Spine Tilt In The Address Position For Better Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles
Spine Tilt In The Address Position For Better Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if we've now established this idea that we should have some spine tilt, remember spine tilt was the idea of looking at the spine from front on and seeing how it angles one way or another. It isn't posture related this way. It's much more from the front on view. If we’ve established it is important, let's have a look at how it changes with different ball positions, and actually how it can change with different grips. So the easiest way of you checking this is to have a mirror, maybe a patio door or something that you can see yourself in straight in front of you.

So you can look head on at it and then you can decide on how your spine tilts. It’s very difficult to check this just by looking down at yourself and seeing it. You really need to be looking up. So as I set up to the golf ball now I've got a 5 iron. My ball position is slightly ahead of center and I have a nice neutral grip. My spine should be tilted ever so slightly to the right. My bodyweight is still going to remain largely 50:50 at this point, but a slight spine angle tilt. Now as I move through and I try a bigger club, let's say I try my driver here. I'm going to have that ball positioned a little bit nearer towards my front foot. So as I set up this time the ball sits nearer to my front side. In that position with my driver, my right shoulder would be forced down a little bit more. My bodyweight with the driver would be a bit more to my right side, maybe 60%. And you can now see in this position I've got a lot more spine tilt. I'm leaning back behind the golf ball a lot more which in turn is going to shallow out my arch a little bit earlier. I am actually going to hit the ground or get near the ground should I say, more behind the ball, and sweep the ball up which is a great thing for a driver. So the spine tilt is actually helping me hit the shot that I want to hit. Conversely if I change that down and go down to a wedge I'm going to play the ball a little bit more, middle or even back third of my stance. In this position I'm going to feel like my bodyweight is a bit more left. And certainly my spine angle now is a lot more vertical, potentially even slightly into my left side. That creates a much steeper angle of approach which is a great thing for the wedges that I'm going to try and hit. I'm going to now take big divots. I'm going to take divots that are after the golf ball, very, very different to how I am hitting my driver. So my spine tilt has a huge influence on how I strike that golf ball. Just one more thing that you could consider with your spine tilt in the address position is how your grip can affect it. And we often find that golfers that grip in a very weak position particularly a right-hand weak position, right-hand weak would be over the top this way. You can see how to get my hand in that weak position. Effectively I lift my right shoulder up which forces my spine to tilt left. Likewise if I have a very strong right-handed grip, the right hand sits around this way. My right shoulder drops. My spine angle, my spine tilt should I say increases to the backside. So just be careful if your grip is not neutral and it's very strong or very weak that can have an effect on your spine tilt as can the ball position for different golf clubs. 2016-07-08

So if we've now established this idea that we should have some spine tilt, remember spine tilt was the idea of looking at the spine from front on and seeing how it angles one way or another. It isn't posture related this way. It's much more from the front on view. If we’ve established it is important, let's have a look at how it changes with different ball positions, and actually how it can change with different grips. So the easiest way of you checking this is to have a mirror, maybe a patio door or something that you can see yourself in straight in front of you.

So you can look head on at it and then you can decide on how your spine tilts. It’s very difficult to check this just by looking down at yourself and seeing it. You really need to be looking up. So as I set up to the golf ball now I've got a 5 iron. My ball position is slightly ahead of center and I have a nice neutral grip. My spine should be tilted ever so slightly to the right. My bodyweight is still going to remain largely 50:50 at this point, but a slight spine angle tilt. Now as I move through and I try a bigger club, let's say I try my driver here.

I'm going to have that ball positioned a little bit nearer towards my front foot. So as I set up this time the ball sits nearer to my front side. In that position with my driver, my right shoulder would be forced down a little bit more. My bodyweight with the driver would be a bit more to my right side, maybe 60%. And you can now see in this position I've got a lot more spine tilt. I'm leaning back behind the golf ball a lot more which in turn is going to shallow out my arch a little bit earlier. I am actually going to hit the ground or get near the ground should I say, more behind the ball, and sweep the ball up which is a great thing for a driver.

So the spine tilt is actually helping me hit the shot that I want to hit. Conversely if I change that down and go down to a wedge I'm going to play the ball a little bit more, middle or even back third of my stance. In this position I'm going to feel like my bodyweight is a bit more left. And certainly my spine angle now is a lot more vertical, potentially even slightly into my left side. That creates a much steeper angle of approach which is a great thing for the wedges that I'm going to try and hit. I'm going to now take big divots.

I'm going to take divots that are after the golf ball, very, very different to how I am hitting my driver. So my spine tilt has a huge influence on how I strike that golf ball. Just one more thing that you could consider with your spine tilt in the address position is how your grip can affect it. And we often find that golfers that grip in a very weak position particularly a right-hand weak position, right-hand weak would be over the top this way. You can see how to get my hand in that weak position. Effectively I lift my right shoulder up which forces my spine to tilt left.

Likewise if I have a very strong right-handed grip, the right hand sits around this way. My right shoulder drops. My spine angle, my spine tilt should I say increases to the backside. So just be careful if your grip is not neutral and it's very strong or very weak that can have an effect on your spine tilt as can the ball position for different golf clubs.