Lay-offs, a great way for golf players to get back to their winning forms
Generally speaking, it is quite an uphill task for any player to perform better after a protracted hiatus or a layoff. In golf, the possibility of bouncing back after a lay-off is pretty much higher than any other sport because of a number of reasons.
The most important point is that golf by nature is not a contact sport, meaning the chances of injuries are relatively rare.
Nevertheless, golf requires all the psychical attributes as does any another sport. However, it should mean that golfers are never prone to injury—they do get hurt and end up spending time off the course.
For example, injuries had much to do with the slump in Tiger Woods’s performances, starting from 2009. In July 2011, the 14-time major champion took a break from competitive golf to rest his ankle and knee injuries.
More importantly, Woods saw his world ranking tumble to an all-time low after battling those career-threatening injuries. However, the lay-off did not mean that his days were over. In fact, he returned strongly by winning the Chevron World Challenge
in 2011, and followed his victory by three PGA Tour wins in 2012 golf season.
He then started his 2013 golf season in style, as he won three of the first four tournaments that he played, and moved back to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings once again.
Woods now looks more determined than ever before, as he regularly features in the tournaments and has proved his detractors wrong time and again.
He has surely silenced his critics this time returning to his real form, and threatening his opponents in every field he enters.
Without a doubt, the likes of Rory Mcllroy and Luke Donald, the formers world number one players, have the ability to challenge Woods’ mastery over the game in future tournaments. However, losing is not on Woods’s mind.
Ben Hogan also set a precedent after he came from an eight-month break to claim Masters Open for the first time in 1951.
Over the last decade, players like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer also had to take a break from the game either due to injuries or birth of a child.
However, they only participated in major tournaments after regaining their touch and confidence in warm-up tournaments — the less important ones.
Various players of other sports have also proved their worth getting even better after the break. For example, Stephen Carr, an Irish soccer player, who now represents Birmingham City — an outfit of English Premier League, took retirement from the
game in 2008.
The very next year he decided to make a comeback and led his side to victory in 2011 Football League Cup Final.
The story of David Beckham, who was voted as the comeback player of MLS in 2011, is also similar. He missed most of the season of 2010 due to a torn Achilles tendon. He made a comeback and led the LA Galaxy to title win this year.
All in all, the athletes in general and golfers in particular, have high chances of improving their game after a lay-off. It is, however, a difficult and time consuming process.
Typically, there are several key factors that enable the golfer to improve his or her game after the layoff. One of the most important techniques is to play high percentage shots using a putter from the fringe instead of chipping.
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