How Does Spine Tilt Affect Your Golf Backswing (Video) - by Pete Styles
How Does Spine Tilt Affect Your Golf Backswing (Video) - by Pete Styles

So we should now have an understanding of how important spine tilt is in the address position particularly with the different clubs, how it changes with different ball positions. So let's imagine that, we've got driver. We’ve got the ball sitting nicely up towards that left in step for the right-handed golfer. A nice wide stance, a little 60% bodyweight on the right side and a good neutral grip produces a spine tilt that’s slightly away from target. Now during the backswing, I want to try and maintain this spine tilt.

I want to turn and feel that my spine tilt is the same as it was or very similar to how it was at the address position. So I’ve tilted away and I stay tilted away. And then during the swing, my spine tilt can remain slightly tilted away, maximum power, good nice low point slightly behind the ball with the driver hitting nice high drives. Now for a lot of golfers they struggle to maintain that spine tilt. And it's mainly down to the length of their golf swing. So as I set up to the ball, I’ve got my nice spine tilt. But if I get it very long in the backswing, I tend to find that at this point my spine starts to get pulled over by the golf club. My hips tuck under, my shoulders go this way, and I actually end up with a reverse spine tilt. So I've lent too far this way. Some people would even refer to that as a reverse pivot. So I've over swung, pulled myself out of position. Now generally from here there's only really one way to go which is actually to reverse out of that position, and come back the other way. Hence the reverse pivot analogy. So when we get this reversing pivot, we’ll often find that at the point of impact we've got too much spine angle going back the way. So often golfers hit the ball fat or balloon the ball up in the air, and sometimes even to the right as well. So we get too long this way, reverse out of it this way and have the bodyweight going back too much. So when you have a mirror front on effectively where my camera is, go ahead and make some swings. And see whether you can maintain your spine tilt coming back and down. And make sure that the longer backswing the over swing if you like is not causing the spine tilt to rotate the wrong way and then to reverse out with that classic reverse pivot shape. Make sure your extra long backswings are not affecting your spine angle. 2016-07-08

So we should now have an understanding of how important spine tilt is in the address position particularly with the different clubs, how it changes with different ball positions. So let's imagine that, we've got driver. We’ve got the ball sitting nicely up towards that left in step for the right-handed golfer. A nice wide stance, a little 60% bodyweight on the right side and a good neutral grip produces a spine tilt that’s slightly away from target. Now during the backswing, I want to try and maintain this spine tilt.

I want to turn and feel that my spine tilt is the same as it was or very similar to how it was at the address position. So I’ve tilted away and I stay tilted away. And then during the swing, my spine tilt can remain slightly tilted away, maximum power, good nice low point slightly behind the ball with the driver hitting nice high drives. Now for a lot of golfers they struggle to maintain that spine tilt. And it's mainly down to the length of their golf swing. So as I set up to the ball, I’ve got my nice spine tilt.

But if I get it very long in the backswing, I tend to find that at this point my spine starts to get pulled over by the golf club. My hips tuck under, my shoulders go this way, and I actually end up with a reverse spine tilt. So I've lent too far this way. Some people would even refer to that as a reverse pivot. So I've over swung, pulled myself out of position. Now generally from here there's only really one way to go which is actually to reverse out of that position, and come back the other way. Hence the reverse pivot analogy.

So when we get this reversing pivot, we’ll often find that at the point of impact we've got too much spine angle going back the way. So often golfers hit the ball fat or balloon the ball up in the air, and sometimes even to the right as well. So we get too long this way, reverse out of it this way and have the bodyweight going back too much. So when you have a mirror front on effectively where my camera is, go ahead and make some swings.

And see whether you can maintain your spine tilt coming back and down. And make sure that the longer backswing the over swing if you like is not causing the spine tilt to rotate the wrong way and then to reverse out with that classic reverse pivot shape. Make sure your extra long backswings are not affecting your spine angle.