I want to talk about a few things that might help some of you players who have gotten up there in years. The most important things in the golf swing are swinging on a plane and lack of tension.

Let your left arm relax (if right-handed), even bending it slightly on your backswing. If you don’t believe it works, just have a friend hold a pillow or a towel in his hand, and without a club, swing your arm back once with it stiff and straight and once with it relaxed and slightly bent.

Now swing the back of your left hand as fast as you can into the towel your friend is holding.

You will notice that when your arm is relaxed and slightly bent, the speed you generate will be much faster.

A good drill for keeping your club "on plane" is to take a tee and scratch a straight line on the ground. Now put that tee in the end of your grip. Stand parallel to the line on the ground and swing back and forth just far enough to where your arm is parallel to the ground, about halfway.

Have the tee pointing at the line on the ground at the end of the backswing and follow-through.

You probably will feel more rotation in your forearms than ever before. Then tee a ball up on the line and let the ball just get in the way of your swing.

Another good exercise is to get a heavy rope and swing it into the side of a building or tree. You will find that to have good speed with the rope when it connects, you will have to start your forward swing much more slowly.

Get lower compression golf balls, such as the new Bridgestone for seniors. They will increase your distance.

Rules teaser:

Water that is visible only through undue effort is not casual water. True or false?

Answer to last

column’s teaser:

The casual flicking of range balls to keep the course neat is not permitted by the rules: False.

John Lucas is the professional at SkyRidge Golf Course and can be reached at john98382@olypen.com.