Swinging Like Harold Varner

[Old1964]

Many of know the brutal comparison between our golf swing and the pros. Their speed, flexibility, and consistency puts them in a league of their own. 

I am a month into my three month training regimen  - returning to golf after a 6 year hiatus due to my back. 

I am going to have limited flexibility.

While watching Varner the other day, I thought I could emulate his shorter backswing ... since I couldn't copy Furyk 🤪 any longer.

What do you think about his swing? Anything you notice that stands out?

 

[iacas]

If you're worried about speed, flexibility, etc. then I'd not advise making a short swing on purpose. Your goals should be to make some of the longer swings you can make - letting your left knee go back, and your left heel lift, bending your left arm a little, turning your hips…

[Old1964]

On 2/4/2022 at 4:08 PM, iacas said:

If you're worried about speed, flexibility, etc. then I'd not advise making a short swing on purpose. Your goals should be to make some of the longer swings you can make - letting your left knee go back, and your left heel lift, bending your left arm a little, turning your hips…

Sounds great. I didn't mean to shorten it on purpose, but rather that his swing looks about as far as I can will be able to go 🙂. Thanks. 

 

[RayG]

Plenty of short swingers out there. Rahm and Varner in particular. It isn't about the swing- it's about impact. How you get there is whatever way you can do it. Furyk's swing wouldn't be taught by anybody. Neither would Matthew Wolff's. They have a swing they developed and it certainly works for them. What you can do is swing your swing and train yourself to use it effectively and repeatedly. 

Plenty of us out there with restricted flexibility due to age, medical issues and the like. You can only do so much. Taking lessons from someone who says "you can get 30 more yards if you turn your shoulders to 90*" hasn't taken into consideration limited physical abilities. Work with what you have to get the best of of your situation.

 

Oh, if you do have limited flexibility, look to increase lag with supple wrists. A short swing can lead to tension in the forearms.

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by RayG

[iacas]

There’s so much I dislike about that post. Oh my.

I’ll add more later. Running errands currently.

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I'm home now so I'll expound on what I wrote earlier.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

Plenty of short swingers out there. Rahm and Varner in particular. It isn't about the swing- it's about impact. How you get there is whatever way you can do it.

It's about impact, sure, but there are more predictable, more solid ways to "get" to impact, and there are ways to get to impact with more speed than other ways, too.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

Furyk's swing wouldn't be taught by anybody. Neither would Matthew Wolff's. They have a swing they developed and it certainly works for them.

Two simple points to that:

• Who is to say a "better" swing wouldn't have done them better?
• They're pros. It's their job, and thus, they have hours upon hours to "groove" their swings. Does the average golfer?

4 hours ago, RayG said:

What you can do is swing your swing and train yourself to use it effectively and repeatedly.

Bah. You can learn to make a better, more efficient swing that's more repeatable.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

Plenty of us out there with restricted flexibility due to age, medical issues and the like.

And too often golfers don't even explore doing more. As I noted above, a golfer who is less flexible could:

• Release his left heel and/or knee so he can turn his hips back more.
• Bend his left elbow a bit to add arc length to his backswing.
• Lift his arms off his chest more (same reason as above).
• Do some stretching to become a bit more flexible. Do some weight training, speed training to build more stability and speed.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

Taking lessons from someone who says "you can get 30 more yards if you turn your shoulders to 90*" hasn't taken into consideration limited physical abilities.

Two questions here, then:

• Who does that? If a golfer can't turn 90°, what dumb instructor just says things like that?
• Is it true? Maybe if an instructor does say that, the golfer has more range of motion (maybe by doing some of the things above) and can get to 90°.

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That's not to pick on you @RayG, not at all. You said some things thousands and millions of others have said. I'm not upset with you at all, just the common ideas you typed out. They're too common, and they hold golfers back.

[Old1964]

I do appreciate the feedback - and the back and forth. Was thinking a person could develop the "Socratic Method" of Golf Instruction. 

I appreciate the thinking. Have a great weekend!