Golf Smart Academy Forum — How do you swing well when muscles are tired?

This past Tuesday, I had a driver fitting at the PGA store. I hit the ball really well keeping most of the shots in play - even with the test drivers that I'd never touch before. (The new Titleist GT2 won.) Today, two days later, I when to Edwin Watts for a free driver fitting to see if I could get the same results - or not. /I figure if I'm going to spend chunk of change, that I want to make sure as best I can that I'm spending my money well.

I think I about got the same results, but it was harder to tell because my lower back muscles were tired.

My lower back was a little sore, but I'm pretty sure the muscles were more tired than sore. So, I did not hit the ball well, but I consistently hit pull hooks - with all the clubs. I probably had a few good shots of which a few were with the GT2.

Anyway, what do you do when your muscles get tired, and you can't seem to swing your normal swing? How do you play when everything is a pull hook (or whatever)? I didn't have much luck adjusting to make the driver very playable.

Side note: PGA store said I should use a regular flex while Watts said I should stick with a stiff flex like I have now in my Cobra LTDx.

Mark

I think the ultimate goal is to have an adaptable swing. Your question, “how do I swing when I’m sore” could easily branch into “how do I swing when I’m stiff?” “when my balance feels off?” “when I have a harder time focusing or feeling things?” etc

The key is to develop an abilty to make small tweaks to correct your ball flight that day. I think the goal is to have multiple feels that fix a problem. For example, if I was pull hooking the ball, I have a feel in my shoulders and one in my wrist that I could use to keep the club face from closing too fast or too soon. I also have an anti-hook feeling in my core and hips, but if my back was sore, I would probably gravitate more toward my arm feelings.

Also, when my body is sore, I try to tease things out during warm up to find a swing for that day. If my numbers were significantly different, especially speed, then I’d probably avoid doing a club fitting while feeling sore. But usually it’s just a matter of my swing feeling different vs actually swinging significantly slower to the point where it might adjust my fit.

If I wasn’t swinging well, then I would error on comparing the new club to my existing club and seeing if the ball flight was similar between the two.

So the tricky answer is that I slightly change my swing when my body isn’t cooperating. I did a playing lesson a few weeks ago when my neck was bothering me. I essentially felt like I swing more with my arms and played more of a thin draw that day. But you have to have good awareness of you swing to make those changes. The safest option is to try and swing extra smooth and just get through the round or practice so that you can reassess when it’s feeling better.

Happy golfing,
Tyler

How do you swing well when muscles are tired?

How do you swing well when muscles are tired? ¶

Re: How do you swing well when muscles are tired? ¶