You're Correct!

Posture is extremely important to your golf swing as it dictates the angle that you will swing the golf club around you on.

This angle is known as your swing plane and it influences the strike that the golf club makes on the ball, as well as the ball flight that you will see produced.

Swing plane can easily be demonstrated by placing an alignment pole in the ground so that it reflects the angle that the shaft of your golf club sets to the ground at. Looking at how consistent players swing the club head of the golf club around them, they simply swing so that the club head follows this angle. The club head moves back along the target line and then swings up the players swing plane line to the top of the back swing (if they have a one plane golf swing). Then on the down swing, the club head follows the swing plane line back down and then swings directly along the target line and strikes the golf ball. Making this movement allows the player to consistently and repeatedly swing the club head along the target line and with the club face aiming down the target line, this will hit a straight and highly accurate golf shot.

Allowing the club head to swing on plane also allows the club head to approach the golf ball from an excellent angle of attack. Angle of attack is simply the angle that the club head swings down towards the golf ball at. With the correct angle of attack, the club head will make a correct, downward, striking action towards the golf ball and deliver a crisp, clean strike.

To create the correct posture, work on achieving the following position with this drill. Place an alignment pole literally down the back of your t-shirt, so that it comes out of the bottom and then hook it in to the top of your trousers or your belt. Stand upright keeping your head back on the alignment pole, the middle of your shoulders and the back of your neck all in contact with it. Lean forward from your hips, with a straight back, until your arms can dangle freely of your body. Maintain this position and just soften your knees to take the pressure from your hamstrings. You have now created the correct posture to play your golf shots from, that will give you the optimum swing plane, allowing you to play your most powerful, accurate and consistent golf shots.

If you stand up too vertically, your posture is too upright. This means that your spine is too vertical in your address position and you will now swing the golf club head too vertically or steeply. This simply means that the golf club is swinging too high above the ideal swing plane for you. You will tend to use your arms much more than you rotate your body during your swing and this will produce a very steep angle for the club head to travel around you at.

If you swing the club head on a very steep angle away from the ball, you will return the club head back down to the ball on this steep angle and this will mean that the club head is approaching the ball too vertically and will tend to strike the top of the ball producing a very low shot. Your energy will also be travelling down towards the ground rather than towards the target and as a result of this, your shots will not travel very far.

Furthermore, this action will also produce a club head that is travelling from the outside of the target line to the inside and with the club face square to this the ball will fly straight left of the target.

If your posture is too bent over in your address position, then the angle that you set the shaft of your golf club to the floor at, will be too low. As a result, you will tend to swing the club head back lower than your optimum swing plane, or flat. Approaching the golf ball with a very flat angle of attack as you swing the club head downwards towards the ball, will result in you either hitting the ground before the ball, or you will skim the ground before the ball and catch the ball on your up swing, again hitting the top of the golf ball and producing a very low flight. The ball will also not fly as far as it possibly could, as hitting the ground before the ball will result in all of the club head speed being transferred into the ground rather than the golf ball.

This type of swing will also give you directional problems as you will be approaching the ball with the club head too much on the inside of the target line. Your swing path will be in to out and with a square club face to this swing path you will hit the ball straight right of the target.

Excessive knee flex can cause problems in relation to consistency and balance. Try to focus on only having a small flex in your knees and a larger tilt through your spine from the hips.