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SENIOR GOLF

Grandpa K

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Aug 23, 2019
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I’m 65 years old with a beat up body. I’ve had 2 knee surgeries, had an ankle fusion and have a bad lower back. When I was in my late 30’s - early 40’s my handicap was 14 but I’ve done nothing but spiral downward where I am now an embarrassing 27. I’ve taken over 10 years of lessons from different pros but they don’t seem to help at all. I am totally frustrated because in many younger days I was a pretty good athlete (baseball). The teaching pros have all told me they see a lot of athleticism to this day but I sure don’t feel it. I’ve looked online and am thinking that maybe changing my swing to more of a senior swing might be a better approach. Tips like move the right foot back and flare it out to help generate more of a turn, stronger grip, etc. I’m sure some of the seniors who have gone through this can give me some advice. I’m desperate. I think my teachers have been trying to get me to swing like a younger guy and I just can’t achieve those positions with my lack of flexibility. Thanks in advance to all that can help with suggestions.
 

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
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Oct 18, 2006
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73 with an artificial knee and have had more broken bones over the years than I can remember. Was NOT athletically inclined... and am NOT now. My swing looks like a drunken cowboy trying to lasso a bar stool. Played 208 18-hole rounds in 2019 and got down to a single digit handicap. Some suggestions...

Get a copy of Harvey Pennick's "Little Red Book". Read it cover to cover... and read it again.

Too many people who charge an arm and a leg for lesson... or people who do You Tube videos of how your swing should look, seem to think everyone needs to mirror the swing of a PGA pro. You don't and you can't! Work with the swing the Good Lord gave you. It will work with some work on your part.

Seems we all want to spend time on the driving range, hitting drivers 300 yards. People our age can't. That's reality. Find a club that you can hit 200 yards, but keep the ball in front of you and in the fairway.

Spend as much time as possible on your short game. We use a driver off the tee a maximum of 14 times/round. We use a putter somewhere between 30 and 40 times. Which would should be the one you practice the most with? Depending on the greens at your course, you may use your chipping club as much as your driver. If you can get the ball close to the hole with a chipping club, you can substantially reduce the number of putts... and strokes. Seniors cannot compete with the young flat-bellies off the tee. We can whip their youthful abilities with a pristine short game.

Last... relax and enjoy the game. If you get all wrapped up in technique, you WILL suffer 'paralysis through over-analysis'!!! Hit the ball. Go find it. Hit it again. Treasure the good shots. Laugh at the bad ones. This game is 90% mental and the other 20% is all in your head!!!! I bet if you quit worrying about your score and begin working on your short game, you will find the number of strokes accumulated during a round begin to drop.

Good luck!
 
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Grandpa K

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Great advice. Thank you. Looks like I’ve been doing the complete opposite of what will work. I’ve been trying to get a square peg in a round hole. The big question I have is how do you start to find the swing that works for you? That is what I am in search of right now.
 

limpalong

Mental Ward Escapee
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Oct 18, 2006
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Great advice. Thank you. Looks like I’ve been doing the complete opposite of what will work. I’ve been trying to get a square peg in a round hole. The big question I have is how do you start to find the swing that works for you? That is what I am in search of right now.
Quit "searching". You get all tied up in semantics. A swing is putting the ball in front of you and you hit one bad shot. Suddenly, you begin "searching" for some big change in the swing. That works until you hit the next bad shot. Pretty soon, your mind is twisted like a pretzel. What is comfortable? What seems natural? Grab a flyswatter. How many lessons do you need to be able to smash a fly with the swatter? NONE! You look at the fly and hit the durn thing with the swatter. SPLAT! Sorta like putting. You can take a dangerous object... a fork... scoop up a fork full of food and hit your mouth every time without stabbing yourself. And... you can't even see your mouth. Yet, we can't roll a ball into a hole twice as wide as the diameter of the ball... and we're looking right at it! You are NOT going to hit every shot well. If you did, you'd be on the Tour. One of Pennick's adages is "Don't let one bad shot turn into two or three bad shots!" If you hit a bad one and put your mind in a tizzy trying to "change" something... you will hit another bad shot. Put the bad one out of your mind. Walk up to the ball. Curse the ball a little under your breath. It was the ball's fault... not your swing! Hit that rascal again and sail it further out in front of you.
Heck! Our group of geezers has physical impairments, some of us can't see, and most of us can't hear. So?? If the yellow ball isn't working, we change to a white one... because the ball isn't the right color for the day. And... it works. If we hit two bad shots with the 9-iron... it may spend the next day in "time out". Not one of our entire group will stand there going into gyrations over a ball because we didn't have this straight or that bent over the last swing.
Now, many folks won't play a round as fast as our group does... or have as much fun. Our group will card rounds in the mid to upper 70's and on into the low 90's. We don't allow practice swings! We have a 20 second time limit on looking for a lost ball. Don't you dare walk around for two minutes on the green trying to digest each and every angle for your putt. Golf, to us, is much more rewarding when playing quick and we find we play better than trying to over-analyze each and every swing.
Every one in our group will play over 100 rounds/year... unless a health issue enters in. We know that we can card a 77 one day and the Golf Gods will hand you an 85 the next day. So what? We woke up. We spent time exercising body, mind, and jaws!!!
I don't know where you live, but wish you could join our group for a few rounds. You would have so much fun, you would never spend another dime on golf lessons. And... I promise... you would come away playing a more relaxed, better game of golf!
 
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Grandpa K

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I guess the big question I have is I’m a very visual person so I need something to at least guide me in the right direction. All the years of lessons have me so screwed up mentally that I don’t know which way to turn. I’ve got 20 things to concentrate on and none of them work for me. You hit the nail right on the head. I need to clear my mind. I’ve read things that suggest pulling your right foot back and flaring it out a little to allow more of a turn. I don’t know if that will work for me and because I live in an area that is in the middle of winter right now it’s gonna be a while to see. Little tips like that is what I’m looking for. Does that make any sense?
 
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Grandpa K

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Thanks for the suggestion. Just trying to get an idea on something’s that have helped from the “Seniors”on here.
 

Hoganman1

Well-Known Member
Feb 10, 2018
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I agree with all of the above. So many people evaluate a golfers talent by how far they drive the ball. I'm guilty of searching for extra yardage off the tee as well, but I believe the key to scoring is in the short game. At age 70 I usually drive it somewhere between 190 and 220 yards. However, if I chip and putt well I can still break 80 from 6250 yard tees. I suggest you try to practice on a regular basis or as much as your body will allow. Also, when you practice try to devote at least 60% of the time on pitching, chipping and putting. Practice will help you better understand your strengths and your weaknesses. It will also give you confidence as you will know what shots you have and what shots you don't have. After that it comes down to course management.
 

TheTrueReview

"Playing it straight"
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Jan 8, 2009
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I agree with all of the above. So many people evaluate a golfers talent by how far they drive the ball. I'm guilty of searching for extra yardage off the tee as well, but I believe the key to scoring is in the short game. At age 70 I usually drive it somewhere between 190 and 220 yards. However, if I chip and putt well I can still break 80 from 6250 yard tees. I suggest you try to practice on a regular basis or as much as your body will allow. Also, when you practice try to devote at least 60% of the time on pitching, chipping and putting. Practice will help you better understand your strengths and your weaknesses. It will also give you confidence as you will know what shots you have and what shots you don't have. After that it comes down to course management.

So many overlook the value of the handicap system. A senior golfer who drives it straight and has a good short game can beat Tiger Woods. The handicap system is there for a reason.
 

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