Playing golf throughout your career comes with huge health benefits, both mentally and physically. It is therefore important to continue playing golf even in your senior years. Whether playing for competition challenge or for social interaction and exercises, its good to keep playing. As you age, it may be hard to change your body to become more fit. Working on your strength and flexibility is therefore more realistic to keeping you fit for the game. Strength and flexibility are the two factors that keep on deteriorating as you age. Golf tips for seniors is the most significant content i think so.
In your senior years, you may have undergone some form of major operation. You may also be suffering from some old injuries or arthritis that may inhibit your movements around the course. You therefore need to monitor your movements in the swing so that you don’t cause more injuries to your body. You need to manage the kind of ball flight you have as well as how repetitive your swing will be. At this stage you don’t necessarily need a perfect swing but rather a repetitive one having constant contact with the ball. You also need a consistent shape while in air and fix any problems that may hinder your ability to play.
Tips on overcoming common problems
Senior players are affected by common problems such as not warming up, balance, posture, stability, equipment and tempo. We share some tips that can help you improve in these areas
1) Warming up
Warming up for some time before hit off can be very beneficial to your body. You can for instance go for some brisk walk and improve the rate of your heart beat just before the game. Walking to the driving range may be one way of doing your brisk walk. You can also stretch and hit some shots while on the range or in the practice nets. These simple warm up exercises will get you moving so that you don’t have to waste the scores on your first five holes trying to get your body moving.
2) Posture
The body posture changes with age. In most cases, the upper part of your back becomes more curved with detrition occurring in your spine. You may also have more fats or weight around the tummy and butt areas.
The muscle strength around the leg will also be fading unlike when you were young. Some stretching and strengthening programs can help you improve posture. Some senior players will however still struggle to maintain a golf posture. For such players, we recommend a stretch we are calling ‘squash a grape between your shoulder blades’. This kind of stretch helps to open up the muscles in the chest and shoulder area. To do this stretch, you need to stand tall keeping the arms close to your side. You then allow your palms to face out and pretend as if you are having a grape in between your shoulder blades. You then try and squash this grape, drawing your shoulder blades together in the process. This stretch is very nice in opening up your muscles in the chest and shoulder area.
3)Stability
A good golf tips for swing needs to have a stable base. It is therefore important to remain balanced throughout the swing. Taking time to work on your flexibility and strength is therefore recommended for any serious golfer. You may start by seeing your physiotherapist and inform them about your intention to improve in the game.
They will help you do a screening that ensures you don’t work on the wrong things. Time is an important aspect in your senior years and hence you need to use it effectively. Sometimes injuries may hinder you from doing exercises or limit what you can do. We therefore recommend a simple drill that can maintain your balance and stability during the game. In this drill, you balance yourself on one foot while flexing your knee in the air and staying balanced as long as you can, up to 30 seconds if possible. Try not to wobble during the drilling period. You then change to the other leg and repeat the same process. At the beginning you may use a friend, golf club or a wall to get balance until you are able to stand on your own. As you advance in this drill, you can close your eyes and repeat the drills. Most professional golfers do a one legged, eye shut 30 plus seconds drill.
4) Tempo
Sometimes you may find it difficult trying to keep balance with every swing. Quick swings will especially destabilize you very much. In this case, we recommend you try a slower back swing called three quarter length. In this case, your hands will be about a shoulder high at the top of the back swing. This will help reduce the weight lifted by your body during the swing keeping you balanced and allowing you a better control over your movements.
5) Equipment
It is important to have the right equipment for your golfing. The modern technological advancements have made golfing much easier even for people with lower swing speeds. Compared to the older clubs, the high launch drivers and hybrids have made it possible to increase the hit distances. We recommend buying of clubs that correctly fits you so as to increase the level of forgiveness. Consulting the local PGA professionals can help you identify the right clubs for you. Major companies usually organize for demo days. You need to watch out for these days so that you get an opportunity to speak to the product experts and identify what is suitable for you.
Conclusion
We have shared the tips that would assist the senior players continue enjoying the golf game without feeling out of place. The other things that senior players need to consider include the loft, shaft flex, length and grip thickness and type. Due to the slower swing speed associated with this category of players, it is important to have more lofts in the driver, hybrids and fairway woods. It is also critical to choose the correct shaft that merges your ball flight and swing speed. Shafts for seniors are generally light and more flexible.
Longer clubs will also make it easier to maintain a consistent strike rate and also minimize the back pains associated with this age category. Finally, depending on the size of your fingers and the palm width, you need to get the right type and thickness for your grip. You can inquire from the other professionals on the right grip available for you in the market.
