We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Bad back = a good swing

DH27

DH27

Well-known member
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,299
Reaction score
417
Location
WNY
Handicap
About 15
I have been struggling with my swing for two years. This year has been brutal as I have posted 9 hole scores that would be bad 18 hole scores. My driver has been nonexistent for 4 years.
Well I hurt my back and did not swing a club for three weeks. I even had to cancel a golf lesson because of it.

This past Thursday I had a lesson and finally swung a club. I was so protective of my back that I swung every thing very slow and smooth. Guess what... I was killing the ball. My instructor could not believe I was the same guy. I could hit my driver again over 250 yards.

I just got back from playing a round and WOW I can golf again. My swing is there.I could hit a fade or a draw with my driver. The only bad thing is my distances for my wedges are no longer dialed in as they go 10-20 yards further.

I am a happy guy with a hurting back.
 
Good for you! Nothing wrong with swinging easy and gaining extra distance!
 
That's strange you mentioned this. I slept crooked last night, and woke up with a sore back. I couldn't take a full length swing today, only about 85%. It doesn't seem like much, but I was hitting farther, and more accurate.

Thanks for posting this. It's confirms what I was thinking. I need to slow down some, and shorten my backswing.

Jack
 
I've had back, hip and neck issues and I've been swinging at about 85/90% for years and I'm longer right now than I've been in three or four years. Brute strength and swinging guts out does not work for many big super strong guys. The best players I know, are smaller and swing nice and easy.
 
Found this out myself and have to agree. Problem is...now that the back is better...my mind goes full bore and so does the swing. Dial it back and walllaa
 
The only thing I will add is that for me, I need to be very careful when trying to start my downswing with my hips (aka properly). One little over extension and it will feel like a 300 lb wrestler is grinding a knuckle into the left side of my back near the bottom of the rib cage for hours or even days. And all strength disappears. Even trying to swing easy and clearing the hips becomes extremely difficult at that point. That is where I'm at right now just from hitting too many balls while testing my new clubs this weekend. Should be good to go in a few days though.
 
Last edited:
Interesting premise in this thread. I haven't gotten to play much this year so far due to travel and incessant rain, but practicing on my 100 yd "hole" in my field I discovered this year that when I over rotate on my backswing, bad things happen. If I shorten the backswing a bit, I have much more control and distance is better as well. Pretty cool discovery.
 
Knee for me. The pro said - "Your swing doesn't hurt your back. Instead you sacrificed your left knee so you could play golf."
 
It's funny how far the ball will go when struck flush and with the upper body in sync with the lower body. :D
 
I am happy for you on this but my bad back has not translated into more distance for me, short knockers are just short knockers.
 
nu720 said:
I have been struggling with my swing for two years. This year has been brutal as I have posted 9 hole scores that would be bad 18 hole scores. My driver has been nonexistent for 4 years.
Well I hurt my back and did not swing a club for three weeks. I even had to cancel a golf lesson because of it.

This past Thursday I had a lesson and finally swung a club. I was so protective of my back that I swung every thing very slow and smooth. Guess what... I was killing the ball. My instructor could not believe I was the same guy. I could hit my driver again over 250 yards.

I just got back from playing a round and WOW I can golf again. My swing is there.I could hit a fade or a draw with my driver. The only bad thing is my distances for my wedges are no longer dialed in as they go 10-20 yards further.

I am a happy guy with a hurting back.
Click to expand...

Well, .........fwiw far too many people suffer from back issues and even from relatively young ages too. They are not really something to be happy about so be careful what you wish for. Trust me, you don't want that to come true.

With that said, I can relate to the fact that your swinging easier is helping your game. In golf it is often so true that "less is more".
And also sometimes just being off for a couple few weeks can be the break one needs to reset. Sometimes playing too much results imo in one repeating bad habits and when some time is spent away it sort of allows for a reset. that just happened to me a few weeks back when I hurt my back and didn't swing a club for almost 3 weeks. My first day back was easy and cautious and like you I hit some of my best golf in a lot of ways. I think it was a combo of a little time away and also taking it easy.
 
Lately I've been using a kind of "Band-aid" swing to protect my back; it's a short, easy swing and I've started playing very well with it. Kind of like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07BmxZ9ZzxQ

I've really been able to play pain-free since I started it. The other day, I was feeling so good that I went back to my normal swing (with a lot of load into the right side, and aggressive move left) and my back zinged me right away. Back to the "Band-aid", maybe forever as my play has improved!
 
Bad back = a good swing

This thread hits home for me. I've been having back problems for the last few months, right along with my game improving due to some lessons. I finally hit up a chiropractor and got some relief. I hit the range before my lesson today (the first time swinging a club since my treatment), and I had to completely learn how to swing again. I realized that my range of motion is much better now, so I had to work to not overswing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top