Long or short backswing?

[Marty420]

I have a really long back swing and my shaft goes way past horizontal before the downswing (think John Daly!) I've had lessons to try and fix this. One pro said just try a 3/4 swing, and it worked, stopped dead on horizontal.
The problem then was it didn't feel like I my shoulders had turned far enough, wasn't generating enough club head speed and I couldn't rotate far enough on my follow through. Normally my right shoulder is pointing towards the target, where as a '3/4 swing left my whole upper body pointing towards the target.

I've given up trying to fix it, my swing feels comfortable and works for me. As long as the clubhead is square by the time it reaches the ball they generally go where I want them to

 

[Banzai]

My hands never really go above my shoulder line and i hit it plenty hard by handicap golfer standards, as a former cricketer i just lose all timing if i go any further.

 

[jack1]

Some really interesting replies here. I am not sure what to do next i guess! I see guys at my club winning medals and knocking shots off their handicaps with swings that look so ugly. One guy has a stubby swing and turns on his follow through like an ice skater doing an ugly pirouet. He will beat me hands down because he is of the "not how, but how many" school of golf. For me a graceful swing that gets to it's target one in ten has been good enough but i am thinking i need to meet somewhere in the middle maybe.

 

[Lump]

If you think your swing is long or short have a look at your wrists at the top of your swing. My left wrist is cupped which makes my swing appear much longer than it is. This is something I've fought over the years but now is just part of my swing but it is worth while taking note.

 

[jack1]

Thought it might be useful to update where i got with this. All the advice here was helpful and what i realised is that i was attempting to get to parrallel by hinging the wrists for the last quarter of the backswing in order for it to feel "full". What resulted was an inconsistent dispersion caused by loss of control in that last quarter, resulting in not returning the clubface to the ball consistently square enough.

What i have been doing since is simply stopping the backswing at three quarters, which is where the shoulder turn stops naturally, allowing me to maintain the wrists and to a large extent the arms in a more consistent position, which results in a more consistent return of the club face to square, and consequently more straight shots. The difference i would say is about 8 out of 10 straight as oppose to three out of ten. It is quickly starting to feel natural rather than stilted and am enjoying golf again.

 

[RobertB]

Thought it might be useful to update where i got with this. All the advice here was helpful and what i realised is that i was attempting to get to parrallel by hinging the wrists for the last quarter of the backswing in order for it to feel "full". What resulted was an inconsistent dispersion caused by loss of control in that last quarter, resulting in not returning the clubface to the ball consistently square enough.

What i have been doing since is simply stopping the backswing at three quarters, which is where the shoulder turn stops naturally, allowing me to maintain the wrists and to a large extent the arms in a more consistent position, which results in a more consistent return of the club face to square, and consequently more straight shots. The difference i would say is about 8 out of 10 straight as oppose to three out of ten. It is quickly starting to feel natural rather than stilted and am enjoying golf again.

good outcome. i'm of view terminology of 'swing' in the golf'swing' just conveys wrong thoughs to most of us amateurs. so people swing club around body with hands and arms rather than rotate shoulders and upper body (to which arms, hands and club are attached) against lower body. but golf-rotation sounds wrong.

 

[Joff]

This is me in a nutshell.
I have a very short backswing but still generate good distance,however it does frustrate
me sometimes as it doesn't look like the traditional full flowing swing.
If I try to lengthen my swing I too lose a bit of control and have a much wider dispersion.
A lot of pros advocate completing the backswing however how much I try I just cant do it.
The most important thing I suppose is to be comfortable and of course on the short stuff.

This is me also.

 

[Nosevi]

Most club golfers would benefit from shortening their swing and it doesn't usually mean a loss of distance. A lot of players swing too far back and in trying to achieve their long swing they make fundamental mistakes which cause loss of power. A shorter, more controlled swing would see most players hit the ball better, straighter and further.

Got to agree. I practice with a tour pro from time to time and he has a really compact swing, with the short irons in particular. Still hits his 9 iron 160 yards (launch monitor measured the other day) mind you. Made me reassess how far back I should be going. Shortened my swing and lost nothing but picked up a tonne of accuracy.