Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Posture with Trax

Intro

Hello golfers. Welcome to this weeks tips & tricks. This week I have partnered up with Trax Performance again to help you find better posture. I know I bang on about posture a lot but I do genuinely believe that everyone can improve their golf swing with better posture. Lets jump straight into it.

Posture Issues

Firstly take a look at the following video to see the common posture mistakes I see on a daily basis and some exercises from Steve to improve it.

C-Posture

C-Posture is used to describe a posture that occurs when your shoulders are slumped forward at address and you have a definitive roundness to your thoracic spine. The pelvis sits facing forward and the head tilts forward also. These issues restrict efficient spinal mobility. This posture is primarily a by-product of our sedentary lifestyle. Sitting too much, the aging process, and an imbalanced fitness program (heavy upper body lifting without flexibility conditioning) create an imbalance in the chest and upper back musculature.

S-Posture

S-Posture, is a postural characteristic that can be caused by the player creating too much arch in their lower back by sticking their tail bone out to much in the setup position. This excessive curvature in the lower back or S-posture puts abnormally high stress on the muscles in the lower back and causes the abdominal muscles to relax. This deactivation of the core muscles can cause a loss of posture or reverse spine angle during the backswing. This in turn puts the lower body out of position on the downswing and will affect the sequence of motion in the golf swing.

Setting up with either C-Posture or S-Posture cause issues with sequencing in the golf swing and cause leaks in power. They can also cause pain and discomfort during the swing or after the round. The good news is that proper posture may increase your spinal rotation by as much as 30%. This can help reduce injury risk and add distance to your shots without even trying!

Exercises

Understanding and controlling how the core works in the golf swing can help improve your game. Doing these exercises a few times a week can help you control and stretch out the muscles in your core and lower back. Keeping the spine neutral at set up and during the swing will almost guarantee you better golf shots and prevent injury.

Summary

Golf is hard. Keeping fit is hard. Putting it all together is really hard! Finding a straight line through the back and neck at set up will help create more spinal rotation which we love to see in the golf swing. To find a neutral spine we need pelvic tilt. If you bend from the knees, tilt from the hips, keep the back straight and relax the arms you should be able to find better posture.

If you struggle with posture you may need some help from both myself and the Trax boys.

To find out more about the physical aspects or to book a session with the Trax lads CLICK HERE.

To book a lesson with myself CLICK HERE.

See you soon!

Josh