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Looking for helpful advice & tips for Senior Golfers? As we age, we go through physical changes. Here are our top golf tips for improving your golf game as you age.
Aging can adversely impact your golf game, your swing in particular. Losing your flexibility as the years add up amounts to losing the ability to hit the ball the way you used to.
If you carry on swinging the club as you did in your youthful days, it could make you feel drained, or worse, cause injury.
Could this disable you from shooting the scores you did in the past? Certainly not. Quite the opposite is true. In fact, you have valuable knowledge that provides ways to compensate for a slower swing speed.
There’s no stopping you from scoring well, regardless of your age. But it would help if you introduced changes to various facets of your game, like your swing or equipment, and of course, your fitness and flexibility.
Read on to gain valuable insight into what the fittest in the business does and what they recommend for you.
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1. Learn Bernhard Langer’s Tips for Senior Golfers
Bernhard Langer has an incredible rags-to-riches story. He’s known as a longevity legend who’s been a top-tier pro and senior pro for decades. He attributes his distinctive form to listening to his body.
“People think golf may not be a sport, but it is a sport, and it’s demanding. As we get older, we lose both strength and flexibility. Every year we lose a percentage or two. It’s never too late or too early to start a lifestyle regime; once you do, you’ll enjoy the benefits for years”.
– Bernhard Langer, Interview with Golf.com
What he’s trying to say here is that you should be mindful of what you eat, exercise regularly, and keep those ever-stiffening joints and muscles flexible by stretching them out.
This will improve your golf game and attain longevity that would enable you to play till your last breath!
With that in mind, here are some strategies and tips for senior golfers to help you maintain your golf game as you age.
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2. Stretches For Seniors: Golf Flexibility
This is the most important, and often the most overlooked, aspect for a senior golfer to focus on. Staying flexible means an increased range of motion and a reduced risk of injury for senior golfers.
A golf-specific stretching regime to start your day or pre-round would do wonders for your game. You could also try yoga, a more manageable and convenient tool to stay flexible and mindful.
Stretches and warming up help you avoid common golf injuries.
Work Your Core
Like any other sport, having a solid core is essential for golf. Work those abdominal muscles and glutes to improve stability and strength during the golf swing. A strong core also means better overall strength.
Here’s a short video from More Life Health Seniors that demonstrates standing core and glue exercises for seniors.
Get Your Body Warmed Up
Show up to the course half an hour ahead of your tee time stretching your muscles with basic golf warm up exercies. Head to the range and hit a bucket of balls to loosen up and get into a good rhythm.
It’s best to start with your wedges and work up to your irons and woods when hitting balls on the range.
3. Movement Around the Golf Course
Did you know you get approximately 12,000 steps walking a golf course? Golf is truly a great way to exercise.
Most courses usually offer the luxury of golf carts, but opting to walk instead is the best thing for your fitness, stamina, and health. It keeps the heart rate up. The critical thing to remember is to pace yourself when walking on the golf course.
Investing in a golf push cart is also a smart move. The push cart will move without much effort to push it around. It’s a great alternative to riding in a golf cart.
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4. Choosing the Right Golf Equipment
It’s recommended to use golfing equipment that suits you to get the most out of your golf swing, especially as you age.
Most seniors have slower swing speeds, and having reciprocal golf clubs provides valuable added distance.
Having the right grammage and material in your shafts is paramount. Most seniors opt for graphite shafts as they’re lighter and more flexible than steel shafts.
Replacing your long irons with hybrids is also advisable. Hybrid clubs allow you to hit the ball longer without giving it a hard whack.
You can get fitted for golf clubs as well. First, they’ll check your swing for speed, smash factor, etc., and then recommend clubs and shafts that would suit you best.
Read Next: Senior Shaft vs Regular Shaft: Which Is Best?
5. Find the Right Putter Length
As you age, your set-up to the ball changes. This means your alignment could be off. Finding and having the right length putter means you would now have a more relaxed and controlled stroke which could amount to more sunk putts!
6. Find a Golf Ball That Suits Your Game
Golfers tend to use the exact ball that the pros use. This is not always a good idea. Especially not for senior golfers, who would play better with a low-compression golf ball.
Seniors should opt for a golf ball with a rating between 70 and 80. This would match up to their slower swing speeds and in turn, improve their distance.
Read Next: The Best Golf Balls For Slow Swing Speeds
7. Approach & Strategy Tips for Senior Golfers
Perhaps the most important facet in the game of golf, even more so for senior golfers is how you select your shots and navigate your way around the course is quintessential.
Here are some tips for senior golfers with regard to how they must approach the golf course and revamp their strategy according to their ability.
Work on Your Golf Game Basics
Having solid fundamentals is the right place to start for any golfer.
Keep checks on your grip, ball positioning, posture, stance, etc., and you’ll be surprised how much of a difference these seemingly basic things can make.
Golf Course Management Strategy
Accepting that you can’t hit the ball as far and consequently can’t attack the golf course the way you used to isn’t always easy, but it’s a crucial reality one must face.
Play conservatively and hit the right club. Get back in position if in the rough.
Deciding and committing to every golf shot is key. Take every hole and every shot subjectively.
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Play From the Right Golf Tees – Senior Tees?
Just like your handicap, playing from the senior tees simply levels the playing field for senior golfers. There’s no shame in this as the game of golf is played in equity and this is, by all means, every senior is right and it caters to certain restrictions that come with age.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of being a senior golfer is playing from the senior tees. These tees are between 25 and 50 yards ahead of the regular tees and closer to the hole.
This not only shortens the hole considerably but also takes certain hazards out of play.
8. Practice Makes Perfect
Whether you practice golf in your backyard or you go to the driving range, staying golf fit is an essential step for all golf players.
For slower swing speed golfers, you’ll want to look at potentially investing in some golf training aids to help you maintain your swing tempo as you age. Speed-enhancing practice tools can be very beneficial to senior golfers. Some senior golfers even gain more distance!
We recommend not buying every new golf training aid that comes to market. Pick and choose the ones you can grow with and become better with over the years.
Schedule time to practice. Even if it’s just 15 minutes a week – you’ll feel the difference it makes on the course. Check out some of our best golf training aids recommended by our golf expert.
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9. Work on Your Golf Mental Game
Golf is very much a mental game. In many ways, Ben Hogan’s secret to success was knowing that golf is 70% mental, meaning that most of it is a mental game. While you must have a solid golf swing, there’s a lot of other factors at play.
Often golfers just don’t have the knowledge and understanding that that golf psychology is a very real thing. Being optimistic and letting go of the negativity can help support better long-term outcomes.
10. Learn From the Golfing Greats
One of the other reasons why we love golf is that books from decades ago about golf tips, golf swings, and other key advice is often relevant today. Why start from scratch, when you can learn from a PGA professional golfer?
Some of our favorite golf books such as Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons and the Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book still remain at the top of the best sellers lists today. Check out our full list of favorite golf books including some newer releases.
Final Thoughts & Tips for Senior Golfers
With age comes the decision to make certain changes to your game from various standpoints, such as fitness, equipment, etc. These changes are essential for every senior golfer as they allow them to get the most out of their game.
Tips for senior golfers are key to achieving a consistent golf game. You’re bound to benefit in at least one area if you work along these lines.
