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Originally Posted by 300Yards I swing more hunched over than most people. Just the way my body works.. |
Without meaning to hijack the subject of the thread, I can relate to what 300yards is saying and I promise to eventually get back around to the subject of the thread.
BTW - thanks for the excuse to play hooky at my desk. I'm getting really good at LOOKING like I'm working while I enjoy my golf and guitar forums.
OK - Here we go...
I'm 6' 7" tall but don't use 2" extra long clubs a professional measurement would suggest I need, if I took a proper posture and stance over the ball. I also have a comparitively short upper arm, so it puts me a tiny bit farther away. You might have seen something in the past to suggest that two people with a difference in height of 6 inches would both have their hands hang at the same point because of the difference in the length of their arms. In my case, it just isn't true.
The other thing is, at 58 years old, I simply can't handle the heavy swingweight that extra long clubs would have, so my solution is to bend over a lot and use regular length clubs. I "fake" extra length by using clubs that are a couple degrees upright, but it isn't the same as when I could handle extra long clubs. I've been told I look like I'm swinging a toothpick when I hit a golf ball and even with a 4 or 5 iron, I'm bent over quite a lot, so don't hurt yourself picturing me with a sand wedge in my hands.
Now, before I continue, let me mention something. Before I semi-retired 14 years ago, I enjoyed a long career as a furniture designer. I was sort of an architect for things you sit on, lay on or lean on, things you cook in or set your beer bottle on. I have over 100 design patents and I am what these days is often specifically called an ergonomical engineer in various college's engineering programs. So, I have a professional background in all this silliness that is the study of how the human body works and fits into its environment. That doesn't mean what I'm about to say is totally right for you or me. (You only need to see Lee Trevino swing a club to know nothing matters anyway) It's just that I have a degree and the ability to spout more statistics than most people.
What I'm getting at here, my opinion, is twofold.
Firstly - There are NO golf books anyone ever wrote that were designed for someone my height, or someone very short either. They are basically generic, for lack of a better word. I can enjoy the concepts and absorb the knowledge, but the only real way for me to get help is through my local pro.
Secondly - In terms of the unnatural movement that is a golf swing, I'll venture a guess to say 80% of EVERYONE is imperfect in some way that doesn't fit the book mold. It's pretty easy to conclude we would all be better off visiting our pro. Of course, that raises the question as to how the so called average is determined if such a high per centage of us are varied from the norm. I simply pass it off to say golfers are crazy anyway, at which point, I turn on my heel and walk away before intelligent people can ask me any more questions.
The real answer is what I said before, the golf swing is not a natural motion.
If you are wondering, here are those so called typical physical properties. If you are the average male, you are probably close to 5'9" tall, 170 lb person. Females are obviously smaller, but benefit with a bit more room since the world is designed to be generic in terms of space allocation on the male model. If you are that size, you are the person around which clubs are designed and most golf instruction books are written. It's also how airplane seats are spaced, car seats are designed, table and chair heights are calculated, bathrooms and kitchen appliances are designed, everything down to the height your tv sits on your wall unit so you don't hurt your neck watching it while sitting on your couch...
In short, if you are far removed from that size, you adapt. As an aside, if you went to Asian furniture factories, they manufacture to a smaller spec. I once designed the interior plan for a home owned by a family in which nobody was over 5'1" tall... lower kitchen counters, lower cabinets on the wall, lower wall units built in and custom made Asian spec furniture. At my height, it was like being in a doll house.
I'd venture a guess that the greatest players through history were not too far removed either way from the optimum height and weight. Consider, Jack Nicklaus is 5'10" and through his playing years was around the 175-180 lb mark... If I'm not mistaken, Arnie is 5'9" as is Tom Watson... Gary Player was a bit shorter... Tiger is a big exception at over 6' tall.
There are exceptions obviously. For my height, George Archer and Dan Forseman were all I had to look up to as a kid. (Pun intended, as I'm taller than both of them) These days, that's why Ernie Els is my favorite player to watch. He makes a tall man swing and it's the swing I would like to emulate.
Go see your pro... (Lord - you'd think I was on commission...)