Best Senior Golf Swing? Donald Trump Golf Swing Analysis
PGA Professional Jack Backhouse breaks down President Donald Trump’s golf swing to see if he really is as good as he says.
Donald Trump has been a low handicapper for many years and he recently took to the golf course with Bryson DeChambeau in the Break 50 challenge and performed unexpectedly well. In the video below, PGA Professional Jack Backhouse breaks down Donald Trump’s golf swing to see what makes him such a good player at nearly 80 years old.
Trump has a very nice grip on the golf club; using an overlap grip, his hands are very neutral. His posture is pretty textbook, and he stands nicely in balance. As a senior golfer well into his 70s, he will be fairly stiff and immobile in places, so it is important to stand in a way that will allow him to make as big a golf swing as possible.
The purpose of the backswing is to put you in a position that allows you to hit the ball from the inside at the most speed you can manage. As a senior golfer, Trump has to do this in a fairly unorthodox way.
He takes the club back with his hands and arms, dragging the club head way inside into a position a lot of golfers might work on to change.
I think moving the club in this way so early is brilliant for senior golfers. It allows them to swing the club flat into a position at the top where the club head is way behind them, and there is plenty of depth to the hand position.
This is because most senior players struggle with disassociation between the upper and lower body, so the club has to travel from a flatter position so as not to be over the top.
Donald Trump starts his downswing by turning his body. He does a brilliant job of holding his left arm across his chest and keeping the club behind him.
Because his backswing was so flat, this powerful turn dragged the club over the top onto the perfect plane, and his delivery of the club into the golf ball was really, really good.
His pre-impact position is tour standard with a bent right arm, open hips, closed shoulders and clubhead inside the ball. It is hitting this position, which has made him a good player for a long time.
Through the ball, President Donald Trump has a great extension with his hips, knees, and arms, which is brilliant for a player well into his 70s. He isn’t mobile enough to turn through without stepping through the ball, but this is recommended for senior players so that they don’t limit their speed.
This is a brilliant model for senior golfers as the backswing isnt pretty but allows for a great downswing, which is by far more important. Key points to incorporate into your own swing:
Relaxed Posture
Get the club head as flat and as far behind you as possible
Step through the ball in the follow-through
If you enjoyed this Donald Trump golf swing analysis, keep an eye out for more tour winners’ swing analysis in the future.
Jack is a PGA Golf Professional who specialises in coaching, teaching golf to beginners and top-level amateurs for 10+ years. He also loves his golf equipment and analysing the data of the latest clubs on the market using launch monitors, specialising in blade irons and low-spinning drivers despite having a chronically low ball flight.
Although Jack has no formal journalism training, He has been reading What’s In The Bag articles since he started playing at 12 and studying golf swings since his dad first filmed his swing to reveal one of the worst over-the-top slice swings he reckons has ever been recorded, which set him off on the path to be a coach. His favourite club ever owned was a Ping G10 driver bought from a local top amateur with the hope that some of the quality golf shots would come with it (they didn’t), and worst was a Nike SQ driver he only bought because Tiger was using it.
Jack is a member of Sand Moor Golf Club and regularly gets out on the golf course to prepare for tournaments. Jack uses a TaylorMade BRNR Mini driver, a half set of TaylorMade P7MB irons, MG4 wedges and a TaylorMade TP Reserve putter.
