Having good posture is one of the golf swing’s most important fundamentals.
Like your grip, stance and ball position, your posture sets the tone for your swing before you make your first move, and ensuring your body is in the proper position is the first step to executing a good golf shot. But how do you know if your posture is sound?
At GOLF’s recent Top 100 Teacher Summit at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz., I asked instructor Trillium Rose if there is a way for players to perform a self-check on their own posture, and she had a quick answer ready.
“If you stand up straight, there’s a little arch above your lower back. When you take your posture over the ball, squeeze the glutes and hinge from the hips,” she said. “Then, just check to make sure that little arch is still there.”
Sounds simple enough, right? It is. Essentially, Rose says, you’re looking to maintain the same spine angle that you have standing up as you do when you bend forward in your posture.
“The hinge point is right in your hip joint,” she said.
Rose suggested thinking about how it feels to do a deep squat or lift something off the ground to get the sensation you should feel in posture.
“You want to feel your butt go back over your heels,” she said. “Engaging the glutes is key. Vaguely bending forward isn’t the answer — you want to be really intentional about where that bend is coming from.”
Another way to practice the sensation is to imagine putting your hands in your pockets and feeling your pelvic bone.
“You should feel that bone tilt, so your belt buckle is now facing the grass, as opposed to your belt buckle at the horizon line,” Rose said.
Give Rose’s posture advice a try, and enjoy your newly-solid strikes.
For more tips from Trillium Rose, click here.
