for you.

Myself, I'm a big guys working on dropping some weight and I find myself fatigued as well. Personally I try to get in 4-6 workouts per week with 50% being weights and 50% being cardio. I goto the range 1-2 times per week and practice chipping / putting 1-2 as well (sometimes different). And for the end of this season I'm doing 1 round per week. Next year I'll be looking to do 2-3 assuming I continue my workouts all winter I should be ready to rock for next season.

Anyhow, hope that helps some ...

Sean

[ph_kingston]

Re: Swing and fatigue

Golf is probably more mentally than physically tiring. Often the fatigue that you experience physically may be triggered by being mentally tired towards the end of a round. As an improving golfer it's very easy to work too hard on the course and start over-analysing your game and criticising every shot. This can very quickly leave you exhausted and shooting big numbers on the final few holes.

Your playing routine includes time on the range and that's the only time you should work on swing mechanics. On the course you simply want to relax, enjoy yourself and play the shots that you know you can hit. After all there's nothing quite so wonderful as being in an enormous manicured garden sharing time with friends and family i.e. playing golf.

[Simon Woo]

Re: Swing and fatigue

I think I was averaging about 200 balls at the range every alternate day for about a month. Different parts of my body were taking turns crying out for help Left fingers, right thumb, right chest muscle ache, right wrist etc. Yesterday my right hand felt so tired, I ended up switching practically all the control to my left hand. In the process, I had to straighten my left hand more than ever before, and guess what, I was actually hitting the hybrid much better than before! I think it's good to have aches, because one of the things it does is tell you if you are doing something wrong with your swing! Of course that might only apply to beginners like me Gradually as you improve on your swing, the wrong parts will stop hurting, and that's a good sign

[pgmetcalf]

Re: Swing and fatigue

Golf is probably more mentally than physically tiring. Often the fatigue that you experience physically may be triggered by being mentally tired towards the end of a round. As an improving golfer it's very easy to work too hard on the course and start over-analysing your game and criticising every shot. This can very quickly leave you exhausted and shooting big numbers on the final few holes.

Your playing routine includes time on the range and that's the only time you should work on swing mechanics. On the course you simply want to relax, enjoy yourself and play the shots that you know you can hit. After all there's nothing quite so wonderful as being in an enormous manicured garden sharing time with friends and family i.e. playing golf.

On from that, I see lots of people getting tired on the course because they have been swinging their clubs like they have been chopping firewood all day - far too much effort without much benefit. Golf is a game of technique rather than brute power.

There are different swing speeds used by the professionals, from fast Tiger Woods through to relaxed Ernie Els. There is not that much distance between the 2 players, but both players stay in control throughout their shots ... unless Tiger tries one of his big shots that rarely come off. I'd rather see people Turning right through the ball to both extents (backswing and throughswing) and forget altogether about trying to thrash the ball with the arms - if you turn your body correctly the arms have no option but to follow and generally in the correct motion too.

I play less these days and my handicap has lowered to 1.66. The reason - I think playing less has ironed out some of the bad habits that kinda crept up on me unoticed through playing most days. It has given me more time to reflect on things and the mistakes are then more easily identifiable, rather than just stumbling on regardless. I play around 3 times a week and maybe do 2, 1 hour practice sessions.

So overall, to avoid trying to kill the ball on every shot and just turn correctly in a controlled manner, don't fall into the false security of thinking more is better, try and stay relaxed and think about what jack Nicklaus said, "Smell the flowers"