Posture For Golf – Establishing The Perfect Posture
By: Dan Davis, PGA Professional Thousand Hills Golf Resort
Every golfer has a great swing which will most likely never be exposed. We are trained from an early age to hit a ball out of the air with baseball bat. However in order to properly hit a ball off of the ground involves a different set of criteria and a completely different stance and posture which is often overlooked. In a sense we need to learn a mechanical process in order to let our own natural swing expose itself as we are improving our golf swing mechanics. In short? Perfect Posture for golfers is much different than what many people are normally taught.
When instructing beginners or reviewing a seasoned veteran I always try to refer to routines as much as possible. This is especially the case when discussing alignment and acquiring the perfect posture for golf occurs during this routine as well. After establishing a target line, set the club on that line by bending at the hip socket. Do not bend at the waist line! The hip socket is where the legs enter the hips. Take note that the spine should not contain any curvature and the neck should be in line with the spine. The arms should then naturally fall straight down off the shoulders to meet the club at address. When setting the feet parallel to the target line they should be positioned so that the majority of the body weight is riding over the balls of the feet. The last step is to allow for a slight crick in the knees. Be conscious that you do not have the feeling of sitting on a bar stool but rather reaching for one with your tailbone. It will seem different than many people are used to, but before long the perfect posture for golfers will be second nature.
The best drill for practicing your posture is for you to visually observe yourself. I like to use the reflection of a deck door or a full length mirror. Set up so that it appears as if you a hitting into your reflection. The three main points of perfect posture to look for in that reflection is a straight spine, arms hanging straight down and you should appear to be slightly leaning towards the ball. By establishing good posture for golf you will be able to more freely move around your spine, maintain better balanced and even create a more repeatable swing. Something that all golfers want, right?
Perfect golf posture is only one of many swing aspects to consider. For more information, visit Dan’s articles about Improving Golf Swing Mechanics.
