Finding the right frequency of play...

[prettyboyfloyd]

So I am now a member of the unemployed. The good news is that I have all this time on my hands to play. I've now played every day (one round per day) for the last four days and will play tomorrow, too.

My form is good and I have played multiple round day in the past, but I'm afraid of burnout.

I'm about to turn 37, with no real aches and pains to speak of. Just wondering how folks pace themselves to keep crushing drives and not hitting a wall...

[Martin Dewgarita]

I don't know if I have any advice - I mean, eat relatively healthy, drink lots of water, stay in shape, stretch often.

I'll play 3-4 rounds a day for 2 months straight no problem without doing these things^

Well, the water thing is important.

Maybe ask my dad, he's 50 and plays 2-3 rounds a day every day.

[b-mart]

My friend Eric is 40 and plays at least once a day. A lot of times he'll hit two 9-holes and an 18 in the same day, and he's a very close second to the best player that I know. It's all about your level of passion. Endurance comes with practice. I only play twice a week in the winter, and every day I can in the summer. The only time I hit any sort of wall is after several rounds in the same day, and even then I'm ready to go back out the next morning.

[ohtobediscing]

When I'm on standby in Boise for wildfire, I play at least 2 rounds a day[and a rare 3 rounds/day] at Ann Morrison Park. I'm 54. Sometimes at the end of the day my drives get sloppy if I'm worn, but the worst I'll feel is a bit of achyness in my shoulders/forearms. I've never had back/hip/knee injuries.

[LeewayeDiscGolf]

My only advice is to play when you feel like playing and don't play if you don't feel like playing.

[BogeyNoMore]

OK this may sound preachy, and if I get flamed, so be it. When I was unemployed, I made finding a job my job. I woke up and hit it - hard... and found a job that paid as well as my previous job in a month. The longer you're out of a job, the less attractive you are to employers, and the less they'll want to look at you. It doesn't matter how well you interview if they don't call you for one.

If finding a decent job is important to you, you'll limit your play to after 4PM or so and hit Beyond, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc, because companies and recruiters call back during the day - and you should want to write stuff down when they do. It takes a week or two of good seaching and plugging to generate a good stream of calls. And that first round after I got an offer was one of my most enjoyable ever.


Anyway, just my $0.02 worth... I'll step back and take my lumps now.

[sisyphus]

kudos, not lumps, bogey I agree about seeking gainful employment, and realizing that you can still (usually) play a lot of disc golf anyway...

I'm looking to 'retire' from the education field in a couple of years, and need to decide what I want to do when I grow up. But being in schools from age 4 to 54 will be enough. I'll need to find something to make up the lost income, but we're in an economy and a (bureaucratic) situation where most employers will be looking to hire 30 hours a week (not 40), with limited benefits. That may suit me and my DG addiction well...but I'll be on retirement from 30 years in education, too.

Any way, I've only been playing for a year and a half, but have gotten in over 500 rounds already. Love playing regularly, and have seen improvement. I feel 'off' if I didn't get to play for 4 or 5 days in a row.

[Discwrangler]

Mix it up. Play 2 discs for score. Play safari. Do something else if it doesn't seem appealing that day.

[bbutch]

Yeah, ill be "that guy". Dude, you're 37, get a job, play when your schedule allows.

Problem solved.

[prettyboyfloyd]

I knew I shared too much. Saying that I have "all this time to play" means that I can spend most hours a day trying to find a job / educating myself on creating my own contracting business and I still actually have time to play once a day. When I was working, I didn't have time to play once a day. I was pinned to the end of the week/weekends, unless I had vacation.