OLIVER WILSON
Oliver Wilson understands the importance of “good posture” in the golf swing.
The Ryder Cup player who came back from 4 down with Henrik Stenson to beat Phil Mickelson & Anthony Kim, explains the postural differences between his old and new swing.
BUILDING A BETTER SWING
I knew I had some technical issues, but I’ve worked hard over four years and now I have both consistency and control.
A FAULT THAT NEEDED FIXING
Under pressure my arms tended to lead the swing and I got shut going back. The danger was that I got deeper and shut and would end up hitting it miles left. I was able to save myself by jumping out of the way. Sometimes I’d catch things heavy and I’d have no control over the ball.
OLD SWING
Setup is so important. I’m hunched over and round shouldered here and I’ve found that the tiniest thing can cause all sorts of problems. I just can’t swing back properly from this position.
NEW SWING
This is much better; a good spine angle and shoulders are back. You can’t afford to be tired or lazy with the swing. You have to get this right before you move to the next stage. |
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POSTURE & THE GOLFER
The address position in golf results in the right handed golfer gripping the club with his right hand below the left which encourages the right shoulder to be lower than the left shoulder. This in turn means that the left hip will be higher than the right resulting in adaptive ‘scoliosis’ (slight curvature in the thoracic spine).
Add to this while in the address position the pectoral (chest) muscles being shortened and the upper back muscles stretched and weak resulting in the appearance of having ‘round shoulders’ or ‘kyphosis’ (increase in thoracic curvature).
Golfers rely on a healthy functioning thoracic spine for rotation in the swing. This would be identified as part of Physical Profiling.
Do You Know What Your Main Core Stabilising & Postural Muscles Are & How To Train Them For Golf?
Their function is to help coordinate the lower body, upper body and the trunk: maintain spinal posture through the golf swing and protect the spine, shoulders and peripheral joints from injury.
For information on Physical Profiling, treatment of any golf related condition or advice on golf fitness contact us here
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Spinal Posterior View |
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Adaptive Scoliosis
(slight curvature in the thoracic spine) |
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