Posture Exercises For Golf

Learn How An Improved Stance And Setup Leads To A Proper Golf Swing

Performing posture exercises will help keep your spine in good alignment, leading to a more effective golf swing. A very common fault that you will find with most amateur golfers is poor posture. In most cases, this can be corrected relatively easily, and can lead to nice improvements to their golf game.

What Leads To Bad Posture?

There are many factors that contribute to posture throughout our day but much of it seems related to how we sit. Many of us work at a desk where we are sitting the majority of the time. While we may start out the day sitting upright, but as we become tired over the course of the next few hours, our posture begins to slip and our shoulders become more rounded, our head shifts forward, and the arch in our low back disappears.

This is especially true for those who use computers (particularly laptops)!

Sometimes even placing a small pillow or folded up towel at your low back for support will make a big difference.

Prolonged sitting also leads to tight hip flexors, which in turn, will pull your pelvis forward and place more stress on your low back.

Another postural issue that can significantly impact a golf swing is rounded shoulders. This again could be related to how we sit and the types of jobs that we perform, particularly if our arms and hands are always out in front of the rest of your body. This is typically a muscle imbalance issue where the chest muscles are stronger in relation to the mid back muscles. The pecs then pull forward on the shoulder blades and shoulders, causing a rounding at the spine.

Other factors that could contribute are genetics, body composition, and general (kinesthetic) awareness of how your body moves and is positioned.

The issue of muscle imbalances is a huge concern when implementing a golf fitness program. One of the first things that you should try to work on initially is these imbalances so that your training can be more effective. Also, improving your posture has implications in injury prevention as well!

These are just a few examples (this is a golf website, remember!), but you can see how posture effects us and why posture exercises are needed to counteract these forces. Poor posture overtime leads to muscle imbalance!

How Posture Affects The Golf Swing

A proper golf swing relies heavily on trunk rotation. The axis of this rotation is your spine. For maximum efficiency, your spine needs to be as straight as possible to ensure the greatest amount of rotation.

The problem that is very common with golfers is that they are too rounded through the mid back and shoulders. In this position, the spine is at a disadvantage and won't be able to rotate effectively. This could lead you to compensate with other areas of your body, increasing the likelihood of a poor shot, or worse, injury.

Also, a lack on flexibility through the lumbar spine and hips could affect your swing as well. Your pelvis should be able to freely rock back and forth, which in turn either flattens our arches your low back. This is referred to as a pelvic tilt. Muscle imbalance in the tissues that attach to the pelvis (hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, abs, and low back muscles) could limit the ability of the pelvis to move which will place more stress through your low back.

Bad Posture!	Good Posture!

Posture Exercises

If you have explored this site extensively, you may notice a few of these posture exercises from my other pages. I have put them together on this page simply to provide a solid reference of specific exercises to perform in order to help improve posture, particularly at the mid back.

1. Doorway Stretch :

-Stand in an open doorway, with your hands at about eye level on either side of the frame.

-Keep your feet still and slowly lean forward, feeling a gentle stretch throughout your chest.

-Perform 3 reps, hold 20 seconds or longer with each.

This exercise will help loosen up your pec muscles which, when tight, pull our shoulder blades forward and round off our mid back.

2. Rows :

-Using a cable column, or resistance band wrapped around something sturdy, grasp each end of the band and pull your arms straight back, bending at the elbows.

-The goal is to squeeze your shoulder blades together at the end.

-Perform 2 sets, 15-20 reps each with a comfortable resistance.

3. Band Pull :

-Grab each end of a band, and hold it directly in front of your with your arms at shoulder level and elbows straight.

-Keep your elbows straight, and move your arms away from each other, so that your arms and body form a "T".

-As your arms move out wide, pinch your shoulder blades together.

-If you have access to an 6"x36" roller, place it on the ground and lay on it with your head at one end and your tailbone at the other. Have your knees bent. You stretch your chest more if you more your arms either to the side or over head. Simply lay here for a few minutes for a great stretch.

As you can see, posture exercises aren't the most complex exercises to perform, but making sure that you spine is in the correct position in your golf stance is crucial for an effective golf swing.

Recommended Resource:
The Golf Swing Guru, David Nevogt, has created a simple, and easy to learn method that you will help you cut your scores. It is called the Simple Golf Swing method! It breaks down each aspect of the swing, and provides very detailed pictures and descriptions to help you master each phase. I have every confidence that his proven program will SIGNIFICANTLY improve your game! If you don't believe it, check it out for yourself:

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