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"Old man" golf

Easy8

Easy8

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I've been struggling for the last few weeks with some very inconsistent ballstriking, so for kicks today I tried out what I call "old man" golf, first on the range, then 4 holes on our regular course, then 9 on our par 3 (regular course was kind of jammed up so I just moved on to the par 3). I had tried it for a few shots in a scramble last Sunday and kinda liked what I saw. Basically, I take my yardage, figure what club I can hit that yardage comfortably, then take 1 club longer for the shot, choke down slightly and hit about what felt like a 3/4 swing (irons and wedges only). I was very pleased with the results. I didn't really keep stats and I was hitting 3-4 balls on each hole, but if I had to guess I hit the green at about a 75% rate, and probably a 1/3 of those ended up being pretty good birdie looks (even flagged a few). I hit mostly a slight fade with the mid and longer irons and hit the wedges pretty straight. I had a few shots that were pulled and didn't fade, but distance control was easier than I thought it would be. Out of all the balls I hit I had only 4 bad misses that I recall. All the others that didn't find the green were in very manageable up and down spots.

I'll probably try it some more tomorrow, maybe actually log all the shots I take and the results.
 
Not sure what "old man golf" has to do with clubbing down and then choking up. Not following the logic here.
However if your just talking of chugging along short and straight down the middle that I understand.
 
When I think of "old man golf" I think of the guys that play at our club that tend to use the running the ball up to the green approach. They keep the ball out of the air and try to hit low running punch shots into the greens. Keeps the ball out of trouble for the most part and usually puts them around the green for a chance at up and downing it from there. Sometimes they even get the old ball to run up and on the green. :D
 
I feel like what you're doing is essentially hitting a knockdown on every shot. Think it's a great idea, I moved my game slightly in this direction end of last year, shortening my backswing and focusing on staying out of trouble - so far it's helped!
 
Easy8 said:
I've been struggling for the last few weeks with some very inconsistent ballstriking, so for kicks today I tried out what I call "old man" golf, first on the range, then 4 holes on our regular course, then 9 on our par 3 (regular course was kind of jammed up so I just moved on to the par 3). I had tried it for a few shots in a scramble last Sunday and kinda liked what I saw. Basically, I take my yardage, figure what club I can hit that yardage comfortably, then take 1 club longer for the shot, choke down slightly and hit about what felt like a 3/4 swing (irons and wedges only). I was very pleased with the results. I didn't really keep stats and I was hitting 3-4 balls on each hole, but if I had to guess I hit the green at about a 75% rate, and probably a 1/3 of those ended up being pretty good birdie looks (even flagged a few). I hit mostly a slight fade with the mid and longer irons and hit the wedges pretty straight. I had a few shots that were pulled and didn't fade, but distance control was easier than I thought it would be. Out of all the balls I hit I had only 4 bad misses that I recall. All the others that didn't find the green were in very manageable up and down spots.

I'll probably try it some more tomorrow, maybe actually log all the shots I take and the results.
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??????
 
I completely get what you are saying.

3/4 swings with more club, just smooth and steady swings rather than trying to jump on it, it allows you to stay in a better position. JUST like the older members that I play with from time to time on my home course, nothign looks at all like what we would call a full swing, hell, even those dudes call it old man golf.
 
Taking less club, choking down and taking any easy swing is a great way to play in a lot of cases. Focus on solid contact, and it can be a great way to practice. Keep it up, noting wrong with this in my book as long as your not decelerating into the ball/shot.
 
teed-off said:
??????
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Sorry for the confusion.

It's really more to do with the mentality of the younger players I guess who are typically about selecting a club for a shot based on hitting it it's absolute max distance. Big shoulder turn, hard swing, let it rip. It's all about hitting it as far as you can. The older guys, most of whom have a limited range of motion, particularly in their shoulder turn, don't mind hitting a 5 iron for a 150 yard shot. The younger guys will absolutely try and make a PW or 9 work for the same. It's something that I get caught up in myself from time to time. I'm just experimenting with playing a bit more like the older guys do. I am not in any way saying one approach is superior to the other. Maybe not the best name for it, but it's not meant to piss anyone off.

When I did it today I found my ball flight was only slightly lower. Even so my shots still had enough spin to stop very close to where they landed. I wasn't really trying to hit knockdowns; I'd play the ball farther back in my stance for that. I just found that the shortened backswing/follow through helped me to stay balanced, connected and from getting too quick. My shot dispersion was much tighter for it.
 
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Nate said:
When I think of "old man golf" I think of the guys that play at our club that tend to use the running the ball up to the green approach. They keep the ball out of the air and try to hit low running punch shots into the greens. Keeps the ball out of trouble for the most part and usually puts them around the green for a chance at up and downing it from there. Sometimes they even get the old ball to run up and on the green. :D
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Another group you'll see doing that is PGA Tour Pros. You don't see them doing it that often because most of the courses they play require wedge shots. But give them the rare receptive green and you see lots of them or preferring to run the ball up rather than fly it.
 
I played in a 2 day 2 person team tournament this week with a terrible back. In fact, it was probably my last round for the season due to my back problems. I decided to wear my back brace and just swing easy with more club. I played some of the best golf I've ever played and our team won the championship. I'm old AND have a bad back and will testify that it works. :)
 
wadesworld said:
Another group you'll see doing that is PGA Tour Pros. You don't see them doing it that often because most of the courses they play require wedge shots. But give them the rare receptive green and you see lots of them or preferring to run the ball up rather than fly it.
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Mostly you see it on par 5's going for it in 2 or The Open courses for sure. I do agree that more pros are hitting the knock down/Tiger stinger more than ever off the tee.
 
KellyBo said:
I played in a 2 day 2 person team tournament this week with a terrible back. In fact, it was probably my last round for the season due to my back problems. I decided to wear my back brace and just swing easy with more club. I played some of the best golf I've ever played and our team won the championship. I'm old AND have a bad back and will testify that it works. :)
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I'm not so sure about this old business! I hope your off season get both of you back on the course better than ever
 
I know that swing too. I'll do it on occasion when I get out of whack. Works really well for me when my tempo is off. I've always referred to it as old man golf too lol
 
Doing this is a great way to find your tempo if you've "lost" it. Usually when I start getting erratic with my accuracy its due to trying to kill the ball, so I do what you're doing here, force myself to club up one and make an easier swing and focus on making crisp contact. It works wonders and makes the game seem a little less difficult. "Hitting the ball pure and straight is far more rewarding than hitting it long" - Moe Norman.
 
Some really great thoughts in here. To the OP, I play this way because of a bad back and it works for me. My best golf is when it's hard and fast because I can play for the run.

JM
 
I can see better now the direction of all this. I have mentioned recently in other threads about a new logic I've taken on when things go south and I have blowup holes. That logic is to tell myself not to try harder but to try easier and I think is where this thought process fits in.

I've said it has helped minimize the blowups and helped me pull out of them quicker. Also that I will loose distance and club down to make it up but its well worth it to just get the good contact back and pull me out of the blowups when it all falls apart. So this seems to be along the same lines.

Just making good consistent contact and maintaining a nice easy consistent swing becomes more important than distance. Once that stuff comes back the confidence is restored and then I can start swinging normal again and the yardage of course then comes back. There is something to be said for coming in with a higher decent angle imo.

But in any case I think the idea the OP discusses is a good one. I often thought if we (mid and higher cappers) sometimes just hypothetically played a whole round by swinging only perhaps a nice easy 6iron or something we would probably shoot one of our better rounds and for those who struggle above 100 may be even their best round. It may not be much fun in many ways but just might work and also help consistency and tempo and other factors.
 
jordangehl said:
Doing this is a great way to find your tempo if you've "lost" it. Usually when I start getting erratic with my accuracy its due to trying to kill the ball, so I do what you're doing here, force myself to club up one and make an easier swing and focus on making crisp contact. It works wonders and makes the game seem a little less difficult. "Hitting the ball pure and straight is far more rewarding than hitting it long" - Moe Norman.
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This is what really kind of brought it about for me. I have 2 big swing flaws that I battle and they produce two wildly different results. One: I start my downswing from the top with my arms/shoulders (bad move), come over the top and pull the ball left. The other: I try too hard to start the downswing with my lower body, spin out a bit, get stuck and hit a weak push/fade. I get the feeling that a lot of times both are caused by my backswing getting too long because I'm trying to get max distance and everything just gets out of synch. Shortening my swing and slowing everything down a bit made even 175 yard shots today seem a bit easier.
 
Old men usually play "old man golf" because of aches, pains, bad backs, bad knees, etc... We learn to swing within our limits to minimize undue stress to any of our afore-mentioned body parts! This doesn't necessarily mean that we run all of our shots onto the greens. It usually means that we simply get less distance with each iron, so we "club up" to get the desired yardage. Speaking from experience, this is not a bad way to play golf.
 
This is basically how I play right now. I am not confident in full swings yet and feel I have more control - and less slice - when I use 3/4 swings. I will pick up distance at some point after I get lessons going and start to develop. For now I don't worry about hitting it too far, I just want to hit it straight.

I paired up with an older gentleman for the last 3 holes (4 some holding up play in front of us) the last round I played. He didn't hit far, but was generally right down the middle. He did well...
 
When my swing was at its best I was doing something similar. For whatever reason Ive gotten away from it and I need to go back to the lovely 3/4 swing.
 
Since posting a video of my ugly swing, last week, and getting feedback, I have had two lessons. Now that I have a shoulder/hip turn and I'm getting the club up faster with wrist hinging, my instructor has also down clubed me... 6 where I hit a 7 and so on and forcibly slowed my swing to concentrate on ball striking. He also had me hitting a bump and run, from 60-80 yards out, eliminating my gap wedge, for now. Considering I managed to run the ball up onto 8 of 10 greens.... there may be something positive to this "old man" golf.
 
This is a description of my game! Not that old but issues with shoulders/upper back mean full swing for me is what others would call 3/4, maybe i should drop to half to get some of these benefits!

To me "old man golf" is where you never see any mid or long irons used but they still shoot in the 70s!
Played with a guy last month, he was 78, had a consistent strike and knew the game he needed to play.
Par 5 went... driver (about 150), driver (about 150), 3w (about 120), 8i bump (maybe 60), putt for par. The ball never went more than 25 feet in the air but also never left the short stuff, showed the big hitting young guns a thing or two!
 
KellyBo said:
I played in a 2 day 2 person team tournament this week with a terrible back. In fact, it was probably my last round for the season due to my back problems. I decided to wear my back brace and just swing easy with more club. I played some of the best golf I've ever played and our team won the championship. I'm old AND have a bad back and will testify that it works. :)
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Congratulations KB - Club Champion! :bananadance:I know OG is proud of you - hopefully you can give him some lessons.
I've been wanting to get back down to Monroe CC and play with you good folks again but time slips by too quickly. BTW - I play Ol' Man Golf all the time - because I are one! :laughing:
 
malemotives said:
He also had me hitting a bump and run, from 60-80 yards out, eliminating my gap wedge, for now. Considering I managed to run the ball up onto 8 of 10 greens.... there may be something positive to this "old man" golf.
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This never even occurred to me. I love bump and runs from 10-20 yards out and have become quite good at them. I am definitely going to try this out and see how it works.
 
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