How to Get Back to Golf After a Lay Off

By Bill Maitland

If you have not played golf for a period of time whether due to work illness or injury, the situation is the same.

You wonder how you are going to play.

How many trips to the trees on the side of the fairways.

How many bunkers are you going to visit.

Whether you can still get out of a bunker.

Whether you can get off the tee, and how is your putting going to be?

You are quite a serious golfer and you give much thought about how you should return to this wonderful game. What you decide to do is go to the practice fairway and hit a heap of balls.

You go through the routine of starting with your pitching wedge and then work up to your driver. So far so good and you will certainly benefit. This is a good plan, but there is a better one.

During your session which you no doubt enjoyed, you have probably hit too many balls and your muscles are not up to it.

You will know this by how you feel next day if you go out onto the course. The very fine muscles have to have time to recover. Until they do, you will play dreadfully.

OK, you still have to go out onto the course and get over the mental block that is probably affecting your game. Just feeling a bit negative.

If you are not feeling negative, you probably soon will be as you duff and hit with hook and slice into the trouble on each side. If you don’t do this, then well done. Most of us will.

Then again you may have a great round on your initial return to the game, but on your second, the wheels will fall off. Has this ever happened to you? It certainly has to me. You become a little disheartened and you begin to dislike the game a bit. All this is leading up to a suggestion that you may find to your liking.

You love playing golf don’t you?

Well, why don’t you go out onto the course straight away and have a good time. Don’t try to beat the world on this round. Just enjoy yourself. Just relax. However, take notice of where your weaknesses are. Where the changes in your game have crept in during your absence.

Have a couple of rounds and write down your weaknesses. THEN go to the practice fairway.

Now, you have a plan of attack. Have a look at your first weakness.

Perhaps you are duffing your chips a bit. Well, spend a practice session with your pitching wedge and hit short shots, long shots, hit over imaginary bunkers, hit high shots that stop quickly and so on.

Become totally confident with this important scoring iron again. Then on your next practice session, address your next weakness.

Spend time on it and do not go on to the next until you have mastered this aspect of your game to your satisfaction. OK, it takes a bit of time. So does learning any skill, and this one is one of the most difficult isn’t it?

The time spent will return huge dividends.

Also, having a plan will strengthen your mental attitude and you will play with much more confidence when you start competitions and more serious play.

You will be able to fill your mind with the good shots you hit at practice making it impossible for any negative thoughts to exist.

Bill Maitland is a thinking, inventive golf guru. He thought out and developed simple techniques and tips which enabled him to lower his handicap from 25 to 18, then from 18 to 15, and finally from 15 to 12. He is a passionate golfer, and delights in helping others with their game through his website, Online Golfers Handbook.

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