6 Best Golf Swing Techniques for Beginners and Seniors

With all of the different tips and approaches, how is one to know what the best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors are? If you’re guessing you’ll find them right here in this article, then let’s just say—I like the way you think! For it is here that you will not only learn some of the best golf swing methods, but you’ll find a ton of resources to refer to as your Tiger Woods status progresses. Like, 7 Easiest Golf Irons to Hit for Beginners or Mid Handicappers. Bam! There’s your first one! And once you’ve read it and have found a suitable club, you’ll be ready to work on that swing!

At a first glance, when you’re flipping through the channels and somehow find yourself suckered into the suspense of a televised golf tournament, you watch these professional golfers whack balls around and it all looks so simple that you can’t help but think to yourself, “I could do THAT”. But the truth is: no, no you can’t! Once one actually gets serious about golfing they find that, like any sport, there is a lot of technique involved that requires a great deal of practice to perfect. Golf is not just dressing up in a snazzy outfit and smacking a tiny ball with a fancy, metal stick towards a small, random hole in the ground. And judging by the simple fact that your eyes are reading the words in this particular listicle, you’ve already taken a whack at it and realized that you might need a few tips to work on your technique.

So, here you are, and it’s a good thing you’ve made it here, too because I’ve considered the beginners and senior citizens that wish to improve their golf swing, but don’t need to be overwhelmed with all of the clutter that the world wide web has to offer them. Instead, I’ll be helping correct those simple mistakes that beginners often make, sharing the best and easiest tips to get you that perfect swing every time and sending you on your way with more helpful resources to refer to and coach you along as you progress.

Before you get too excited, let me tell ya how I came up with this particular list, ‘cause I gotta say, I could have gone a number of different ways with it considering there are not only endless tips to aid you in getting the proper swing, but there are different styles of swings, too (like the ‘no backswing’ golf swing). Since we are taking a look at the best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors, I thought it best to leave the fancy swinging techniques out of the picture altogether in light of the fact that a: beginners should start with the basics and work their way up to fancy swing status no matter how easy the technique, and b: while a senior might be a more seasoned player than a beginner, they might not be quite as limber, and therefore could still get a lot from sharpening up the swing that they are already comfortable with or perhaps, finding a more comfortable swing for them.  If you happen to be a senior beginner golfer you are going to want to note that there may be a different golf swing for the older man. But first, you’ll want to get the right golf stance for seniors. I liked how this senior golf swing youtube clip went about giving a clear senior golf swing analysis from multiple angles that are easy to follow.

Even with sticking to techniques that are both basic enough for beginners and can still be helpful for golfers with a bit more experience, there are still countless tips instructing players to ‘stand like this’, ‘grip your club this way’, ‘angle your elbows just so!’ and yadda yadda. Definitely, good stuff to know, but kind of an information overload! Especially for a beginner; now, you’re concentrating all too hard on every little aspect of your swing and before you know it you’ve messed it up. Again. That’s why I thought it better to break the golf swing down into six steps and give you the best piece of advice for each step. Basically, give you the fundamentals of the fundamentals, if you will; which are also the base of any fancy technique I could show you, anyway. Because in all reality, the easiest golf swing to master is your own. And with these basic golf swing tips, you’ll be able to do just that! And now, let’s see which are the best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors.

 

6. Set-Up: Relax—Don’t forget to breathe

Here a silly one among the other best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors – your breathing can affect the outcome of your golf swing. Think about it. You’re standing there trying to get your positioning just right, finding that perfect grip on the club—thinking about where you need to get the ball to go. As naturally as breathing comes to us, we often completely forget to when we are under pressure. Thus, causing you to be tense. How do you suppose you are going to perform when you are tense? Poorly! Even professionals realize the significance of taking a moment to make sure they’re relaxed before making their move. Golfer, Jason Dufner practices a military breathing technique to help slow his heart rate before he putts and claims just simply breathing has helped him bring his numbers down. This technique doesn’t just come in handy when you’re on the green; you need to be calm for those long drives, as well. If you’re not relaxed, everything you already know about how to set-up your golf swing is toast. Burnt toast!

If, however, your stiffness is due to age then be sure to use these age-defying tips for senior golfers to increase distance. Along with some other great golf swing tips for seniors, it states that simply keeping your right foot turned slightly outward will take some of the pressure off of your hips, thus further preventing swaying in your backswing. But note, that this is not a golf swing fundamental for beginners! Just a little tip on the golf swing for the older man.

 

5. Takeaway: Keep your clubface forward

Among other best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors, this step might not be as straightforward as the set-up where you are, obviously setting up your swing. The takeaway is that first movement leading into your backswing, or according to Jack Nicklaus, roughly the first 18 inches of your swing. He also states that the takeaway is the most important part of the swing, and I must say that I do believe it is highly underrated, as it is often not given very much thought; which is kind of a bummer considering if your takeaway is crap, then your whole swing is pretty likely to be a bust. As with any of these steps, there are dozens of tips to get the moves just right, but in all reality, all you really need to remember is to keep your club face forward. Once the face of your club starts to go awry, forget it! You won’t have as much control and you’ll end up slicing at balls! A simple way to ensure proper club face positioning during your takeaway is to push the club straight back with your front arm. So, if you are right-handed you would simply push straight back with your left arm. Piece of cake!

 

4. Backswing: Touch your shoulder to your chin

Here’s where your swing is quickly getting very technical in the movement of your hips to the positioning and angles of your arms and shoulders. It’s easy to start getting overwhelmed in this step and end up with a squirrely shot. Given you have followed the first two steps of the six best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors, you’re relaxed and your front arm is pushing back, your other arm should naturally pull it back. While many sources will advise you to bring your swing back a certain distance, it really is up to you to find your own sweet spot. Regardless of where that is, your shoulder should be touching your chin before you begin the next step. If it’s not, then it’s safe to bet that your positioning is a bit off, however, if you’re following the steps, again, they’re so straightforward that the rest of your body should instinctively be following along in a good form.

 

3. Downswing: Return your front shoulder to its starting position

Okay, nooow it’s starting to get a bit intense. But now’s not the time to start panicking. You’re calm, remember? And anyway, there’s no need to get intimidated, because you have these best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors, they’re freaking easy! So easy a caveman could do it (I had to say it)!  But seriously,  your goal in the downswing is to get your front arm back to its starting position. I can’t stress enough that if you’ve been following the tips for each step, this should come quite naturally without much thought. Former professional golfer Johnny Miller even claims it is the best golf swing tip ever. In his article, he states that simply returning your left shoulder (given you are right-handed) to its starting position in your downswing can keep you from slicing or hooking the ball and giving you a clean contact with the ball.

 

2. Contact/Impact: Keep your clubface square with the golf ball

Let’s explain our number two on the list of best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors. By now, I’m sure you’ve caught onto the fact that the positioning of your clubface is one of the key factors in determining whether or not you’re going to have a successful drive.You’re just not going to have good contact at impact if you can’t control your clubface. As easy as it sounds, this is something that amateurs often struggle with. The easiest way to correct this crucial mistake is to recognize that there is a relationship between your right palm and the clubface in that your right palm is a reflection of your clubface. Try a few slow motion swings with your right palm open (or your left if you are a lefty!) until you’ve got it just right! Keep your eye on what your right palm is doing and you’ll quickly be able to square up that club!

 

1. Follow-Through: Maintain balanced stance

So, you’ve made contact with the ball… That’s it, right? Wrong! What many don’t realize is that following-through with your golf swing is just as important as all of the steps leading up to it. No, there’s no special voodoo you can do at this point to correct the mistakes you may or may not have already made, but if you follow-through and maintain the stance that you end up in you will better be able to pinpoint the steps where you may have gone wrong. A proper golf swing will end in the same balanced follow-through every time! Any experienced golfer will be able to point out the flaws in your swing just by seeing your follow-through. And chances are, they most likely have some of the best golf swing techniques for beginners and seniors of their own to share! But if you’ve followed these golf basics for beginners and seniors, you won’t need someone else to tell you where you’ve gone wrong.