Anyone Successfully Shortened Swing?

[AP76]

It's certainly working well for the world number one! Good enough for him then it should be more than good enough for us guys! ⛳🏌️💪🏼

[golfarb1]

Some suggestions

1. Have  realistic expectations . As we age almost all of us lose strength and mobility . A sedentary lifestyle and sitting at a desk only exacerbates this problem. So work out and include mobility/ flexibility and balance  exercises within your workout. Such workouts will not only help your golf swing , but will improve your health and help you control your weight .

2. By definition the longer the swing , the more the potential number of errors . The more the number of errors the greater the need for compensations .Soon your swing becomes a mess of compensations . So the optimum swing length is the longest swing that you can accomplish while minimizing  the  number of errors. This may be Rahm length or even closer to parallel . 
3. Early errors in the grip, setup and takeaway  often compound leading to severe problems in the swing .These  parts of the swing are the least sexy ,  but easiest to correct because they are either static or moving slowly. 
4.Many golfers with long swings do not really have long swings; instead they have cheated on a true shoulder turn , disconnected their lead arm from their torso , swayed ETC.

Some of you on Golfwrx are capable of self- diagnosing and correcting your own swing, most are not. SEE a teaching professional who not only has in-depth knowledge of the swing but an ability to simply and clearly communicate their ideas. For most of you,in person instruction is far superior to online instruction  or group instruction. 
5. Learn to hit more up with your driver ~ 3-3.5 degrees in order to maximize your carry and minimize your spin. I understand some of the potential problems that golfers create when trying to hit more up, so most golfers will require professional help to do so. 
6. Check your equipment . In the past the standard driver was 43.75” long. Now it is nearer 45” . Just ask yourself , is the additional distance on a small % of your drives with a longer driver worth it?
While Phil may have migrated toward a 46” driver , a number of pros are reducing the length of their drivers 

Edited January 9, 2022 by golfarb1

[puttnforthe8]

5 hours ago, Paddy_2_Iron said:

 

I've lost way to much distance off the driver after shortening up.  Irons never been straights or more consistent but the driver has lost ~30 yards.  Killing me. 

Yup..same here!  But I will live with it...my results have been worth it.

[Paddy_2_Iron]

18 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

Yup..same here!  But I will live with it...my results have been worth it.

 

Yeah it's pretty nice taking a fat divot with my 6 iron carrying 165 on a green.  The shorten compact swing, keeping everything in and bowing the wrist gives me massive divots I love that lower ball flight with spin.  It's something I have never had before.  That's GW through 5 iron.  

Edited January 9, 2022 by Paddy_2_Iron

[BigEx44]

On 1/2/2022 at 12:14 AM, finleysg said:

I spent the better part of a year doing 9 to 3 shots every time I practiced. Sometimes just as a warm up, and at times that was all I did.

 

At first I had to pause to ensure I didn't go any further than 9 o'clock. Combined that with working my hands as far away from my body as possible. Added deeper right hip on the takeaway and focused on a full turn, all while still going no deeper than 9 o'clock. Do the same while crowding the ball more and more.

 

Basically I was playing around with how to generate power with a more compact swing.

 

I haven't had the time or inclination to do much practicing over the past 3 years, but I'm pretty sure this work has stuck with me.

 

I'm working on this now.  3/4 swing.  I think it's really helping my overall game.

[Righty to Lefty]

I did it...and I'll give the short and dirty explanation.  It was a horrible experience...but worth it! It took me six months and some 19,000 reps to get it done and the hardest parts were recalibrating your timing and getting your body to accept it and trusting that you will still create plenty of power and speed because you can't lever the club until the shaft has reached AT LEAST shaft parallel on the downswing and also before low point of the swing arc.  A bigger swing arc doesn't mean that you will hit it further, it actually means that you have to wait longer to get on the lever because if you attempt to assist the momentum of the club prior to shaft parallel on the downswing you will be wasting motion.

 

The kicker is that all of the work didn't show up on the course until about a full year later when I played the best golf of my life and went 3 weeks without shooting over 80 so if you are expecting it to show up immediately then in most cases you will be very disappointed because you are basically recalibrating your entire swing mechanism and this take way more time than you think to accomplish.  You will basically be doing work and not being sure if it will actually be better for you in the end.  It was quite the process and I had many a day where I was furious with the process but I did get results in the end after a ton of work

 

This is the swing extender training aid that I modified to further widen out my swing as it blocked my trail arm from bending and maintained width in my swing. This thing was the source of many a curse word because it forces you to be rotary and use your body to hit the ball and not be handsy which is very important. The process to shorten the swing yet maintain width is the goal but you will have many days where you will want to quit I assure you as it will take months to actually shorten the swing motion.  I only focused on shortening my swing in practice sessions and never on the course because it is a process and and will take time to show up on the course.  A short swing will still have plenty of hip turn but very little wrist action and even when you think it is short, you will see it on video and it will still be roughly the same for a while!! Best of luck... R to L. 

. 

[Righty to Lefty]

On 1/5/2022 at 6:42 PM, mikpga said:

Keep trail arm straight like a steel rod, see how "short" your backswing becomes...

This is actually a true statement but it will wreck the body's timing initially. 

 

18 hours ago, Paddy_2_Iron said:

 

I'll give that a try.  Before the shortening, I was driving the ball around 225 carry, 245 roll out.  Now, it's probably 200 now on average.  Maybe I need to do some medicine ball drills or something.  I'm 46 with limited flexibility so my expectations are tempered.  But still....   I really should be carrying 225 - 240 with my size and build.  At least I think.....

The process takes longer than you think and initially you will hit it shorter because you are taking the hands out of the equation so for a time you will have a shorter swing motion AND less force production but over time the body will adjust but it may take months.  The distance will come back once the range of motion of the hips increases and your timing resets.  

[Obee]

Yes. 30 years older,  30 lbs. fatter, and 30% less flexible and my swing is magically shorter! Let me show you how!!! 

[tthomasgolfer605]

22 hours ago, AP76 said:

It's certainly working well for the world number one! Good enough for him then it should be more than good enough for us guys! ⛳🏌️💪🏼

Don't think so. Rahm is much stronger than the average dude. 

[rondo01]

5 hours ago, Righty to Lefty said:

This is actually a true statement but it will wreck the body's timing initially. 

behold. The kick you in the teeth, **** your timing drill to end all drills

associated discussion: 

 

[Paddy_2_Iron]

6 hours ago, Righty to Lefty said:

This is actually a true statement but it will wreck the body's timing initially. 

 

The process takes longer than you think and initially you will hit it shorter because you are taking the hands out of the equation so for a time you will have a shorter swing motion AND less force production but over time the body will adjust but it may take months.  The distance will come back once the range of motion of the hips increases and your timing resets.  

 

Don't get me wrong the irons are improving a lot, I mean a lot.  Straight and semi on target, prior too it was all timing.  Good holes bad holes, bad golf.  Now I might thin one from time to time, but nothing egregious.  

 

The drive though has really become limp.  How did you build up your core to get strong to swing faster with the rotatory swing?   Any videos?

[Righty to Lefty]

12 hours ago, rondo01 said:

behold. The kick you in the teeth, **** your timing drill to end all drills

associated discussion: 

 

Love this drill....after the fact!! I HATED it in the moment!! I also did different versions of it where I would take the club back and stop...wait 3 seconds, then swing through. I would also do full swings in slow motion where the swing would take some 8 seconds and so I could really feel the swing motion.   I would do these with every club in the bag including driver because it forced me to really be patient and hit the ball with body rotation because there is no force on the club so if I got handsy the clubhead would snap closed and I would pull the shot.  I would do this at the beginning of every session for 45 mins and then I would slowly add speed until felt things break down. I would then back off and that would be my max speed for that day.  I would then try to increase my cruising speed next time.  It was very important for me to video my swing every few weeks because mentally I was going mad, but the progress was showing up on video after about a 6 weeks of very focused effort.  

 

 

11 hours ago, Paddy_2_Iron said:

 

Don't get me wrong the irons are improving a lot, I mean a lot.  Straight and semi on target, prior too it was all timing.  Good holes bad holes, bad golf.  Now I might thin one from time to time, but nothing egregious.  

 

The drive though has really become limp.  How did you build up your core to get strong to swing faster with the rotatory swing?   Any videos?

I was wondering how things were goin with you Paddy_2_Iron!  I will shoot you a message as to not threadjack someone else's thread.  

[Haroputt]

Took me years to shorten my swing. I did it naturally as I got  less flexible and fatter. I was past parallel at the top. One thing I notice is my pressure shift to the left side is much earlier   I start at P2 or P3.  When I was past parallel I waited until P4 before I started my “downswing pressure shift”. So rhythm is going to feel very different 

Also I been shortening my follow through as well as my backswing.   I like Tommy Fleetwoods iron swing. 

[phillyspecial]

Funny thing about this issue (which I have also battled forever and never resolved) is besides the poorly named swing extender , there is really no training aid on the market past or present that addresses this.  Not that another training device could materially help what is a very difficult problem to overcome, but for all the other swing faults out there with $49.99 solutions, this doesn't have one.  I'm too lazy to invent it but I'd probably buy it! 

[Krt22]

On 1/10/2022 at 8:44 AM, tthomasgolfer605 said:

Don't think so. Rahm is much stronger than the average dude. 

Much more skilled as well. Getting all of the transition elements sorted in such a short period of time and still being able to hit it decently far is no small task. When it comes to the golf swing, the polar opposite of "bad" is typically also bad. 

[getitdaily]

On 1/1/2022 at 4:41 PM, Asizzle10 said:

I’ve stagnated for 4 years despite lots of lessons and lots of practice. I’m stuck at around a 12 index. My instructor and I believe it’s due to my backswing being past parallel and my trail hand coming off club at top.

 

I just have put off trying to shorten my backswing because I know it takes some serious time and dedication. I’m ready to hammer this out over next couple months.

 

Hoping someone who went through this can share their improvement after shortening? Is there light on the other side?

100% light on the other side. A few things to help...

 

1. Think "arms stop when left should reaches chin"

2. Think "backswing stops when hands reach waist high"

3. Use a tempo app like tour tempo. When people start to shorten their swings, they tend to get faster in tempo. Don't do that. What you'll find is that there's plenty of power in a shorter swing. You may actually hit it farther. But you'll feel like you need to hit it harder...no bueno

4. Hit 1000 balls thinking 3/4 swing

 

 

[skyleralan]

Coming from someone with a "longer" swing who always heard high hands, high hands.......the trade off is losing connection with the body on the take away.  You think you are super athletic and getting into position like DJ, but what I was doing and many others is pulling my arms up and back along with rotating my forearms......ALL BAD!  Get a good down the line view, if you see space between your arms and your chest........bad news!!!  We see lots of people recommend putting things under the lead armpit, I get why and that is what you are trying to teach, just feels bad!  Get that lead arm against your pecs/chest and I guarantee you will get more width, but a shorter swing!

Edited January 21, 2022 by skyleralan