Golf Tips » October 2000 – Posture: Spine Angle

This month’s tip is suggested by Nancy Hines of Toronto who asks "I have a habit of "slouching" over the ball at address. I know that my spine needs to be straight in order to make the proper turn. How do you suggest I work on this ?"

Nancy, you are absolutely right. In order to make a proper turn on the backswing the spine needs to be straight. Here is a simple drill to correct this posture problem.

In picture #1 Nancy is in her original posture.

Take a long iron and hold one end at the back off your head, and the other at the bottom of your spine as in picture #2.

Now bend forward into your address position keeping the shaft in place as in picture #3 – do not let the shaft drift away from either your head or the bottom off your spine at this point.

Now take the club down to the ball without changing your position as in picture #4. This is the proper spine angle at address.  

This might feel a little weird at first, but after a few practice sessions like this your posture will have improved and so will your ball striking!

These pictures were taken during an actual lesson and were not "staged". The improvement in Nancy’s posture after only a few minutes is noticeable.  After a few sessions on the range, and at home in the yard, her posture will improve even further and will finally feel comfortable.