Improve Your Swing With Better Posture

In my last blog post I spoke about how you could test yourself to determine the areas of your golf fitness that needed to be improved. In this blog I am going to talk about the major problems that are seen in golfers from a posture point of view. I will then talk about some of the golf swing problems you may see as a result of these weaknesses.

The most common postural problem we see is poor upper body posture. This is generally demonstrated by rounded shoulders at address with a forward head and neck posture. You can see in the picture what this looks like. This type of posture makes it difficult to rotate correctly during your swing so a common swing fault with these golfers is an “armsy” type swing with limited body rotation.

Golfers also have a tendency to be short and tight in the muscles of the right, lower back (for right handers). This can be caused by the correct golf set up in which you have the left hip and shoulder set slightly higher than the right hip and shoulder. This may lead to the right side collapsing during the downswing and overactive hands through impact.

Another common body issue in golfers is weak scapular muscles. This is generally seen in conjunction with the rounded shoulders position I spoke about in the first point and can lead to a number a swing faults. Disconnection between the arms and body is the most common problem I see when a golfer is weak in the scapular area. This, again, leads to “armsy” type swings that I see on the lesson tee every day.

The last of the common postural problems I see is weak glutes and hips. This leads to increased movement through the pelvis region which can lead to reverse pivots, sliding through impact or the inability to engage the core muscles effectively to help generate power in the down swing. It is basically defined as excess movement in the lower body during the golf swing. You can see in the picture some of the swing issues that weak glutes and hips can cause in the golf swing.

If you have had any of these types of swing problems, and you are having difficulty correcting them with your coach, there is a chance that you may have one of the postural issues I have spoken about. I would encourage you to go and see a golf specific physiotherapist/trainer for a detailed screening and have them design an exercise program for you. This, combined with the swing work you are doing with your coach, will give you the best possible chance to improve your swing and your game.

In my next blog I will be discussing some simple exercises you can do to help overcome some of the weaknesses I have discussed here.

Until next time,

Brent Davis