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Up until a few months ago my back was feeling OK and I was pleased with the progress I was making with my swing. However, the arthritis in my right big toe has gotten to the point where it is affecting the way I walk (every step hurts) and that, of course, is a very problematical thing for anyone, especially someone like me who already has serious back issues. I shot 80 in a one- day event about a month ago, and it was especially frustrating because my hips and lower back were so stiff and sore I simply couldn’t do what I wanted with my swing. I always like to prepare before I play in a tournament, so I’m going to be practicing and playing more than usual so I can feel ready to play, although over the years I have gotten much smarter about not overdoing it. The day after the round I decided I needed to somehow eliminate at least some of the stress I was putting on my hips and back, even though I believe it is impossible to eliminate all of it simply because the golf swing stresses every joint in the body as much or more than any other sport and does so repetitively. I was going through my model swings and I came upon Gene Littler, who was standing almost straight up and down at address, then creating more space in the forward swing. I also looked at some of Sergio’s swings in which he also seems to have a very erect posture (although with a lot more knee flex than Littler), and without seeming to stretch out his backswing produces plenty of power with a hard catch and aggressive rotation into and past impact. I tried standing up as tall as I could with minimal knee flex, and when I swung the club back I just let my hips turn while it felt like my arms did most of the backswing work. An important part of what was actually happening was that my attempt to “flare” my right elbow deeper behind me while maintaining the space I had between the arm and the body at address was getting my trunk to turn early, even though it really did feel like an arm-swing. Another thing that helped the backswing was squeezing my knees toward each other at address as Hogan advocates in the Five Lessons. As I tried this I felt much less grinding on my hips and back, and I knew that if I was going to create speed I was going to have to really kick the club back and shallow the shaft while creating space for the right arm. The results have been encouraging.
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