Body Weakness & Swing Faults

The topic of my latest blog is something that has caught my interest for a while now. As a coach, I see a lot of swing faults that are caused by the golfer’s body inability to move in a particular manner. I am not saying that this is always the cause of swing faults but it can be. The good thing about these types of swing faults is they can generally be corrected by prescribing an exercise program rather than endless hours on the range hitting balls or doing drills. That’s not to say that the exercises are easy, there is a real possibility that they will be tough for you to do, especially when you first start the program. The benefit of exercise to fix golf swing faults is that exercise is good for you and if it helps your golf it is a double positive!

Let me first outline some of the more common in swing problems I see on the coaching tee and some of the body limitations that may cause these swing problems.

Bad Spinal Posture at Address:     This is a very common fault that I see all the time. Poor spinal posture makes it very difficult to rotate your body properly.

Physical Causes:
Poor spinal flexibility
Tight upper body muscles (pecs, lats, neck)

Exercises to Help:

Angel wings stretch
Supine chest stretch on a swiss ball
Lat stretch

Loss of Posture (Lifting Up):          In a good golf swing, you want your body to be rotating around a constant spine angle. A common fault I see is when your spine angle changes during the golf swing.

 Physical Causes:

Lack of core strength or lack of core mobility,  Hip mobility problems (lack of or too much movement),  Lower body instability

Exercises to help:

Hip stretch
Planks
Swiss ball crunches

Reverse Pivot:              This is when your upper body moves towards the target on the backswing and away from the target on the downswing. It can be caused by trying to keep your head still/down or if your clubs don’t suit you. It also has some physical causes that are listed below.

 Physical Causes:  Tightness in your hips,  Inability to separate shoulders and hips,  Lack of core strength

Exercises to Help:
Supine shoulder mobility/lumbar stretch
Planks
Hip/Trunk/Lat extension

Swinging Over the Top:       This is a very common swing fault and is when the downswing is initiated with the upper body instead of the lower body.

Physical Causes:

Hip immobility
Lack of glute and lower body strength
Poor trunk and shoulder mobility

Exercises to Help:
Articulating bridge position
Standing glute/hip stretch
Trunk stretch

These are just a few of the more common problems that I see on the coaching tee. It is important to realize that there are a number of different reasons that golfers make bad swings. It is important that you see your local PGA Professional to make sure you are working on the correct fix for your individual swing fault.

If you have any questions about the above information or exercises, please feel free to post your comments and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Until next time,

Brent Davis

Credits:

http://www.performbettergolf.com/blog/proper-golf-posture-video

http://www.finishfirstsports.com/the-twelve-most-common-swing-faults.html

http://therangeatleonsprings.com/tip-of-the-week-archives

http://www.thegolfswinggenius.com/over-the-top-golf-swing.html