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Your posture is the key to setting yourself up for success in your golf game. So if you are an avid golfer who really wants to take your game to the next level, then focusing on your posture is the best way forward. In this article, I explain why good posture is perhaps one of the best, and perhaps also the trickiest parts of your game to improve.

Your posture has the most influence on how your body will move in your golf swing, and therefore can give you the most bang for your golfing buck. So what is good posture and how can it effect your golf swing? Well, first of all, I’d like to tell you what poor posture is. Poor posture is when you address the ball in a way that limits your body’s freedom to move efficiently. Typically, golfers with poor posture tend to stand with a rounded upper back or with an arched lower back.

The reasons for bad posture are sometimes as simple as having misconceptions of how you should stand over the ball, but all too often it’s caused by having muscle imbalances. Most times, they’re due to our lifestyles. We’re probably all too familiar with the comfort of sitting down for hours on end, no pun intended.

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The human body is not designed to sit for long periods of time. And with a sedentary lifestyle, our muscles tend to tighten up on the one side of our body, forcing the muscles on the opposite side to shut off. Over time, our bodies adjust to overusing one side and underusing the opposite side, and they kind of get stuck like that.

A typical problem area is the upper spine, which gets pulled into a forward-rounded position and results in it getting locked up with no chance of rotating efficiently in the golf swing. Another typical problem area are the muscles in the pelvis, which tighten up and pull the lower back into an arched position. Having an arched lower back typically shuts off your core muscles, and in the golf swing you don’t want to do that.

Your core muscles play an incredibly important role in your golf swing, because they act as the joining point between your lower body and your upper body, plugging these two powerful segments together to transfer energy efficiently throughout your body. Your core muscles also act as stabilizers that support your body throughout your golf swing and will help protect you from getting injuries. Therefore, in the golf swing, the core is the king.

Having poor posture will also force you to compensate in your golf swing by making unstable movements that cause inconsistent shots and a loss of distance. These compensations are often better known in the golfing world as “swing faults.” So if you want to tidy up your swing faults, why not start by improving your posture? Here’s how to do it.

Assess, don’t guess

Why bother wasting time guessing about your posture when you can get a physical assessment that will tell you exactly what’s going on with your body? I strongly recommend you visit a TPI expert, who can help you with both your assessment, and also remove any muscles imbalances you have through a fitness program.

You can get started here with a couple tests taken from my book, The Golfers Handbook: Save Your Golf Game and Your LIFE, followed by some corrective exercises that will get you started on the right path.

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OK, you’ve been tested and the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. You are either good to go, or you have some limitations and need to get them fixed… but that doesn’t mean you need to wait.

Watch the video at the top of the story and try using these tips when practicing. Perhaps every second or third shot, go through this practice routine that will guide you to learning good posture. Remember, good posture is a crucial key to allowing you to make a efficient and athletic golf swing, one that can transfer energy from your body out to your arms and eventually out to the golf ball consistently.

Stop wasting your time and get yourself set up for success!

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Adam is a PGA Professional and TPI Certified Fitness and Medical Coach. He enjoys working with golfers of all ages and levels of expertise, and his approach is to look at every golfer as an individual to try to help them achieve their goals as effectively and efficiently as possible. He is also the author of two books: The Golfers Handbook - Save your golf game and your life! (available on iTunes and Amazon) And his new book, My Mind Body Golf Coach Adam also offers online lessons and offers a monthly membership to help golfers stay committed to the process of improvement. All this and more can be ordered through his website www.golfadamstevenson.com "The golf swing may be built from the ground up, but the game of golf is built from the head down" - My Mind Body Golf Aside being an author, Adam is also a public speaker, doing workshops and lectures introducing concepts of athletic movement for golfers of all ages and levels of expertise.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Pingback: 7 Steps To Perfect Golf Posture: You’ve Been Taught Wrong - S.G.E

  2. Hen62

    May 7, 2016 at 1:01 am

    Great article, exactly what I needed.
    I love to play golf but lately I have had problems with my body.
    Most of these problems are coming from my bad golf posture and this was exactly what I needed to read. I went to buy your book and it’s been really helpful for me.
    (One note for you, your book is not available through iTunes in asia, no idea why)

    Thank you

    • Adam Stevenson

      May 25, 2016 at 3:02 am

      Hi Hen62, thank you for your comment and i wish you the best with your improved posture and golf game! I’ve tried to look into why the Golfers Handbook is not available in asia. It seems that at the moment there is no selling option for me in asia with iTunes. Strange i agree, thank you for letting me know about this.
      Best regards
      Adam

  3. Lars K

    May 6, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    Great article Adam. Thanks

  4. RJ

    May 2, 2016 at 9:53 am

    This article contradicts the advice of The Anatomy of Greatness I just finished studying and partially integrating into my swing. Chambree argues for a more rounded upper back to free up the shoulder turn a bit.

    • B Clizzle

      May 2, 2016 at 7:11 pm

      That book is old and outdated
      Full of lies like kjv

    • Adam Stevenson

      May 25, 2016 at 3:15 am

      We all have different limitations or reasons to why we swing the club as we do. By rounding your shoulders forward your upper spine will not rotate efficiently meaning you won’t be able to utilize your body efficiently. Your body plays a huge part in generating power and shot consistency, so it would be highly beneficial to learn to utilize it efficiently in your golf swing.
      Best of luck RJ

      Best regards
      Adam

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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