Not everyone can rotate their body as well as young professional golfers but there is hope.
Aging bodies have greater limitation in hip and spine rotation. So just use what you have. Martin Chuck, Tour Striker Training Program, did a recent blog stating that most of your distance comes from your wrist hinge in the back-swing. Body rotation is nice but the correct wrist motion and timing is where most of your distance comes from.
Aging bodies end up with lower back and spine problems so you may have started to bend your elbow in the back-swing to compensate. Big MISTAKE! Bending your leading arm elbow is only creating more mishits, pulls and slices.
Jim Furyk with Straight Leading Arm and Wrist Hinge near the top of his limited back-swing.
The good news is that most of the head speed in your club is generated by the release of you wrist hinge as you swing through the impact zone. If your hip and spine rotation is limited, just limit your back-swing and let wrist lag take care of the distance.
Sweeping your club head in a wide arc to force rotation in your back-swing along with a straight leading arm are ideal. You want some rotation of the hips and spine but make sure that you keep your wrist flat while you hinge to create a 90 degree lag in the back-swing. [Cock your wrist to create a 90 degree angle from your forearm to your club shaft.] Pull down on your straight leading arm and release your relaxed wrists with a whipping action at the bottom of your swing.
Jim Furyk may have a wild looking back-swing and the shortest driving stats on the Pro Tour but his wrist release and swing from the inside sure do produce straight shots.
REMEMBER: the longest drive should not be your #1 goal. Hit’em straight and keep’em in the fairway to lower your score. It may help you shoot a round of 59 someday.
Of course GOLFSTR+ is a great solution to help you train for straight leading arm, flat wrist and lag in the back-swing. Try it! You’ll like it! CLICK HERE to learn more!
