| Golf Tips: Maintaining Proper Spine Angle |
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By Jon Ebert
Golf Pro
Question: I am a 46 year-old male with an 11-handicap. I have noticed many amateurs, including myself, have a vertical head movement during the back swing. Although the pros have some horizontal movement, there is almost no vertical, or up and down movement. I discovered this movement while recording my golf swing, and tried to eliminate it with little success. I am sure this is not helping my swing, and would very much appreciate knowing the cause and any corrective drills you would recommend. -- B.B., Naples, Florida Answer: The way to prevent excessive head motion during the swing begins with good posture in the set-up. Your spine angle is the key. At address, your body should be square to the ball. The tendency of most players is to set up slightly open with the hips, and even more with the shoulders, making them point too far left of the target. The feet should be about shoulder-width with the knees slightly flexed. The next move is the important one. Keeping your back flat, tilt from the waist until your arms hang comfortably from your shoulders. This establishes your spine angle. Your back must remain very flat, and you should feel as though your upper body is suspended over the ball. The tendency of many players is to stand too straight in the back and round over the shoulders. In order to make a good shoulder rotation in the back swing, your back must stay flat and your spine must be at an angle. With your back flat and your spine at the proper angle, initiate your back swing by turning your shoulders and allowing about 80 percent of your weight to shift to your right foot. This rotation around your spine should help eliminate the up-and-down head motion in your back swing. The shifting of weight will cause a slight amount of horizontal head movement, which is fine as long as it's not excessive. The reason for too much vertical head motion during the back swing is usually that the spine angle is too straight up and down at address, making it impossible to rotate the shoulders and swing the club in an upright plane. From this straight up and down set-up position, if you rotated your shoulders to begin your back swing, the club would swing around on the ground. Your spine must be angled for the club to swing up. To make up for improper spine angle, the player is forced to pick the club up with the hands and arms instead of turning it back with the shoulders. This "picking up" motion is what causes the vertical head motion. Then on the downswing, it becomes necessary to drop the head back into the same position from which it started. This is a very inconsistent and inefficient way to hit a golf ball. The best way to work on this is, first of all, is to take a golf lesson from a qualified instructor, working mainly on set-up and shoulder turn. Next, make daily practice swings while watching your reflection in a dark, outside window. You can also work on establishing better head position indoors by facing yourself in a mirror, putting an exercise bar across your shoulders, assume a good, golf address position and make continuous shoulder rotations, watching to see that your head stays very level. (Golf professional Jon Ebert writes for the Naples Daily News in Florida.)
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