Two Senior Golf Swing Tips
Hitting a Draw Step-by-Step Checklist:
Blog Post:
Sean is the co-founder of My Golf Tutor, the top golf instructional blog helping weekend golfers play better golf. He played on the Irish National team that produced major champions like Rory Mcllroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clarke before playing professionally for 5 years around the world.
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Are you retired and feel like you no longer have the flexibility to produce the correct golf swing?
Are you looking for ways to increase your range of motion?
Charles wrote into us and asked a similar question:
Hi Sean, my name is Charles. I am retired and I just don’t have the same flexibility – particularly in my hips – that I used to have. Is there any way for me to improve my range of motion?
There are a couple of things I look for when assessing range of motion in the hip area – especially for senior golfers.
First, a common problem I see it that their stance is too wide. I find that when I ask my students to narrow their stance, this helps to increase the range of motion.
The second thing that I look for is foot positioning. If you could imagine a clock face – I want the left foot pointing to eleven o’clock and the right foot pointing to one o’clock.
A common problem I see with right-handed golfers is that the right foot is “toed in” too much. This means that the right foot is pointing towards twelve – or even eleven o’clock – and this restricts their ability to turn their hip on their backswing.
So, make sure that your left foot is pointing to eleven and your right foot is pointing to one; doing this will help open up the range of motion in your hips a little bit.
If you are someone who is especially tight, especially with the left hip (for a right-handed golfer), and you are having difficulty rotating into your left side and feel like you are not getting through your shot, I want you to consider opening up your left foot and pointing it to ten o’clock. This will allow your left hip to turn through the shot and achieve more rotation.
To finish off, there is a drill I would like you to practice to help open up the left hip and increase the range of motion.
First, I want you to open the left foot and point it towards ten o’clock. Then I want you to make some half swings initially, because this will feel different to you. If you immediately start to swing at your normal speed, it may cause you to lose balance.
So, once you’ve hit a few shots making some slow swings, you’ll then be able to gradually speed it up and make the swings longer. Go ahead and take a little narrower stance, make sure the right foot is pointing towards one o’clock and the left foot is pointing towards ten. You will find it a lot easier to turn and rotate during your golf swing.
