Can Posture Limit Your Golf Swing?

Golf -

Can Posture Limit Your Golf Swing?

In short, yes it can. Let's dive into why!

Nowadays almost every golfer I work with has terrible posture. It’s almost like bad posture is the new posture. Everyone is on their phones and computers with their upper back rounded and head forward. You are probably reading this and correcting yourself!

Looks exactly like this:

Posture has a HUGE impact on your golf swing. I can’t tell you how many golfers I see and tell me they have terrible mobility and feel so stiff during their swing. Yes, they certainly need to work on flexibility and mechanics during the swing, but a simple posture fix can do wonders. 

And let me be clear, there is no “perfect posture.” I have seen many people come in with terrible resting posture, but able to get into the correct positions with ease. That's the thing though, can the person get into the positions you need them to? If posture is a limiting factor then we must address it. Teach them how in order to facilitate efficient movement. 

Posture dictates function

Let’s start at the top - the head.

I want you to sit down and push your head forward. Now, turn your head side to side. I bet you don’t have too much range of motion. 

Reset yourself and pull your head back to neutral and rotate. Ahhhh now you have more range of motion. It's a beautiful thing. Just by putting your head more over your body, your range of motion magically improves.

I’m not done yet. 

How about we move down to the shoulders. Many struggle to get their arms over their head during the backswing. That trail arm external rotation can be a bit sticky.

Sit down and push your shoulder forward in the socket. Now, create a 90 degree angle with your elbow and rotate your arm back (external rotation). Probably gets stuck pretty quickly. 

Similar to above, let’s do the same fix and rather than push your shoulder forward in the socket, keep it centered. I bet you see a 20+ degrees of range of motion improvement.

Just when you thought I was done…

The hips. Yes, we all have tight hips. Sitting there all day and the hip flexors, hamstrings, everything feels so tight. Well, that’s mostly because you aren't moving enough, but that's another story.

I want you to stand up and push your butt forward. Then, bend down to touch your toes. I bet you barely get down to your knees or maybe even mid-thigh. So you’re probably thinking “my hamstrings are so tight.”

Nope!

Reset and as you bend down push your butt backwards. Your mind may have just exploded from the magic that occurred. You now can almost touch your toes or maybe even can! 

You're fixed! Well, not really. This needs to translate to your golf swing. I am not suggesting better posture = no more shanks, but it's a start to a more flexible swing. Be aware of your positions, especially when you are stretching and working out. Practice better positions - teach yourself to be more comfortable there.

For a start, stop sitting like the guy above!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

 


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