Instruction
Posture: The key to good swing dynamics
If I had to choose, I would say that the grip is the most important fundamental in golf. I say that because the grip controls the club face, which controls the direction of the shot. And the direction of the shot is what golfers react to during the swing. So the swings golfers end up with are often the result of their ball flight. That being said, a good grip will not by itself result solid golf shots.
A solid strike on the center of the face with a good angle of attack is crucial to hitting good golf shots, and striking the ball in this fashion is often the result of good posture. Posture is sometimes a forgotten fundamental, even with good players, so let’s take the time and make sure you’re setting up to the ball properly.
Posture is critical because the golf ball rests on the ground, so to reach it we need to bend forward. This might sound simple, but it’s where many golfers go astray. They bend forward from their waist or their knees. Neither of these positions allow the freedom of motion or stability to make a good swing.
The correct way to bend is from the hips. The hips are not far from the waist, but the difference is huge in providing a platform to swing. You’ll notice that the buttocks jut out when you bend from the hips, but not if you simply bend from the waist. This is a key position to maintain balance and retain your axis tilt (or forward bend) in the golf swing. It’s a core-related movement, much like many other physical motions. When the core is engaged and the bend is from the hips, we end up with the “straight back” look you see on the professional tours. Waist bend creates the rounded back look I see too often at driving ranges.
This golfer has too much knee bend and very little bending at the waist.
On the other hand, players with excessive knee bend have little or no angle at the hips. This posture can be very effective in a greenside bunker, but it’s rarely effective on full shots.
We all start at address a certain measured distance from the golf ball: We are X feet above the ball and X feet beside the ball. The only way this distance can be maintained is by keeping the posture we started with, assuming that posture is correct at address. I think of posture as a balance between the upper and lower body. If we bend from the hips, we need to offset that bend by extending the rear end or we would simply be too top heavy. There’s a balance there. That’s why bending from the waist is dangerous, because we don’t always have the counterbalancing move of extending the rear end. Great players start with the weight on the balls of the feet. The correct balance between the upper and lower body maintains that distribution of weight.
Proprioception is a fancy word for keeping your balance. It is the body’s awareness of its relationship to space and other body parts (think of when you were learning how to ride a bike). Everything we do, from walking down the street to swinging a golf club, is based on one simple principle: keep your balance, don’t fall over! Golf is particularly unique in that it is a game played with the golf ball on the ground. So we have to bend over to reach it, and for the 2 seconds or so of the swing we have to stay in balance. Let’s look at how a poor swinging motion is often the result of poor posture.
When the bend is excessively from the knees, the weight is often too much on the heels. This allows the club to work to IN and flat on the backswing (try making an upright swing with the weight back on the heels, you can’t even see the ball). Then, as a recovery motion, the player is forced out and over in the downswing. MOST “in and over” moves I see start with too much weight sitting too far back on the heels.
This golfer has too much bend from the waist.
Conversely, with the too much bend at the waist, the arm hang can be in too close to the body forcing the club up and outside with the weight too much on the toes. This leads to an attempt to drop the club back under, and an early extension of the lower body toward the ball. “Humping” is what I call it.
It is clear that posture at address can START an incorrect motion from where the golfer is constantly trying to recover throughout the swing. Remember, everything the lower body does must be counterbalanced by the upper body and vice versa. That is why getting the weight over the balls of the feet at address is so critical. I personally think big feet are good for golf!
Here’s a drill that can help you maintain your posture throughout the swing. Click on the images to enlarge them.
- Set your rear up against an aim stick placed in the ground behind you.
- Try making some easy swing with the right cheek brushing it in the backswing and the left cheek bruising it in the downswing and follow through.
- If you can do this, there’s a good chance you kept your spine angle throughout the motion.
See the lower body MUST stay under the torso to keep balance and create a consistent attack angle. You will see very few great players “humping the ball,” and almost none of them backing up from the ball. Of course there are exceptions, but every one of them can be explained.
For example, Phil Mickelson pulls his upper body WAY back from the ball and thrusts his left leg and hand path well forward into the ball. News item: None of us are Phil. I teach many of my professionals to actually feel like the hips and rear end push farther back against the aim stick in the downswing to keep the torso stacked over the lower body. If you’re toe-hitting, hooking or drop-kicking shots, there’s a good chance your upper body has backed away from the ball coming down.
There is much more to be said, but the best way to observe your posture throughout the swing is through seeing it on video. It takes discipline, because the correct posture is not comfortable at first, but once you get into it and maintain it throughout the shot the center face contact is well worth the effort.
As always, send a video to my Facebook page and I’ll take a look.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Pingback: Good Golf Swing Posture | Golf Swing Tips
Eric
Aug 6, 2014 at 11:52 pm
Dennis, great article! Posture is definitely one of the most important factors in playing consistent golf. It is crazy how a little tilt here or a little bend there can change so many different flaws.
Dennis Clark
Aug 7, 2014 at 10:49 am
You got my idea perfectly. A little goes a LONG way when it comes to posture. Ot grip or ball position of course, but when hitting solid shots is the goal, posture rules.
leftright
Aug 6, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Grip? Tell that to Furyk, Tiger, Johnson, Fowler, Johnny Miller in his prime, Palmer, Trevino, Hogan, Fiori just to name a few with grips that would make a teacher cry. To weak, too strong, double overlap, interlock or overlap, overlap or interlock, baseball grip, reverse crosshanded (the senior guy from the 80’s). The only thing that is important is the 12 inches from right before impact and after impact, the rest makes no difference. I think the takeaway is more important than the grip in most cases and the transition is by far the most important. No one that could ever play well had a bad transition, it was always fluid.
Dennis Clark
Aug 6, 2014 at 11:25 pm
Every one of those great players you mentioned had a GREAT GRIP. For them. Cross handed. Triple overlap it matters not even a little. The purpose of the grip is to square the face and they all squared it at a world class level. They learned to match their grip to THEIR swing. If I haven’t heard of a player there’s a good chance they have NOT matched the grip to the swing. But grip remains the connection to the golf club that ultimately squares the face. Take a great transition, takeaway, pre impact position with a grip that doesn’t match it and you have a handicap. I have 4 students playing for a living who all have slightly different grips and they can shoot 68 in a heartbeat. Conversely take Ernie Els beautiful tempo with a bad grip, and we would never have heard of him. Every time I make a change in someone’s motion I have to be sure the grip is compatible with it. That’s the glue that holds it all together. There is no such as THE grip. Just a compatible one. Thx for reading.
Andrew
Aug 5, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Dennis, Thanks, for the posting. How do you find your waist not your hips when bending? I suspect they are very close to each other. Do you push back the hip bones?
Andrew
Dennis Clark
Aug 5, 2014 at 9:06 pm
Andrew
That’s a great question. It is a subtle distinction but an important one. Stand up tall with straight legs. Now stick your butt out and you’ll feel the core engage a bit, and some pressure in the L3/L4 spine area. Then simply “unlock” your legs. Usually a straight back is the difference.
Andrew
Aug 6, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Thanks, Dennis. I’ve been doing it wrong for 30 yrs…bend the knees and then bend from the hips. Can’t wait to try it out. Andrew
Dennis Clark
Aug 5, 2014 at 6:43 pm
I often see the down swing a reaction to a poor backswing, but the backswing error often stems from poor posture. More common than is known.
Golfraven
Aug 5, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Not sure why you guys stand in deep grass with drivers but guess this is to get the contrast in the picture.
Dennis Clark
Aug 5, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Zak and Andrew were kind enough to “demonstrate” postures for my articles. The point is posture is so underrated in golf. We know bad posture when we see it, but don’t fully comprehend the effects on the swing. Thx for reading
Lefty Light Hitter
Aug 5, 2014 at 3:44 pm
I use a chair and get great results when I put it behind me. Keep one in the car and hit balls with it there everyday. It is amazing how much it has helped my day to day contact.
Dennis Clark
Aug 5, 2014 at 6:42 pm
Yea, chair, bag stand, even the golf bag itself, anything that let’s you swing your arms. Thx
Dan
Aug 5, 2014 at 3:41 pm
Always One of my worst faults, can be hard to notice as it creeps in. Especially for taller golfers. I keep telling my kids “Stick that hiney out”………They are 6 so they just laugh!!!!!!!