To be parallel or not to be, that is the question

[Sumosid]

Well, mostly as a hoot my golf buddy brought his digital camera to the course yesterday to film our tee shots and some of our fairway iron shots.

Much to my surprise, my back swing is not parallel to the ground at the top. Instead of toping out like this ---, I top out like this /.

My swing plane looked really good as well as my weight shift. I was striking the ball well, had a few 3-wood drives in the 250 to 280 range with most of them falling into a 220-230 range.

I am comfortable with my distance off the tee, I rarely get on a par 5 that I can't get to in regulation (all shots hit well).

Should I be concerned that I have a swing that looks like I am 30 years older than I am.

One note for the advise givers... I am taller and larger than the average golfer. 6 foot 5, 300lbs. My shoulders and chest are bulky and not very flexible. If I were to take my swing back to parallel it feels like my left arm breaks down.

[GregJWillis]

Your position at the top is not as important as what you are doing with your rotation of the hips and shoulders. So don't worry about where you club is at the top. Make the big rotation through the ball and if you are getting a good release of the hands, you are good.

Flexability will always help, and you should always work on that with streaching before and after rounds and practice sessions. But, if you are finding that you want to get to the top, do not get there by breaking the leading arm (as you mentioned). that is your extension of the club (the lever arm in the swing) and breaking it will shorten the length of your arc which will take away force at impact. Keep it long and extended, and rotate that big beautiful body that can create a lot of power for you. Make sure the hands don't get overpowered. If you start to slice it, your body is usually getting too much for the hands and they can start to lag behind. So ease up on the body rotational speed a little and that will allow the hands to catch up and get square again.

[Sumosid]

Thanks Greg.

I suspected as much, but it is always nice to hear one's thoughts confirmed from a professional.

Not that I would ever try to emulate John Daly's swing, but I notice that he gets amazing shoulder turn on his swing. If someone notices how he tops out his club is dipping down towards the ground on his backswing. If he didn't have such a large shoulder turn his club would be parallel or perhaps to the extreme like my "old man" swing.

Thanks for the feedback.