Shave three strokes off your golf game with better sleep

November 4, 2:30 PMBoston Golf ExaminerEmily Kay

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Sleep your way to a better golf game

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November 4 -- Got sleep? A new study finds treatment for sleep apnea can slice up to three strokes off your golf handicap.

• Check out what a good night's sleep can do for you

While you may not often doze off in the middle of your backswing, most golfers believe they play better after a good night’s sleep.

Better sleep, better golf. Turns out they're right. Golfers with poor sleep quality due to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can significantly improve their games -- and, oh yeah, their overall health -- with regular treatment. Better sleep quality helps golfers think more clearly and make better on-course decisions, according to Dr. Marc L. Benton, who recently presented the research findings at the annual American College of Chest Physicians meeting.

"More so than many sports, golf has a strong intellectual component, with on-course strategizing, focus, and endurance being integral components to achieving good play," says Benton, of Atlantic Sleep and Pulmonary Associates in Madison, NJ.

The fatigue factor. Golfers deprived of good sleep are prone to fatigue and muddled thinking, which, as most players will attest, can totally screw up your golf game. Nasal positive airway pressure (NPAP) treatment, including the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, can enhance your entire game and help you better manage the all-important “frustration” factor, says Benton.

Benton and his colleague, Neil S. Friedman of Madison’s Morristown Memorial Hospital, studied the impact of NPAP treatment on the handicap index of 12 golfers diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea. Benton estimates that up to 3 million regular golfers have undiagnosed or untreated OSA.

Other studies show that only 40 percent of men with sleep apnea receive treatment. Which is odd, because as any golfer who uses a CPAP machine can tell you, they are truly attractive, convenient, and not at all noisy, uncomfortable, or embarrassing.

Well, get over it. After 20 rounds of golf (about three to five months) while undergoing treatment, the 12 golfers recorded substantially better scores. The better golfers, with handicaps of 12 or lower, showed the most improvement, dropping their average handicap indices from 9.2 to 6.3.

You’re not getting older, you’re sleep-deprived. The good news for older golfers is that your skills may not be eroding; you may just need more sleep. The research notes that aging players need not assume their skills will fall off just because they’re getting on in years.

"The drop in handicap among the better golfers probably reflected that the major limiting factor was not golf skill but cognitive compromise that improved when the sleep apnea was treated,” says Friedman.

Sleep is good, but you don’t want to oversleep and miss your tee time. Read about the penalties two professional golfers paid for missing their tee times at Rules of Golf: Don’t miss your tee time.