Beginner Golf Posture: What are the Fundamentals? (Video) - by Pete Styles
Beginner Golf Posture: What are the Fundamentals? (Video) - by Pete Styles

When we’re playing golf, as the golf ball is placed on the floor, clearly there needs to be a bend or an angle in your body to make you look down to the golf ball to swing down to the golf ball and a lot of people get this bit a little bit wrong. So I want to just explain carefully how you could improve your posture as you are standing over the golf ball. When we set up to the golf ball from this angle with the ball on the floor, and leaning forward towards the golf ball, but I could either lean forward correctly by tilting at my hips or I could lean forwards incorrectly by tilting at my waist, and in the middle of my back. Now, you tell me, does that position look better or does that position look better? And actually it doesn’t just look better, but it actually pulls my back in a better position, all the vertebrae lined nice and straight, allow me to make a good rotation around my body. Nice powerful movements rather than a slumped, what I would class as the old man position where the legs are doing all the work and the top of the neck’s doing all the work, and the hips aren't really involved.

So as you are setting up to the golf ball, try and get good solid posture. I think the easiest way of actually doing this is to get yourself comfortable to the golf ball as you would do normally and then lift the golf club in front of your bellybutton, make your grip in this position and pull your shoulders back and stick your head and chest up, and feel like you’re standing to attention, like you’re on parade, and then simply tilt at the hips. Now it’s the hips, not the waist. So you feel where the hip is, tilt at the hip and just feel like you’re sticking your bum out backwards, as you lean forward to the golf ball. Tiny little knee flex at the end there, and that should have you in good posture. Avoid bending at the waist and avoid looking down on to the golf ball. This gets us in an awkward position, and really doesn’t help us achieve the movements that we need to make later on in the golf swing. So good posture when you are setting up to the golf ball is another great part of building a good solid setup.

2012-07-31

When we’re playing golf, as the golf ball is placed on the floor, clearly there needs to be a bend or an angle in your body to make you look down to the golf ball to swing down to the golf ball and a lot of people get this bit a little bit wrong. So I want to just explain carefully how you could improve your posture as you are standing over the golf ball. When we set up to the golf ball from this angle with the ball on the floor, and leaning forward towards the golf ball, but I could either lean forward correctly by tilting at my hips or I could lean forwards incorrectly by tilting at my waist, and in the middle of my back. Now, you tell me, does that position look better or does that position look better? And actually it doesn’t just look better, but it actually pulls my back in a better position, all the vertebrae lined nice and straight, allow me to make a good rotation around my body. Nice powerful movements rather than a slumped, what I would class as the old man position where the legs are doing all the work and the top of the neck’s doing all the work, and the hips aren't really involved.

So as you are setting up to the golf ball, try and get good solid posture. I think the easiest way of actually doing this is to get yourself comfortable to the golf ball as you would do normally and then lift the golf club in front of your bellybutton, make your grip in this position and pull your shoulders back and stick your head and chest up, and feel like you’re standing to attention, like you’re on parade, and then simply tilt at the hips. Now it’s the hips, not the waist. So you feel where the hip is, tilt at the hip and just feel like you’re sticking your bum out backwards, as you lean forward to the golf ball. Tiny little knee flex at the end there, and that should have you in good posture. Avoid bending at the waist and avoid looking down on to the golf ball. This gets us in an awkward position, and really doesn’t help us achieve the movements that we need to make later on in the golf swing. So good posture when you are setting up to the golf ball is another great part of building a good solid setup.