Having a bad golf posture, with rounded shoulders and a protruding abdomen, doesn’t just strain your neck and back. It also affects the way you breathe.
When you slump your shoulders forward, it pushes the diaphragm, the muscle that helps your lungs expand and contract during breathing, upward into your chest. This restricts your lungs from inhaling fully, resulting in shorter breaths.
Golf Posture: Improve Your Swing with Better Stability
If you’re anything like me, your mom would always nag you to straighten up and not slouch when you were a kid. She would say it looks lazy and will give you back problems down the road. Honestly, she was probably right, and now I’m feeling the consequences.
As I’ve gotten older, my back pain has gotten worse, and I never got rid of the bad habit of slouching. Even as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that I’m hunched over my keyboard. My chiropractor always thanks me for keeping him in business.
The same goes for golf – having good posture is crucial. Not only will it reduce the strain on your back and let you play without pain for longer, but it will also improve your golf game overall.
I think that’s what I didn’t quite get when I was younger. Back then, when my mom told me to stand up straight, I couldn’t really feel any immediate difference. It was just this abstract idea that I knew I’d appreciate in the future. But here’s the thing about having good posture in golf: it can actually make a big difference right away. If you make sure to have a good posture in your swing today, you’ll start hitting better and more consistent shots almost immediately.
The great thing about posture is that it’s really easy to do. It doesn’t take much effort at all, but it gives you a lot of stability. All you have to do is remember to do it, and you’re good to go.
Sure, it might feel a bit strange at first, but that’s a small price to pay when you see your ball flying straight toward the target.
Why is the Golf Posture Important?
So, when we talk about golf posture, we’re really talking about how you position your body when you play golf. It involves your spine, shoulders, head, hips, and waist.
When you get ready to hit a golf ball, your posture is all about how you position these body parts before and during your swing. It’s like the starting point that helps you stay balanced and perform a good golf swing.
As I mentioned earlier, having the right golf posture is important for a few reasons.
First and foremost, taking care of your back is crucial for staying in the game for a long time. Golf is a special sport because you can enjoy it no matter how old you are, as long as your back can handle it.
So, make sure to adopt proper golf posture right away, regardless of your age, in order to prolong your playing years.
Consistency
First, having a consistent golf posture will help you hit better golf shots and play more consistently. When your posture is good, your entire body will move in the right way. Unfortunately, many amateur golfers start with poor posture, which makes it harder for them to swing correctly. A bad posture adds an extra challenge to hitting the ball well.
Imagine your golf swing like a game of tetherball. You might be familiar with tether balls, where a ball is attached to a pole with a string, and you hit it around the pole during the game. In this analogy, Imagine your spine as a pole, your arms as the strings, and the club as the object. The better your spine posture is, the smoother the ball and string will move around it.
Doing It Right: A Step-by-Step Guide for Proper Golf Posture
Having the correct golf posture is actually pretty straightforward, and you just need to know what to do. To ensure proper posture before taking any shots, let’s break it down step by step.
- Keep your back straight.
- Push your shoulders back.
- Lift your head up.
Keep your back straight.
Okay, so the first thing you wanna do, once you’re all set to hit that golf ball, is to make sure your back is nice and straight. To achieve that, you might feel like you’re sticking your butt out in a kinda weird way. Sometimes, it’s helpful to have someone take a video or picture of your setup so you can see for yourself that it doesn’t look as strange as it feels.
Picture this: there’s a string attached to your belly button, and someone’s giving it a little tug. Your lower back might seem like it’s not straight but curving in toward the ball. Surprisingly, that’s actually the correct way to do it.
Push your shoulders back
After that, it is recommended that you retract your shoulders by pushing them in a backward motion. It is common for golfers to slouch over the ball, resulting in their shoulders curling inward towards the ball. By pushing your shoulders outward and to the back, you will get the sensation of your shoulder blades being squeezed onto your back.
Lift your head up
Finally, now look up. Your head and neck are crucial parts of your spine, so it’s important to keep that in mind. You should aim to have a straight neck and back. Lift your head so it aligns with your back. Just remember to keep your eyes on the ball. If it feels awkward to shift your gaze toward the ball, you might have raised your head too high.
Tips to Improve Your Golf Posture
Alright, now that you know how to achieve a great golf posture, let’s discuss some exercises that will help you ingrain it in your muscle memory. Club Down the Back Drill The first exercise I want to share is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to check your posture. It’s also really easy to do.
- Get into your golf stance and pause.
- While keeping your back in the same position, take the club and place the shaft along your spine.
The club’s shaft should touch your back in three spots: the back of your head, between your shoulder blades, and your tailbone. If you can maintain that position, you’ll have a pretty solid posture.
Club Across Waist Drill
This next drill helps you get into the right position to start your swing.
- Stand up straight with good posture.
- Hold the golf club with both hands, one hand on the grip and the other near the head. Place the club horizontally across your waist.
- Keep your back straight and bend at your waist until you find a comfortable angle for hitting the ball.
This drill will teach you how to set up a golf shot correctly from the beginning, so you don’t have to make corrections later. Many people make the mistake of having too many moving parts when they set up to hit the ball. All you need to remember is that a proper address position is achieved by bending at the waist, not the back.
