I was watching Grant Horvat host Tony Finau on his channel and Grant asked Tony why he takes a short backswing. Tony said he learned he could take a short backswing and get the same ballspeed with increased accuracy. This planted the seed in my head and really helped my game.
After a year of taking John Daly length backswings, I finally decided to put my ego aside and last week I tried half swings at the Trackman range. Turns out with a half to 2/3 backswing, I get the same ballspeed and much better accuracy. I immediately switched, went on course and shaved 10+ strokes per round and finally broke 100 for the first time yesterday.
I feel like an idiot for taking unnecessarily long swings for a year before finally making a huge jump, but I'm thankful I discovered this tip.
Edit: Corrected the spelling of Finau
Edit2: Moment in Grant Horvat video for reference: https://youtu.be/KwMtjSfJbBg?si=mynFY218kSrYLaAW&t=800
by YakGolfs
20 Comments
Man, even for more experienced golfers, this is good advice. Especially on days where the ballstriking is off, I’ve found that just shortening my backswing a little helps with better strikes/reset the swing feel a little. Much better than trying to diagnose some other aspect of the swing that isn’t necessarily off
Yes, I swing like I’m feeling a 3/4 swing (its actually a full swing) vs a full swing which will likely be an over swing…much better contact, better striking
Long time short back swing guy with ok ball speed. The problem then becomes, you get quick on even a short swing once it is your swing, but other than that I’m a big fan. All that matters is impact and it isn’t hard to get a club going through it.
I’m not as long as I used to be but I still have 300 in the bag and a 170 7 iron with traditional lofted blades. Distance isn’t an issue but as your cap gets down you will get your own bad habits with a shorter swing. There is no easy fix in this game…
There is an important note to this advice, short swing does not mean quick tempo, 2/3 swing works great, but only if you still allow for good tempo and transition. Finau is a good example of this, you can still clearly see the point of transition between back and down swing.
Many new players will often swing quickly back and then down in a jerk, which leads to terrible inconsistancy in stike.
So by all means do 2/3 swings, but remember to keep the fundamentals of the golf swing intact.
Man, I agree.
Coming off a stretch where I sliced every single drive.
Last two times I played, focus on a shorter back swing and I hit the ball in the middle of the fairways most of the time and even longer distance.
The problem for me is my instructor keeps telling me he needs more backswing from me!
Your point is correct. But Tony is a bad example. There’s plenty of Instagram reels of him taking actual full swings and pushing 200mph ball speed. He’s 100% leaving quite a bit in the tank. What he consistently says though is that he’s never struggled to hit the ball with power, he’s struggled to keep it in the field of play. Hence toning his swing down quite a bit.
Yep, I found out the same thing recently. Feels like I’m taking a chip shot some swings, but my ball flies far and straight.
If I can’t see the head of my club in my peripheral vision at the top of my backswing, I’m letting Daly down.
I do something similar by dragging the club head about a foot behind the ball in my setup. Rahm uses it as well.
I’ve been working on this. As I’ve gotten older I can’t “stop” my backswing like I used to due to a shoulder injury so I’ve slowed it way down and shortened it. Ridiculous how easy…
the further back the swing the tougher it is to follow through. i mean it’s not baseball right? 💯
I was whacking away at the range an hour ago and watched a super jacked old dude take the smallest most consistent swings I’ve ever seen. Not hitting very hard either.
20 balls on the 50 pin, 20 on the 100, 20 on the 125… it was awesome
So I tried sorta containing myself and started hitting more consistently and actually getting more range. 🤯🤯
Talked to him for a few minutes and complimented his consistently
“You know how I got like this? By hitting like you do for a lot longer. This is way more fun.” 😂
“We’ll be here in ten years talking about the same shit”
My irons yes, my driver is easier for me to hit accurately with the longer swing. It’s a timing thing with driver. After years of the long driver swing, there are days that I can’t do it, due to back pain. I use my 3w setup and swing on those days. I’m able to keep it in play, but accuracy is gone.
To be fair, Tony’s short backswing is likely still longer than my full backswing. He is quite tall.
Yep I’ve been learning this the last two seasons. Game has gotten back to where it should be, and the confidence is growing. Short backswing, swing through your feet
yep this was my aha moment. Took about a year to figure this out but I realized that my “half” swing was really a full swing and I was way over extending.
I made this switch years ago. It has led to significantly better ballstriking and consistency.
I play 10x better when I actually do this myself. I 100% agree with this advice.
I would love to shorten my back swing. I’ve tried every drill and tip on the internet but nothing works. My practice swings are fine but my actual swing looks like I’m trying to be John Daly. It’s frustrating as hell.