A couple of weeks ago I played my first round of golf in 2008 duing a quick trip to La Quinta, CA. I managed to hit the range a few days prior during a break in the snow/cold, and my swing was in better shape than I could have reasonably expected. I shot a front nine 38 (two birdies, one when I was on a par 5 in two, and a 15 foot chip in from the fringe on a par 3) before getting tired on the back and fading into the 40’s.

This weekend I’m in Arizona for a little spring training baseball and golf, and I haven’t touched my clubs since returning from CA. I never even took them out of my travel bag.

So it was no particular surprise to me that I played poorly today, however what was a surprise was how well I played early in the round.

It seems that the more I loosen up, the worse I swing. I think my swing gets longer and longer as the round goes on – I manage to keep my good range habits with me for a time, then fade.

Today’s issue was letting my arms get behind my body – my tempo was off. In the round in CA, I was able to keep hitting fairways all day, even thought I stopped being able to score on the back nine. Today I was just spraying the ball into the desert and racking up big numbers.

I find the way that my rust has manifested itself in these last two rounds very interesting. So many things to think about and work on – golf is such a great game.