Senior Golfers
As we age, golf’s challenges change. Fortunately, with an open mind, and some attention to detail, golfers of any age can play better than ever.The biggest challenge for most senior golfers is a lack of overall power.
As golf courses get longer and the game transforms from a game of precision to a game of power, senior golfers have a unique set of challenges to confront.
The key to maintaining power – Flexibility
Flexibility for golf is a term that has been bandied about the golf instruction industry for decades. But what does flexibility for golf really mean? Flexibility can be defined as a joint’s ability to move through a complete range of motion. As related to golf, flexibility allows the golfer to achieve the correct address position, and allows them to move EASILY through the entire swing without any feelings of tension or strain.
Studies have shown that flexibility naturally starts to decline after age 25.
A great tip I got from Gary Player was take a good 30 minute HOT Bath before going out to play Golf.
This will warm up your muscles before you stretch and then play.
Another flexibility hint – always warm up before you play. Your muscles will be looser, and you’ll reduce the risk of hurting yourself. Baseball players warm up by swinging a weighted bat. Golfers can warm up by using a weighted club.
While it may seem impossible to increase club head speed without swinging harder, the search for effortless power is something that is within the reach of every golfer.
The key to generating this feeling of effortless power is to learn to harness the power of centrifugal force while you swing the golf club.
Centrifugal force is a force that tends to move objects away from the center in a system undergoing circular motion. Centrifugal force is what keeps the water in a whirling bucket from spilling.
In the golf swing, centrifugal force is the reason that golfers like Ernie Els and Fred Couples look like they are hardly even swinging the club, but they are able to launch the ball in excess of 350 yards. It is often described as “letting the club do the work”.
How to buy the right equipment
Thinking of buying a new driver?
In the past 5 years the golf equipment industry has made gigantic strides in helping the world’s best golfers increase their driving distance. But what have they done for the average golfer?
How can the senior golfer put technology on his side, and squeeze a few more yards out of his swing?
The most important factor that determines driving distance is NOT club head speed.
The most important factor is making solid contact.
For every half inch that your strike is off center you will lose 10 yards in distance.
In my experience most golfers make the best contact with a driver that is 43.5 inches long depending on their physical size.
Consider getting a driver that is 43.5 inches long or shorter.
So what can you do about it?
My recommendation is to look up a PGA professional in your neighborhood that has a launch monitor and a large selection of drivers with different lofts and lengths for you to experiment with and go for a proper driver fitting. (By the way, almost every major company fitting cart that I have ever seen only has one length of driver (45 inches) which is the most critical component of club fitting.)
If you cannot find a launch monitor in your area, try a driver with 12 degrees of loft and a 43.5 inch shaft and I am sure that the results will have you ten yards further down the fairway.
The aging process causes significant changes in your connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) and eventually decreases your ability to maintain optimal flexibility. To play your best golf later in life, it takes a concerted effort to maintain your flexibility.
