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Short Back Swing

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warbirdlover

warbirdlover

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I've played with a short backswing (about shoulder level) for about 15-20 years after finding I actually hit it longer and straighter. It gets me to release and finish better. Two years ago I worked on going back to the full backswing and it appeared to be going okay. About a month ago I tried the short backswing again and I'm longer, straighter and scoring much better like in "the old days". I'm 62, hit the driver on average 230-240 carry (always straight) and am pretty short with my irons but I don't care as long as I know how far they go.

I've seen on the Golf Magazine site they have a section on this but they call it the "no" backswing swing...

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction/article/0,28136,1652866,00.html

What's your take on all this? Am I "copping out" by not taking it back all the way or is this a good thing? Thanks for your views...
 
I love the question warbird. I am a fan (although not able to) of the shortened backswing. For majority of the people I see the longer the takeaway the more problems jump into the swing. If you are able to make a nice shoulder turn and get the club back far enough to hinge your wrists that is all you need. This type of limited motion keeps the club moving on 1 plane through out the swing. You are right you should see more control of your shots and distance control should be pretty easy and consistant. The big thing here is you are comfortable and you know the swing works.....stick with it. There is minimal if any benifit to taking a longer backswing. Keep at it!

PS. How is the weather? I fly up on Tuesday the 16th. Can't wait to get up there and play. We have 6 courses in 6 days lined up and I am pretty pumped!
 
Which courses are you playing?
 
I love the question warbird. I am a fan (although not able to) of the shortened backswing. For majority of the people I see the longer the takeaway the more problems jump into the swing. If you are able to make a nice shoulder turn and get the club back far enough to hinge your wrists that is all you need. This type of limited motion keeps the club moving on 1 plane through out the swing. You are right you should see more control of your shots and distance control should be pretty easy and consistant. The big thing here is you are comfortable and you know the swing works.....stick with it. There is minimal if any benifit to taking a longer backswing. Keep at it!

PS. How is the weather? I fly up on Tuesday the 16th. Can't wait to get up there and play. We have 6 courses in 6 days lined up and I am pretty pumped!

ammolerud
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It's been cool, in the 60's but otherwise okay. This weekend is going to start a warming trend that should stay for the rest of the summer. And thanks for the comments!! I "coil the spring" at the back (and cocking the wrists) which keeps me from pulling and have been getting a nice shoulder and follow through. I don't ever get stuck on the right foot like I occassionally do with a full backswing.
 
amollerud said:
I love the question warbird. I am a fan (although not able to) of the shortened backswing. For majority of the people I see the longer the takeaway the more problems jump into the swing. If you are able to make a nice shoulder turn and get the club back far enough to hinge your wrists that is all you need. This type of limited motion keeps the club moving on 1 plane through out the swing. You are right you should see more control of your shots and distance control should be pretty easy and consistant. The big thing here is you are comfortable and you know the swing works.....stick with it. There is minimal if any benifit to taking a longer backswing. Keep at it!
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I agree that a shorter back swing will make you more consistent...the problem that I have with this is actually maing a good solid backswing. I am currently working on making a shorter backswing so I can be more consistent but what happens to me a lot is that I don't make a good turn and find myself just using my arms. I don't know if this is a tall person problem as I am 6'4 but it is something I struggle with. Also I agree that if you do this right you might find more distance because you will tend to square the club face more often and I believe that good consistent distance comes from two things:
1) Hitting the ball on the sweet spot
2) Balance

Now if you want good "FAR" consistent distance then the following apply:
1) Hitting the ball on the sweet spot
2) Balance
3) Swing speed (possibly more of a shoulder turn but probably just a better job of sequencing your swing with a good release)

Just my 2 cents...:cool:
 
I use a shorter back swing, not so much for full swings, but for shots I want to run up on the green. Next to a flop shot it is my second favorite shot to use. Example; I hit my 6i about 160+/- yards, but, with the shorter swing that same club is very accurate for 120 yards. Same with my 3i from 150. Naturally the ball's lie, and course conditions between my ball and the green dictate which shot I can, or cannot use. I practice this shot with my driver off the turf, but I have never used my driver like this during a round of golf. I figure if I practice hitting my driver, hitting it reasonably straight using this swing, off the turf, it helps with the shorter clubs. :comp:
 
Warbird I fly into minneapolis and will be playing Grand National at Hinckley MN. Then we are going down to play The Meadows at Mystic Lake MN. In Wisconsin we will play Wild Ridge in Eau Claire, then in Black River Falls (forgot the course name). I think we are going to play University Ridge in Madison, and they will suprise me on the last course.
 
I like the back 9 at University Ridge, the front 9 is kind of blah.
 
call me crazy, but I'm not a huge fan of University Ridge... I played there earlier in the spring and the course was in horrible condition (though hopefully they've fixed that by now).
 
blakehall said:
call me crazy, but I'm not a huge fan of University Ridge... I played there earlier in the spring and the course was in horrible condition (though hopefully they've fixed that by now).
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I played there a month or so ago & it was in pretty good shape. I absolutely hate the front 9, wish I could play just the back but they won't let you. If you are playing just 9 it's always the front.
 
amollerud said:
Warbird I fly into minneapolis and will be playing Grand National at Hinckley MN. Then we are going down to play The Meadows at Mystic Lake MN. In Wisconsin we will play Wild Ridge in Eau Claire, then in Black River Falls (forgot the course name). I think we are going to play University Ridge in Madison, and they will suprise me on the last course.
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Damn it is a small world! Grand National is about 30 minutes from where I grew up. I haven't played it since 2002 (company scramble), but it was a very nice course back then. Enjoy the trip, sounds like you're going to cover a lot of the area.

If you had time for another stop, I've say to try Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park, MN. Beautiful course, hosted 7 LPGA events.
 
I have played Edinburgh numerous times. I used to live up in Plymouth MN. and it was a 10 minute drive for me. I even played there a couple of times in college tournaments. That is a great track and some of the trickiest bunkers I have ever played. It is like playing out of powdered sugar. My favorite course in that area is up in Anoka and its called North Fork. Traditional links style course that is wicked fun to play. I am trying to get the guys to spend a day there while I am up.
 
Wow, WBL--the resident pro threadjacked you! First time that's ever happened.
 
amollerud said:
I have played Edinburgh numerous times. I used to live up in Plymouth MN. and it was a 10 minute drive for me. I even played there a couple of times in college tournaments. That is a great track and some of the trickiest bunkers I have ever played. It is like playing out of powdered sugar. My favorite course in that area is up in Anoka and its called North Fork. Traditional links style course that is wicked fun to play. I am trying to get the guys to spend a day there while I am up.
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Never played there when I lived in the Twin Cities for a couple years. I did get out to a course in Plymouth called Elm Creek though. Nice course, but nothing like Edinburgh.

Enjoy the trip! I never seem to get up there when the weather's decent anymore, just around Christmastime.
 
ClairefromClare said:
Wow, WBL--the resident pro threadjacked you! First time that's ever happened.
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You rub off on everyone, eventually!

(Harry will probably chime in on this, but that's OK! hehe)
 
Smallville said:
You rub off on everyone, eventually!

(Harry will probably chime in on this, but that's OK! hehe)
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Pffft! Claire WISHES she could rub off on me!


Spoiler
I'm gonna pay for that one.
 
ClairefromClare said:
Spoiler
You can't BEGIN to imagine.
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How bad I'm going to pay . . . or how bad you want to rub off on me?


Spoiler
Nevermind. I think I'd rather not know.
 
Ok guys lets get this one back or close it up.
 
Is the shortened backswing a good idea for women? It's been suggested to me, y'know, with having a chest and all, but I suck at it. Thought maybe it's cause I'm only five and a half feet off the ground, it doesn't get far enough back. Am I not giving it enough of a chance? Thoughts?
 
My thought on the backswing are fairly simple. If you can keep it short and under control you will benefit in terms of accuracy. The thing you need to be careful of is shortening the takeaway and have it become an all arms swing. Julie if you make a good full shoulder turn for your backswing the shorter swing will work. What type of issues are you having trying to shorten it up? are you lacking power? If so I would work on making sure the shoulders are still turning.
 
amollerud said:
My thought on the backswing are fairly simple. If you can keep it short and under control you will benefit in terms of accuracy. The thing you need to be careful of is shortening the takeaway and have it become an all arms swing.
Click to expand...

I agree and as I said on an earlier post on this thread that is the rub (for lack of a better word) is whether you can shorten your back swing without it becoming an arms swing...I struggle with this as I have very good disatnce but need to work on accruacy so I am trying to shorten my back swing. What I find is I struggle to find good sequencing and sometimes it is because I am not making a good turn and using my arms...I think the benefits are well worth it but it may take some time to get your timing down with a shorter back swing...funny thing is when I find my tempo and timing with a shorter back swing I hit it darn near as far as I use to...:cool:

Also for julie_m...my wife is 5'2 and she makes her best swings when she focuses on making a more compact (shorter) backswing...she starts spraying the ball when she tries to find distance by taking the club way to far back thereby lifting the club and getting it out of position. She is not a long hitter but will actually poke one out there once in a while when I get her to swing more compact and she finds her timing...hope that helps???

NOTE: I define a short back swing by the position of my left arm being parrallel to the ground but my wrist have fully hinged (or something close to this)...would you agree amollerud??
 
ZM I would agree with that. I don't mind the left arm getting a little higher than that, but that is the feel and position that I try to get my students into to feel the shorter swing. Thanks for that ZM that is a great referance point to develop the feel!
 
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