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 :clap: 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.

 

[Tiny]

Bananas. When I played last year, drank plenty of water and ate two bananas a day. One before and one after to ease the muscles.

 

[mashnut]

I think you'll know if you start getting burnt out. If you don't feel like playing, don't. Otherwise, play all you want and all you can while you have the time. I love it when I can play every day, and I play a lot better when I get that consistency rather than taking time off between.

 

[bikinjack]

To the OP, I was in your situation a couple years ago. I was seriously burned out after losing my business and livelihood. I needed some time to decompress and figure out my next move. I was unemployed for about 7 months and probably played about 300 or so rounds, helped design and build a course, and spent a week or so volunteering at US Dubs and the USDGC. It was a blast and I needed it. I think I'm still trying to figure out my next move, and I'm pretty sure that I always need to be at this point. That's probably the biggest thing I learned from all of it. Don't be complacent. Figure out what your next move is gonna be.

Oh, and good luck with it all.

 

[Psicko]

As someone in the same boat about being unemployed, Definately look for a job, but you do have to strike a balance between looking for a job and stress relief(disc golf, etc). I usually wake up in the am and take about a half hour or so to drink coffee and get breakfast. I then usually take my wife to work. I go for a run a few times a week when i get back from dropping my wife off. I manage to play about 3-4 rounds a week including the weekend.

I hate looking for a job when I don't have one. It gets stressful. Take some time out for yourself, but try not to procrastinate the job search stuff.

 

[Dan Ensor]

What kind of contracting? Find people that flip or rent houses, buddy up with them, and conive a way to become "their guy".

 

[rocthecourse]

If you don't want to get burned out play decent courses. For the first year and a half I pretty much only played one course, and it was only a 9 hole. I got bored, but it was because of the course not the amount I was playing. I took over a year off and then a new course open up close by that is very good and I can play that course all the time with out getting bored. During the summer when the sun is out till 9pm, I have had weeks where I play 15+ rounds, and I want to play more. And if you do start to get bored go out and play some other courses to mix things up.

 

[Agricolae]

Fear can be a good thing in certain circumstances. Being afraid of burning out on disc golf is not one of those circumstances. Go play, or ... don't.

 

[craftsman]

I hope i dont have to pay unemployment for the op to play dg :|

Imo, 5 rounds a week and two prqctice sessions would likely yield good results.

 

[steady1]

Burnout can happen but will be different for individuals. I can get motivated and train for a road race (running) for several weeks. If my mileage gets too high, legs can't perform as well with lower mileage. You get the "don't give a darn." attitute. However, a short break and rest, it returns just like appitite or sex drive. Having goals are good, but you can overdo it.

I practice disc throwing and putting daily for 30 min or so in my yard. On vacations, I play a round everyday. Even then, I do not think I love it enough to do it daily for a long period. Physically yes, but not mentally.

I enjoy the game as recreation, but not as much as other hobbies I guess. We have only 24 hours for work, play and rest. Scheduling around a job can be tough.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Don't continue playing after you're burnt out. It's kind of like going out in the cold. If you stay out 20min, you can go inside and warm up in 5. If you stay out an hour, you'll be inside an hour before you're warm.