Going into the end of the season, I had a few ideas about what I wanted to accomplish over the winter. I went in to get re-assessed after a few months of following my TPI routine and found that a lot of things that I was working on had progressed nicely. My range of motion in key areas increased, including in my wrists, which went from about 10 degrees of extension to around 35 degrees. That kind of change never seemed possible to me, especially in the wrists.
At the end of our session, I received a new exercise plan to focus on to clear up some of my other problem areas, like my shoulders. I had a plan to frequent the simulators throughout the winter and hit the gym hard so I could come back stronger and faster next season.
Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out…
A New Hurdle in my Journey
A day before my final round of the year, I noticed something odd while at the gym. While warming up on the track, I noticed an odd slapping sound. My foot seemed to be hitting the floor quite loudly, like I was wearing the loudest flip-flops you’ve ever heard, and I couldn’t figure out why. I thought that my new hockey skates might have led to some numbness in my foot, something that tends to happen for the first month or so of hockey season and may have been exacerbated by breaking in a new pair. I took a bit of a jog, tried out a couple of light exercises, and didn’t notice anything holding me back, so I went through my workout plan without really thinking of it again and actually ended up setting a new personal record for the box jump.
The next day, on an unseasonably warm October day, I went out to play 18. I noticed my foot seemed a little more numb that day, but again, I didn’t think too much of it. I loaded up my push cart and limped up to the first tee to play with three other single golfers who were also trying to squeeze in one more day of golf.
I ended up shooting pretty well on the front, but things got weird on the ninth…
After a nice drive, I topped my second shot. And then my third. Both shots barely got off the ground, but my third still went straight as an arrow and ended up 2 feet to the left of the hole for an easy birdie. After the front nine, one of our foursome was done for the day, and I probably should have quit there, too.
The back nine was a lot like the ninth hole – a lot of good drives, but I was just not able to get down on the ball with my irons and was topping everything. Luckily, the ball was still going straight, so I wasn’t scoring horribly, even if I was losing my mind trying to figure out what was going on.
I was pretty happy with an 83 after all of that. I was even happier once I entered my round into Golf Canada and found out it was my lowest differential all year (10.1), even if it wasn’t my lowest score of the year. But looking back on the round, I definitely should have quit after 9 holes. And I definitely shouldn’t have played hockey that night – it felt like I was basically skating with one leg the whole game.
The following morning, I couldn’t lift my left foot off the ground – I had a bad case of foot drop.
Suddenly, my plans for the winter changed. It was no longer about making progress in my golf goals. Instead, it was about resting and recovering so that I was good to go for the next season.
After seeing my doctor, I was referred to a neurologist to get some nerve testing done. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in until the end of December for testing, and that just wasn’t good enough – I was going insane with nothing to do in the dead of an Alberta winter. So I started doing some research into what was going on.
If you have ever had something weird like this happen to you, you know how unsettling it can be. After looking up my symptoms online, there were a lot of possible causes – including some very worrying ones. But, knowing that I should wait before jumping to conclusions, I started looking for solutions to help alleviate the foot drop and came across Active Release Therapy. Eventually, I started seeing improvement in the foot drop and I soon started to walk normally again. Even if it took a lot of effort to do so, and I could only manage for a short amount of time.
Finally, it was December. Time to see the neurologist for testing. After a lot of poking, prodding and zapping, he confirmed that yes, the nerves in my left leg were fucked – and so were the ones in my right. He had an idea of what might be going on based on the testing and some questioning about my past (this wasn’t my first time going through nerve testing), so he set up some genetic testing in order to confirm what he thought was going on.
When January finally rolled around, I was starting to feel better. My foot was about 95% recovered, and I finally felt comfortable heading out on the ice. It took a few games for my leg to catch up to the rest of my body. Any time the puck went into my feet, I knew the opposing team was going to get it out of there faster than I could. It felt a bit like I was just starting to learn how to play hockey, and I’m sure it looked like it, too. In fact, my goalie even mentioned that he could tell from the way that I was skating that I still wasn’t at 100%. But, eventually, things started to feel more and more normal. I was still a bit behind everyone else, as they had been playing all winter, and I was still shaking the rust off after an extended offseason. In fact, I’m still playing catch-up. But I was able to get back to doing the things that I love, so I was grateful.
Finally, in the last week of February, I received the email I was waiting for – my genetic test results were in.
I was nervous, but I logged in and opened the results. The neurologist’s initial diagnosis was confirmed: Hereditary Neuropathy with liability to Pressure Palsies. Which basically means that I was born without the gene that helps produce the protective myelin sheath around all the nerves outside of the spinal column. And after learning some more about it, a lot of things about my life started to make sense.
When I read that result, it was such an odd sense of relief. Yes, having this disease isn’t great, but it was absolutely the best case scenario over all of those other causes that I had come across during my hours of research over the winter. It wasn’t MS, it wasn’t ALS. All of my worst fears that had been lurking in the back of my mind all winter were finally put at ease, and honestly, I don’t think I fully understood how much those possibilities were weighing on me until right then.
A few days later, I made my way to Golf Town to look for some new grips for my girlfriend’s clubs. It was pretty slow, so I decided to try out some new irons on the simulator. It was my first time holding a club in almost 5 months. My expectations were low, but it turned out pretty good. And, most importantly, I didn’t top the ball once.
Since then, I’ve managed to get out to the simulator three times. I’ve been watching the snow slowly melt, eager for the driving ranges to start opening up. I wouldn’t say that I’m back at 100% again, but it’s close. Mostly, I just have to deal with some annoying muscle twitching in the legs after activity. Other than that, it’s pretty normal. I just have to be careful and listen to my body more to make sure I don’t have any more extended episodes. Who knows, maybe if I had quit after 9 holes back in October, I could have recovered a lot earlier.
So now that I have my diagnosis confirmed after a visit with my neurologist this week, my plan for next season has become a little clearer.
Goals and Plans for 2026
Ideally, I would love to find a physiotherapist who knows enough about HNPP to set me up with a good exercise plan that will keep me golfing, playing hockey and not wind up hurting myself. Unfortunately, my TPI-certified physical therapist has left the area. I did find one who specializes in neurological conditions, though HNPP wasn’t listed among them. Hopefully, this guy can help me out. The neurologist gave me a few things to bring up to him to make sure he won’t just treat me like someone with a pinched nerve.
I’ve been looking online for a new golf instructor via the Skillest app. I’m not sure if I’ll end up going that route, but they’ve got a lot of options. They also offer plenty of reviews for coaches, which I love. You don’t hear too much about golf coaches around here unless you know someone who has used them before, so you tend to go into a golf lesson more or less blind. My previous coach was great, but he’s just too busy.
I also want to get fit for new irons. I like my current irons, but a lot has changed since I was last fit for irons. Graphite iron shafts have improved and are no longer just for slower swing speeds. Not only that, they’re supposed to be much easier on the body, which will be great for the golfer’s elbow and probably help out with the HNPP.
It’s also time to update my Shot Scope V3. I’ll be placing an order for the V5 shortly to make sure that it’s here in time for the new season. I’d love to have the yardage overlays that the X5 has, but the extra battery power in the V5 is what won me over. It’s gotta be ready for those days where 18 holes just isn’t enough. Use my code (DROPPINSTROKES) if you’re looking to start tracking your game this year.
And, as always, we gotta lower that handicap. Luckily, the few rounds on the simulator so far have been pretty dang good, so hopefully I can begin the year like I ended 2025. Hopefully, all of those steps listed above will finally get me to my goal of a single-digit handicap. But, if not, they should still lead to better golf and help make sure that I’ll be golfing for years to come.
Even though I had to take plenty of time away from playing golf, I couldn’t stay away completely.
I painted the wedges that I bought last season, and liked the result so much that I decided to redo my irons and the Scotty Cameron. And after that, I put some custom paint on my girlfriend’s clubs to match her new grips. I wrote a post a couple of years ago with the process I used last time, but I’ll be sharing a new write-up soon with all the new tips I learned this time around.
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