Why swinging a golf club should be as natural as throwing a ball
In his coaching companion, Now for the Back Nine, former European Tour and Ryder Cup player Peter Dawson has pieced together a series of easy-to-read, digestible coaching tips aimed at golfers of an advancing age. In this first of his swing tips for senior golfers taken from the book, Peter explains why it’s important to simplify the golf swing…
Swing tips for senior golfers: There is life after impact!
Most back-niners can’t swing back as fully as they once did but can still complete their follow-through so this is where they need to concentrate their energies.
A bit like throwing a ball, you can actually lob it with a minimal backswing because the power is all in the follow-through.
People often try to tell me that golf isn’t a natural game.
Nonsense.
When you throw a ball do you practice the movement? No, you just pick the ball up and throw it in one natural movement and without a thought.
You don’t stand there, painstakingly line yourself up, and then start thinking about the angle of your hand and arm as you draw your arm back to throw. Your arm simply goes back and through and nine times out of ten goes straight where you intended.
These images compare the movement and position on the backswing and follow-through when you throw a golf ball, swing one-handed and then two-handed.
Need I say more?
It isn’t as easy as that, of course. It never is! If it was Now for the Back Nine would be a very short book.
But it does simplify the golf swing to the bare essentials and the closer you can get to this action the better your swing and the results will be.
The beauty of this exercise is that you can easily throw a ball in the garden so next time you have a spare five minutes go outside pick up a ball and throw it. Then repeat it with your eyes shut and try to imagine you are swinging a golf club.
About Now for the Back Nine
Peter Dawson, a prominent European Tour player in the 1970s and the first left-hander to play in the Ryder Cup, noticed a gap in the market for a coaching manual with tips for senior golfers. So he and co-author and pupil Simon Hawkins pieced together Now for the Back Nine.
The book is packed with plenty of easy-to-read, simple tips aimed at older golfers –though that doesn’t mean younger players can’t learn from it!
You can read our review of the book in our rundown of the best golf instruction books, or head to the Now for the Back Nine website if you need more information or want to buy a copy.
Win a copy!
Peter has generously given us a copy to give away. Head to our competitions page to enter.
Peter Dawson podcast
Peter joined Alex Perry on the NCG Podcast to discuss his playing days and it’s a fascinating insight into playing in the golden age of the European Tour.
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