Will my distance return post-surgery?

[Miguelito]

Hello! I am a righty, play righty, and had my right hip done. I've seen some comments over the last few months where people think having arthritis in the front hip would be more of a problem for a golfer. I don't necessarily disagree but I've lost a ton of distance over the last five years as my arthritis has gotten worse. A typical good drive for me five years ago would've been about 260 (I am not talking average as I am leaving out the 180 yard sky balls, 210 yard slices, 200 yard line drives, etc.) Last couple of years a good drive might have been 220-230 yards (not counting some very nice pulls that went a good bit farther).

Anyway, I think being unable to transfer weight and push off the back leg is why I lost so much distance. I am hopeful that it will all come back post-surgery (two weeks ago). What do you folks think? Granted I am five years older, but I think I am technically a much better golfer than I was back then, I just need the body to co-operate.

Thx,
Mike

P.S. I am gonna have a number of other questions but don't want to compound them too much.

[David]

You should not lose any distance at all Mike.  I went to the course at 7 weeks post-op just to hit a few balls and ended up playing 18.  Felt weird at first, but then when I realized I wasn't going to fall apart all was good.  I just came back from playing  today for the first time since fall.  Hip was fine, just got a  little lazy with the turn and up body took over.
You'll be better than before for sure.
David

[Miguelito]

David,

Thanks for reply.

Ha! I am sure I would do the same thing and wind up playing if I showed up just intending to go to the range. I will have to be careful and only bring a few clubs, and definitely no bag!

Do you think I will get back the distance that I lost? I think I will, but I would like to hear from people who have already been there.

The only time I swung a club in the eight months prior to my recent surgery was the weekend before getting chopped. I over generalized in my initial post, but I did actually manage to crank a couple of balls maybe 240-245 (maybe a little more) because, unlike the last few years, i now knew the nature of my problem (right hip) and I reasoned that I have probably just been arm-swinging for years. So that day I consciously tried to shift my weight back and forth and definitely felt more pop than in recent years. This positive pre-surgery development also feeds my belief that my distance will return.

Thanks again,

Mike

[Kiwi]

Hi Mike,
I'm nearly 6 months post op and started hitting balls on the driving range at about 3 months and over the last couple of months have played 5 rounds of 18. I hardly think about my hip and when I do it's all positive thoughts. No issues at all with playing and the walking is something I did plenty of in my build up to getting back.
My distance is no worse - I got hold of a couple last round that were around 300 yards and landed on the fairway. Unfortunately I only hit about 50% fairway off the tee for the round! So today I'm focussing on "Long is straight"  ;)
You'll be back - look forward to it mate and enjoy.
Cherz
Kiwi
P.S. I'm right handed and had a LBHR.