Thoughts for a Very Large Friend's Swing?

[Club Rat]

A long time friend and golfing companion has been struggling with his swing.
He's had numerous injuries lately, broken ribs, fingers and bypass the past couple of years.
He's also a great cook and eats well which he now makes Santa look skinny …  😎

Anyway, due to the XXX extra belt size he now sports, I watch him struggle to swing the club.
I've expressed that he needs to open his stance to allow the arms to swing downward as opposed to around his belly.
The increase in gained weight affects his setup, posture, arm position, rotation and lower body motion.

It appears he now has to bend down towards the ground which creates too much spine angle?

So my question is ???
Looking for thoughts or suggestions to address this situation. 
Losing the bulge is a long term option... 

When I think of similar pros, such as Craig Stradler's later days swing comes to mind which I have mentioned to him.

[Piz]

The only large people I've known, or witnessed, who had good golf swings (and hit it a mile) had very slow, simple, and elegant motions.  They didn't seem to be in a hurry to do anything.  F=MA.  If you got you an abundance of M...you don't need you as much A.

[Hugh Jars]

Pass on the golf cart and get walking around the course

Edited September 25, 2019 by Hugh Jars

[Lihu]

4 hours ago, Club Rat said:

So my question is ???
Looking for thoughts or suggestions to address this situation. 

Lose the weight. Don’t let him eat carbs, or pick only the ones he absolutely can’t do without and limit them. Let him eat as much meat and veggies as he likes.

I lost 40 pounds pretty handily without feeling like I was sacrificing anything, lost more but gained some back...

 

4 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Losing the bulge is a long term option... 

Why? He’s your good friend, and I’d think you want to keep it that way longer? It’s really unhealthy! A heart attack can happen at any moment...my daughter and Doctor made me lose my bulge with a BP reading of 170/110. Start now!

 

[leftybutnotPM]

I would be looking for a morbidly obese golfer to lose weight to help him in all aspects of his life rather than modify a golf swing to fit an unhealthy body.

You seem to be implying that weight loss isn't an option.

If he's prepared to change his golf swing because of an unhealthy lifestyle he should be even more prepared to take his health seriously. 

[GolfLug]

I have a simplistic view of this. Take the belly out of the way or swing over it. Seems like he is already doing the later. Albeit, from my understanding a rounded upper back with arms over the chest is a much better structure than overly bending from the base of the spine, relatively speaking. 

[boogielicious]

Geez guys, let's focus on the swing part. I'm sure the other side is under consideration.

@Club Rat,

I think we would need to see the swing to figure out the issue. It could be more to do with the injuries that you described than size. There are quite a few larger golfers that have been excellent (Monty, The Stadlers) players.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

I think we would need to see the swing to figure out the issue. It could be more to do with the injuries that you described than size. There are quite a few larger golfers that have been excellent (Monty, The Stadlers) players.

Yep.

FWIW I have coached a 6'2" 425-pound golfer to scratch. He won his individual college conference title, was the #1 or #2 golfer on the team three years straight, and won the city match play tournament.

You can play great golf while being quite large.

[Lihu]

10 hours ago, GolfLug said:

I have a simplistic view of this. Take the belly out of the way or swing over it. Seems like he is already doing the later. Albeit, from my understanding a rounded upper back with arms over the chest is a much better structure than overly bending from the base of the spine, relatively speaking. 

I guess he could  swing over the belly? Under, if his arms are long enough? Over most likely would require a club fitting. Maybe up to +8”?

The main thing would certainly being able to swing his arms freely without having his torso get in the way. Setup bent over more if he can even bend over?

[iacas]

37 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I guess he could  swing over the belly? Under, if his arms are long enough? Over most likely would require a club fitting. Maybe up to +8”?

The main thing would certainly being able to swing his arms freely without having his torso get in the way. Setup bent over more if he can even bend over?

How about he just seeing normally?

Besides, +8” clubs would be illegal for the longer clubs.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

How about he just seeing normally?

Besides, +8” clubs would be illegal for the longer clubs.

Good points...

[Keep It Simple]

The biggest guy I know who plays decent golf has a swing that is pretty much all arms but he cracks it out there and hits quite straight.  He can't generate a lot of width so instead he lets his lead arm fold a bit, cocks the wrists quite early and uses what appears to be a wrist roll through impact.  The swing is quite short and quite vertical but I think because his body doesn't move much he can control it pretty good just concentrating on what his arms are doing.

[SG11118]

Did your friend have a half-way athletic swing prior to the recent rash of injuries / by-pass / extra weight?  There are plenty of overweight guys who are still athletic, that can do just fine with a bit of belly.  However, if the athleticism has disappeared or was never there in the first place, then it is probably a mostly arms only swing, and probably standing too upright.  The belly could easily cause troubles in this situation.  A video would be helpful.

[Club Rat]

3 hours ago, SG11118 said:

A video would be helpful.

I plan to record his swing the next time we golf together.
He always has been very athletic, a really good racket ball player when he was younger.
The added weight has occurred over the past two - three years.
i'm surprised his Doc hasn't instructed him lose the weight.

Like I mentioned in the OP, he appears to bend at the waist extensively during setup to allow clearance for his arms to swing.
He cannot return to this position during the downswing.
My thoughts are to bring the arm path inside and setup with his feet open to the target line to allow the torso/hips to clear.
Also trying to get him more upright rather than hunched over.

And yes, his swing presently is mostly arms and hand motions.
Body rotates late after the club impact.

[pganapathy]

Am not sure how much weight you need to gain before it affects your swing, but it has to be a lot.  I have gained around 20 kg (45 pounds or so) and it hasn't really affected my swing.  And the worst part is my stomach has increased quite a bit with that weight gain.

I suppose it helps that I have some degree of flexibility, which permits me to twist quite a bit to generate reasonable clubhead speed, but I must admit that I can feel the effects of my stomach on the swing.  It is at the edge of becoming a problem for me to swing properly

[Buckeyebowman]

On 9/25/2019 at 2:15 AM, Lihu said:

Lose the weight. Don’t let him eat carbs, or pick only the ones he absolutely can’t do without and limit them. Let him eat as much meat and veggies as he likes.

I lost 40 pounds pretty handily without feeling like I was sacrificing anything, lost more but gained some back...

 

Why? He’s your good friend, and I’d think you want to keep it that way longer? It’s really unhealthy! A heart attack can happen at any moment...my daughter and Doctor made me lose my bulge with a BP reading of 170/110. Start now!

 

I can understand what Lihu is saying but yes, this is a long term solution. 

On 9/25/2019 at 8:50 AM, iacas said:

Yep.

FWIW I have coached a 6'2" 425-pound golfer to scratch. He won his individual college conference title, was the #1 or #2 golfer on the team three years straight, and won the city match play tournament.

You can play great golf while being quite large.

So true! Some years ago I booked a round through GolfNow at an upscale daily fee course near me, When I went in to get my ticket the counter guy told me that a couple of other guys had booked the same time, so I should look to join up with them. I was practice putting when I see a couple of guys pull up to the first tee, the time was right, so I drove down there and introduced myself. One guy was about my size, the other guy was enormous! 

He was about 6'2, and I'm guessing in the high 3 hundies. He looked like the Michelin Man! I was expecting the worst, but holy cow, could he hit a golf ball! On the first, a slight dogleg right around a lake, he skied and sliced his drive into it. His buddy tossed him another ball, apparently they gave each other Mulligans on opening drives, and said, "Go ahead. Hit another one. The way you know how!" He proceeded to blast a drive that, had it been a little more straight, would have driven the green on a 394 yard par 4! On level ground. At about 900 feet above sea level. 

I cite those numbers because this was no fluke. The big, fat dude could really hit a golf ball! 

[Zippo]

I think, when it comes to golf - among other things - it ain't the meat, it's the motion...

[IwanEllis]

Wow, hearing so many self righteous fat shamers has almost put me off golf! 

Or perhaps to perfect the game with my ever decreasing morbid obesity. 

Seriously, telling someone not to bother doing something that is mildly active m, untill they lose weight is downright idiotic.