How To Hit A Long Ball When You're In Your 60s (Just Like Miguel Angel Jimenez)

How to hit a long ball like Miguel Angel Jimenez.

There comes a time when every golfer finds that they're unable to hit the ball as far as they used to. Often a lack of mobility and flexibility restricts how far older players can hit the ball, and although the best golf drivers for seniors can help, many players still find themselves losing crucial yards.

Last year, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez still averaged 284.5 yards off the tee. At 61, he's as fit as ever - so what's his secret? We know he goes through a vigorous warm-up and exercise routine, but there are a number of other reasons why he's able to hit the ball a long way - secrets which Peter Finch talks us through here.

Miguel Angel Jimenez Driving Tips

1 Tension free

Miguel has a really fluid set-up that starts with a waggle. There’s a complete lack of tension. Miguel looks down the line and stays nice and lithe, whereas many club golfers just look down at the ball and get more and more tense.

2 Wide takeaway

The Spaniard has a wide, rhythmical takeaway and loads the club beautifully on-plane. When the golf grip is tighter, it tends to yank the club off-plane. Miguel has found the perfect position with the club pretty much parallel to the feet.

3 Coil

Note how deeply he coils into his right side (below) while maintaining right knee flex. This is an old-school movement where the hips rotate. His left heel comes off the ground, which is quite rare in the modern game. His shoulders have turned more than 90˚.

Miguel Angel Jimenez has coiled into his right side at the top of the backswing (Image credit: Getty Images)

4 Lag

You may have seen Miguel’s over-the-top practice move, which has brought him much more on-plane coming down. That has paid dividends, as this is now a classic position with lots of lag and the club nice and wide.

5 Extension

The flowing nature of his swing is shown in his follow-through, with its superb extension down the line. He releases the arms fully and the ball just gets in the way. This is another reason why he's still able to drive the ball over 280 yards on the Champions Tour.

The extension here is a thing of beauty (Image credit: Getty Images)

6 Balanced finish

Much like his persona, the follow-through is freewheeling and there’s no question of steering it as he swings through to a balanced finish. He’s one supple guy!

A perfectly balanced finish - and another perfect drive (Image credit: Getty Images)

There's no reason why you can't take a few of these driving tips and apply them to your own game. And there's no reason why you can't go on enjoying hitting long drives well into your 60s and 70s.