Lesson of the Week: Paul Oglesby PGA- Overcoming 5 Back Surgeries

Paul may be the first player I’ve taught who has had more back operations than I have, and it shows in the swing he brought with him when he visited me in Boca for an in-person lesson.   Paul has an excellent record as a player having competed in the British Open and two U.S. Opens in the 1980’s as well as winning the Pennsylvania State Open in 1994, but the golf swing is tough enough without dealing with constant pain and stiffness, and the last 20 years have brought diminishing returns as a player although Paul has continued his teaching career both in Philadelphia and here in Florida.  The golf swing is one of the most demanding sports as far as stress on every joint of the body, and it would be the last thing a doctor would prescribe for a bad back.  Paul has lost a ton of distance with the driver and has not been able to compress an iron the way he remembers doing it in the past and knowing that I have been through the same issues was one of the reasons he chose to come for a checkup.  I saw immediately that he was not winding his upper trunk nearly enough,  and the entire swing looked narrow and bunched up.  We worked a bit on posture, but for the most part concentrated on extending the backswing by stretching the takeaway and loading to the right while trying to feel width through left arm and shoulder stretch and right arm extensor action getting to the top.  The additional coil in the upper body had the bonus of increasing and deepening his hip turn, and by the end of the lesson, as you will see, he effected big changes in his wind up, club path, and arm structure.

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