Are You Aware That You Need To Change Your Golf Swing Mechanics As You Get Older?

The hot weather has hit our area in New York, and yesterday I found myself having trouble hitting a quality golf shot from about the 14′th hole on. At one point I started feeling light headed, and in need of water. What should you carry in your golf bag to help compensate for the heat? You should carry a bottle of water, a light sandwich, peanut butter crackers or candy bar. Anything that can give you a quick burst of sugar energy. You should stay away from drinking beer or any type of alcohol, because this will dehydrate you faster.

For the first ten holes, I was hitting solid golf shots  and my golf swing mechanics was where they should be. However, as the golf round continued on, I noticed there was a loss of power in my golf swing. Which meant the golf course started playing longer, and my golf scores were getting worse by at least a stroke or two per hole. So, what causes this to happen?

Golf is a mindset game vs. being physical.  Your golfing mind  needs to be sharpened periodically.  It’s very easy to lose focus when your golfing round isn’t going the way you believe it should.  That’s why you start feeling drained mentally, because your self-confidence is shakened. At the end of 18 holes, you feel like you just played 36 holes instead. That’s how I felt yesterday.

Physically swinging the golf club is easy.  Golfers will consciously get around to that great question of what is the proper way to swing a golf club? The single plane golf swing, improved by Moe Norman is probably the easiest to learn. It doesn’t require the golf swing to be broken down into various components. It’s a one single plane swing, like that of a pendulum.  It doesn’t require  full hip rotations, cocking the wrists on the top of your back swing, or releasing your lower hips through the impact zone. Golf flexibility is the biggest problem you’ll hear when the senior golfers are complaining about lack of distance or a sore back.  For senior golfers, using the single plane golf swing is not as taxing on your back, hip, neck or wrists. Therefore, a lot less golf injuries have occurred due to straining or pulling of the muscles.

Beginners mostly will try to do way to much to quickly. Mentally swinging a golf club is more taxing, and you’ll find it more physically challenging than  swinging a golf club for 18 holes.  Golf is 80% mental and 20% physical. Good visualization comes from practicing and watching yourself going through a repeatable proper way to swing a golf club. Through experiences that vision is implemented into your golfing  mindset.  Coordination is the biggest problem in teaching your body each part of the golf swing mechanics, and then hitting practice shots with the same visualized image of your golf swing.

Most golfers believe that playing golf is just a matter of taking a swing and hitting the golf ball. That’s a neat of way of summarizing it, but golf is definitely more than that. There is more to a simple golf swing than any one would know. As any true golfer will attest, there is a proper way to swing a golf club, other than just hacking away at it. In any sport, balance is critical for having a good  solid foundation. A good setup position allows for a correct posture and foot placement that helps you maintain good balance as you swing the golf club. It is important to keep your balance in order to consistently strike the golf ball at a good tempo or timing pace. Ideally, a good setup position builds up the potential for a good golf swing.

It’s not a secret that with age comes a decline in physical capabilities especially in your golf flexibility. The biggest and most noticeable changes is in the backswing range of your motion. This can rob you of massive yards off the tee and humiliate you with your golfing buddies.  I know how frustrating that can be and there is a simple solution.

How many times have you been the shortest hitter off the tee?  What is the main cause for an ever shortening backswing? The golf swing is a rotational movement, it is critical to be able to turn your shoulders at least 90 degrees, while your hips only turn 45 degrees. This is impossible if you have physical limitations in your torso and upper body.  Main golf swing flaws will occur due to lack of flexibility in your hips.  At the top of your backswing, you’ll have very little turn in your hips and shoulders. This poor position will cause your right leg to become inhibited, and not produce the power to drive through your downswing. It is so lacking in dynamics that the beginning of your downswing looks almost like your takeaway. Hip swaying hinders your hip rotation. Swaying of the hips causes a chain reaction of improper effects to occur.  So as you can imagine, you can’t do anything but lift your arms and shoulders. This causes a very steep backswing plane and eventually a very steep downswing plane. If your shoulders could only turn back a couple of inches,  then your problem with lack of distance off the tee could be improved.

Another golf tip to watch out for during play in hot weather is to make sure your hands are kept dry.  Slippage can occur from the sweat glands in your fingers, palms and wrists. This can cause errant golf shots, because your golf grip becomes unlocked. Make sure to change your golf gloves more than once during your golf round, because they slip in your hands due to sweating as well. What happens when your hands are slipping and trying to hang onto the golf club, it causes you to golf swing with a flipped wrist action that causes poor impact through the golf ball.

Improving your golf swing is all about making it simple! While we’re getting older and more experienced, our bodies might be going in the opposite direction. So if you’re golf game is slowly going downhill along with your body, pay closer attention to detail in regards to your golf swing mechanics. Try to improve upon your loss of strength, speed and flexibility that has a definite influence on your driving distances that can be severely restricted.

Aging is difficult, but it doesn’t have to make you lose so much in distance or struggle so much around the greens. Senior golfers need to  pay closer attention to your hips turning on your backswing. You aren’t flexible enough to get away with poor backswing rotation or sways. Maybe in your youth, you could over compensate with strength but not anymore. It is far better to turn and get your arm swing flatter in order to generate more power from a technical advantage instead of getting steep and trying to muscle the ball out there when you don’t have the muscle or flexibility. In other words,  you might have the same golf swing flaws when you were in your 40’s, but now later in life these same swing flaws are really hurting your golf game. Youth, strength, speed and flexibility can help overcome technical flaws in your golf swing when you’re younger, but youthful assets are no longer there to bail you out.

A common myth is that the higher the price of a golf club, the better your game will become. This club cost me $499.00, I must be playing great golf right now! The golf manufacturers spend millions of $$ to promote their stuff and still make huge profits. Who do you think pays for that? Paying higher prices for a golf club doesn’t lower ones handicap. Going to the driving range and practicing every club in your golf bag can help, but it’s only part of the solution. You need to learn the proper way to swing a golf club by investing in training aids, books or dvd’s that can explain what you need to do to improve. For those who are just starting to play, or have been, but are now struggling with certain parts of your golf swing. Taking golf lessons from your local area licensed professional is the best way to learn and change your approach to the golf game. Before one can improve their golf swing mechanics, you must first learn how to, then practice what you’ve learned and then implement the necessary changes. So if your a Senior golfer, and you have noticed your losing yardage on your golf shots, then go get this DVD that will help explain what you need to do next to improve. Just click on the following link: For Senior Golfers Only!

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