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Golf for a lifetime

Johnny mojo

Johnny mojo

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Freddie,

I just saw Phil in a segment from his press conference at the Masters today. They were talking about how his health is etc. Phil made a comment to the effect of "I believe that golf can be played for a lifetime if you swing the club like Bobby Jones (he mentioned some others too) and not make such a violent movement that is being taught today." I know I put that in quotes, but it is more of a paraphrase than anything.

My question is this: What did he mean? I am getting older and am always looking to NOT injure myself by bending over wrong, over exerting etc. Even though I already have back issues, what did Bobby Jones do that will help me play for a while longer :D

JM
 
Johnny mojo said:
Freddie,

I just saw Phil in a segment from his press conference at the Masters today. They were talking about how his health is etc. Phil made a comment to the effect of "I believe that golf can be played for a lifetime if you swing the club like Bobby Jones (he mentioned some others too) and not make such a violent movement that is being taught today." I know I put that in quotes, but it is more of a paraphrase than anything.

My question is this: What did he mean? I am getting older and am always looking to NOT injure myself by bending over wrong, over exerting etc. Even though I already have back issues, what did Bobby Jones do that will help me play for a while longer :D

JM
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I don't know, I'll have to watch the presser
 
Phil is an arm swinger with a relatively active lower body. His swing is just visually different than Rory's and Day's.
 
Swinging with your body? I have a bad back which flares up often. I have been using Jimmy Ballards philosophy which allows me to use my body to hit shot and not some tremendous coil and reverse C finish.. I do ok and I guess my point is there are ways even with a bad back to play and continue to play. Basically its a continuation of slicefixer technique 3/4 swing.
 
I am not a swing expert but I get what Phil us saying. Look at tigers swing "back when he was tiger" and look at the torque he put on his front knee and it's obvious why he had to have knee surgery

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Phil has a long upright swing with lots of hip turn in the backswing. More free flowing not violent or jerky in the transition.

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sposey013168 said:
I am not a swing expert but I get what Phil us saying. Look at tigers swing "back when he was tiger" and look at the torque he put on his front knee and it's obvious why he had to have knee surgery

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To be fair, we don't know that *that* was the cause. Injuries happen on and off the course. Its very probably that Tiger's torque heavy swing contributed to his issues, but those injuries may not have been caused by his motion.
 
blugold said:
To be fair, we don't know that *that* was the cause. Injuries happen on and off the course. Its very probably that Tiger's torque heavy swing contributed to his issues, but those injuries may not have been caused by his motion.
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True but continual "torque" on a body part like a knee is going eventually cause problems

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sposey013168 said:
True but continual "torque" on a body part like a knee is going eventually cause problems

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Sure. It probably isn't a good thing. But playing Navy SEAL in his downtime probably wasn't good either.
 
blugold said:
Sure. It probably isn't a good thing. But playing Navy SEAL in his downtime probably wasn't good either.
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True but I am just relating it to what Phil was saying.

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sposey013168 said:
True but I am just relating it to what Phil was saying.

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I know, we're good. What's also interesting, Phil worked with Butch to shorten his swing and restrict his lower body. Phil is also dealing with arthritis. Which is a major factor to his swing style as well.
 
I noticed Phil's comments today as well and was going to post about until Blu beat me to it. I'll agree with Phil on this topic. I've adjusted my swing the last couple years to reduce wear and stress in my back and other joints by increasing my hip turn and reducing my "x" factor. My legs are now more active with my left heel coming off the ground. I guess the best way to describe it is there is more flow to my swing and less torque on my joints.
 
Peter Kostis on the playing well as you get older, the ability to turn and lifting the left heel - ff to 12:20

 
Johnny mojo said:
Freddie,

I just saw Phil in a segment from his press conference at the Masters today. They were talking about how his health is etc. Phil made a comment to the effect of "I believe that golf can be played for a lifetime if you swing the club like Bobby Jones (he mentioned some others too) and not make such a violent movement that is being taught today." I know I put that in quotes, but it is more of a paraphrase than anything.

My question is this: What did he mean? I am getting older and am always looking to NOT injure myself by bending over wrong, over exerting etc. Even though I already have back issues, what did Bobby Jones do that will help me play for a while longer :D

JM
Click to expand...

Phil is speaking about a more fluid motion in the swing. Versus a connected violet movement. I think violent is a bad term so I'll call it explosive.

The classic swingers of the golf club had a very fluid motion to the golf swing. Almost syrupy with a very large arc. Bobby Jones made a full body turn, the entire body turn away from the target. It's not something I'd teach but it worked for him and others. The mechanics were similar except his transition from back swing to down down was so subtle and created such great lag in the swing. Steve Stricker is very close in his transitions.

The modern swing could to the top and explodes down, thru and up. All of this in a fraction of a second. As we get older the smooth swing will serve us better is what Phil is saying. A smooth transition or change of direction will build longevity.
 
If you look at guys like Payne Stewart, I think Phil swing is pretty violent also. I think most of this is just styles. True, there are people who hurt themselves because of their style but both styles get injured in my opinion.
 
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