There are a number of exercises in the mobility exercise section of the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System that will help to promote spinal mobility and proper posture at setup.
Many amateur golfers have a lack of mobility in the spine and pelvis, resulting in them appearing to be slumped and rounded forwards in the shoulders and lower back, and making it difficult to adopt the correct “flat-back” posture at setup — see Golf Swing 101 – Setup: Basic Posture and Golf Swing 103 – Setup: The Perfect Golf Spine Angle.
Poor spinal posture affects your golf swing much more than you would think. When your spine is not able to move forward (flexion) and backward (extension) easily, this has a negative influence on the mobility of your shoulder blades and pelvis through the muscle connections between your spine and these body areas. When your hips and pelvis become limited in their range of motion, your potential for injury is greatly increased, and the likelihood of improving your swing technique is greatly reduced.
Correct posture, with a neutral spine position (not slumped forward or extended backward), positions your spine so as to allow the greatest amount of rotation. This will enable you to rotate in your backswing, downswing, and follow-through more easily, with greater range of movement and less stress on your body.
Correct pelvis and lower torso posture enables your body to rotate with much greater efficiency, and maintaining proper angles greatly reduces the stress applied to various joints and muscles during the golf swing.
The exercises below offer significant benefits:
- Improving the power, control, accuracy and consistency of your golf swing.
- Helping to prevent low back pain, and providing relief for a stiff neck and shoulders.
- Enabling you to maintain correct golf posture, and maintain proper angles throughout the golf swing.
- Helping you to avoid injury.
And developing good posture is beneficial not only to your golf swing, but for your health and life in general:
- it relieves pain throughout your body, including in the back and neck, hips, legs and feet;
- it allows you to move efficiently, improving muscle function and increasing range of motion;
- it takes pressure off of compressed organs and improves circulation;
- it makes you look and feel better.
Mobility Exercises for Perfect Posture at Address
- Cats and Dogs Exercise
- Heel Touch Exercise and the more advanced Straight-Leg Heel Touch Exercise.
- Pelvic Thrust on an Exercise Ball and the more advanced Figure 8 on an Exercise Ball.
We recommend that you include these and the other golf-specific mobility exercises in the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System into your daily routine. They will help you to improve mobility, control, stability and power generation in your golf swing, as well as helping you to avoid golf-related pain and injury.
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Next up: Golf Swing 102a – Setup: The Perfect Golf Stance Width.
