Good idea to shorten my backswing as a senior?

[WUTiger]

Played in district Senior championship (age 64-69) with a 2.7 HDCP player. He was about 5-foot-9, 150 lbs., and in pretty good shape physically.

Round 2 was veeeery slow, so those of us in our threesome game quick golf clinics to each other on the nature-goals of our swing.

Mr. 2.7 said he had shoulder surgery 10 years ago, and found that a shorter swing was easier to control, and easier to do. He had maybe a 3/4 swing at most, and hit solid trap draws with his irons and hybrids. His driver and woods flew in a high draw. His swing was smooth and effortless, with lots of acceleration through impact.

Another older buy I played with had a spinny flat swing, with the clubhead maybe coming up to ear level on backswing. It was an armsy followthrough, but he got a consistent low draw that ran out for decent yardage. Nothing you would want to teach a 10-year-old, but it worked for him.

Edited August 23, 2017 by WUTiger

[Marty2019]

I hope this doesn't come across as a snide remark, I really don't mean it that way. 

In answer to the question, "should I shorten my back swing as a senior?" I would say no.  Your back swing will shorten itself.   If you take as good a turn as you can and stay connected, that's all you need to do.   Your back swing will be whatever it can be. 

I'm not an instructor, I am just another hacker, but from my observation, almost everyone who talks about "shortening their back swing" really just needs to stay connected.   Their arms are coming loose at the top.

 

[boogielicious]

19 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

I hope this doesn't come across as a snide remark, I really don't mean it that way. 

In answer to the question, "should I shorten my back swing as a senior?" I would say no.  Your back swing will shorten itself.   If you take as good a turn as you can and stay connected, that's all you need to do.   Your back swing will be whatever it can be. 

I'm not an instructor, I am just another hacker, but from my observation, almost everyone who talks about "shortening their back swing" really just needs to stay connected.   Their arms are coming loose at the top.

 

I would add to keep working on the flexibility too. They may not be able to increase range of motion much, but they can stop it from getting shorter.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 8/28/2017 at 7:07 AM, Marty2019 said:

I hope this doesn't come across as a snide remark, I really don't mean it that way. 

In answer to the question, "should I shorten my back swing as a senior?" I would say no.  Your back swing will shorten itself.   If you take as good a turn as you can and stay connected, that's all you need to do.   Your back swing will be whatever it can be. 

I'm not an instructor, I am just another hacker, but from my observation, almost everyone who talks about "shortening their back swing" really just needs to stay connected.   Their arms are coming loose at the top.

 

I can agree with this. A strike delivered solidly into the back of the ball will outperform any glancing blow from a loopy swing!