POSTURE – THE OVERLOOKED KEY TO A BALANCED GOLF SWING
One of the most fundamental parts of a good golf swing is a balanced and aligned posture. Good posture is vital for several reasons. Primarily, the body can only produce a consistent swing when it is moving in a consistent manner. In addition, poor posture affects the plane of the club and prevents proper rotation of the body and club leading to poor control.
To better understand the spine’s role, think of it as a tower of building blocks stacked on top of the other. The tower is most stable when the bricks are in direct alignment with each other. If the blocks move out of alignment, the tower becomes unstable. The same principle applies to the spine. When the spine is stable it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body.
Poor golf posture with a collapse of the lordotic curves restricts spinal rotation and causes the golfer to overswing with subsequent loss of control. As a general rule the more your upper back is flexed or curved the more difficult it becomes to rotate. If you have lost some of your movement in the mid back you will find that as you take the club back the body needs to rotate and extend. If it is unable to achieve this compensations will occur and you may flex your left knee, slide your hips or lift your head. Any efforts to regain your spinal rotation will reduce the strain on other areas of the body and improve your consistency. This may be helped by regular use of a spikey ball to massage tight muscles and restore range.
There are several recognised posture faults. They are described as
Firstly you must decide which type of posture you have and then address the key areas that have become tight or weak.
Try this at home:
Sit slumped on the edge of a table or stool. Cross your arms across your chest, try to rotate your shoulders to the right and left. Repeat this with a small arch in your lower back. Which posture allowed more movement? Hopefully the latter.
Within the body there are two types of muscles, those designed to provide background tone often called postural muscles, and the other type is our “moving” muscles such as biceps. Both types of muscles must work in synchrony in order for injury not to occur. It is thus vital to address both types of muscles when thinking about training regimes for golf and exercise. Routines in the gym based around building up muscle power do not often improve tone in the postural muscles, however, programmes such as Pilates do.
The main role of the postural muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements keeping good balance. Posture must be held for long periods so endurance is essential.
The principle of good posture comes from your core or the pelvis position. If the pelvis is not sitting level, the rest of the body can not function efficiently. It is essential therefore to practise setting a neutral position in the spine and pelvis. See our core section for how to begin to strengthen your postural muscles and set a neutral spine.
· The use of a mirror is a great tool for practising posture. This gives you not only the feel but also the visual picture of what it looks like. These both reinforce the sensation in the brain.
· The ability to maintain this new posture is an acquired skill. Rather like learning to drive, the skill requires much thought initially, but as you practise it becomes more subconscious.
· By performing a few simple exercises regularly, you can improve and maintain good posture, and thereby improve your swing power.
Remember improving your posture is the fastest way to improving performance and reducing the risk of injury.