During any golf swing, players primarily rotate the spinal segments in their thoracic vertebra, located in the mid back. While the lumbar spine (your lower back) should not naturally rotate more than a few degrees per joint, players should pay more attention to thoracic spine rotation to ensure they’re achieving the ideal golf swing spine angle consistently.
Golfers who use a C-Posture in their swing are bent over and unable to rotate their thoracic joints in such an angle due to the restrictions in the spine. This positioning often causes a huge barrier to proper spinal rotation and also leads to diminishing power, with a lessened ability to make clean contact with the golf ball.
If poor posture negatively affects the spine angle in your golf swing, our bodies naturally seek to finish the backswing rotation any way possible. This causes a player to over compensate during the backswing, typically in the form of becoming taller during rotation and bending downward towards the turf during the downswing transition.
As golfers over compensate their spine angle, swing plane usually becomes more steep and can be very difficult to get the club square during the impact position. This can lead to shots being blocked to the right or often hooking off to the left.
Players should aim for a spinal neutral angle that places a lessened amount of stressed on your spinal joints and provides the ideal positioning for any golf swing.
Achieving a spinal neutral positioning can be done while standing by placing your hands on your hips and rolling your hips as far forward as possible. The stick your butt and stomach out simultaneously. and then roll your hips backwards as far as possible.
Me and my golf students pay close attention to our spine angles during golf swings but understand that it can be quite a struggle for even an experienced golfer. By applying some of the unorthodox drills I’ve compiled in this videos, players will be able to assess their poor spinal rotation and applying easy to learn fixes for immediate results. Me and my golf students understand the huge importance behind keeping a healthy, natural spine angle during swings. These drills will help you prevent injuries and frustrations every time you pick up a club.
00:00 Assessing Upper Body Swing Rotation
00:18 Shoulder Rotation Throw Drill
02:25 Tug of War Spinal Rotation Drill
03:23 Breaking Down the Tug of War Drill
04:04 Post Drill Corrected Swing Rotation
04:45 Take a Lesson with Paul Gorman
#GolfSwingRotation #GolfLesson #GolfTips
