The Importance of Posture

Posture, along with grip, aim, and alignment are what I call the set-up fundamentals in golf.  They are the platform upon which a player builds their swing. Each of these basics serves some aspect of your swing. The grip influences the club face, the aim influences the swing direction and the posture influences attack angle into the ball. They all dovetail to create the dynamics of the golf swing. In this article, we will discuss posture.

Posture is an overlooked fundamental because golfers assume they can address the ball any way that feels comfortable, which is a huge mistake! You can no more address the ball any way you want than hold it any way or aim in any direction. How you bend at the hips and flex your knees is a critical part of your swing. Posture is different for every player depending on several factors: height, arm length and particularly the proportion of torso length to lower body.  

Every part of the setup can influence a different aspect of your swing. In the case of posture, it mainly determines the low point of your swing - where your swing “bottoms out.” Of course, it is the “static” control.  All setup positions are what I call static; the in-swing motions I refer to as “dynamic.” In the case of posture, once we arrive at a workable position, the dynamic part is to maintainthat position throughout the swing! Obviously, that’s the hard part. If all we had to do is get into a good position before we swing, golf would be an easy game!

One of the main reasons professionals hit the ball so solid time after time is their ability to turn, twist and swing all while maintaining their spine angles. Most professionals will have the torso bent approximately 40 degrees. As you address the golf ball, your sternum is facing the golf ball which, of course, is on the ground. To make an effective golf swing it must remain facing the ground during the entire swing and end up facing the target as you follow through. I use video to observe this. It is the only way to know if feel is real. In keeping with this principle, the shoulders need also be rotated on the correct pitch. But of course, being part of the torso, they will! The lead shoulder must point at the ball on the back swing and the trail shoulder must point at the ball at through impact. This is also known as side-bend. And I would add that it might be the single most violated position in a senior golfer, for obvious reasons. We are not as supple as once we were!!

So, keep stretching and watching your videos. The spine angle is immensely important in better ball striking. Keep it in the fairway!