The importance of posture

you hear it all the time but how many folks really focus on it. Instead, players are trying to think path, plane or lag etc. Without proper posture, one can't proceed to the next level.
What is good posture? Opinions welcome.

We can debate whether golf requires athleticism , but the standard athletic position, as used in most sports, also should be the standard when addressing the ball.

Knees flexed, butt should feel "poked out", torso bent forward, weight balanced front to back (not on your toes or on your heels). In other sports your head would be up - only difference for golf is to tilt that head down to look at the ball.

The same position taken by a basketball player on defense, a linebacker waiting for the snap, a shortstop waiting for contact, a hitter in the batter's box, a skier about to start a run.

This is a good underrated topic. In addition to the "butt out" feel, the bend for the upper body should be from the hips, not the waist.

Who says golf doesn't require "athleticism"? People say it isn't a sport.

I'm not exactly gifted, but I don't have

quite the same posture for any of those sports (not a skier though - snowboarder). I'd say the shortstop posture has one key element that golf does - it's relatively relaxed until the pitcher starts the windup - then, like a couple others it's purely reactive - not golfy.

My pro said to think of yourself as a goalie.
Knees bent, weight on balls of your feet ready to jump and make a save.
Golf does need a "athletic posture" a slumped posture will get you no-where.

a slumped posture will get you no-where

So true yet alot of amateurs are trying to be tiger when they haven't perfected balance and posture. If you read the posts on some forums like manzella's jokefest forum, folks are trying to use talents they don't have or don't understand. Mansella has made a living off these fools' fantasies. You have to make it through the basics and fundamentals before you begin to work on accumulators, low points, puring irons, lag, and the rest. Posture, my man, posture.

I like to feel atletic position, feet anchored into the ground and yet a springy feeling in my legs. My back is fairly straight, my shoulders are square and back versus slumped, and my arms just hang from my shoulders naturally.
When I swing my club, I feel as if I could go 75% or 90% or 110% and never lose my spine angle or balance.
I like to feel as if my head and neck are there relatively rigid and my upper body pivots around them.
My lower body is anchored into the ground and my hips just turn naturally as far as they need to to support the large upper body pivot.
When I transition, I feel like a giant coil that has been wound up is just unwinding without any more effort than to allow the unwinding.
I trust my swing, I trust my alignment, I don't really have to wonder where the ball is going, I know-most of the time.
After 45 years of playing and teaching, these things are second nature.

Great Topic I agree!!

If we're talking only about the upper body here, stand up straight and reach behind yourself to rest a clubshaft against your back running from your tailbone to your head. Bend over from your hips. Your body should stay in contact with the club at both points.

If you want to see what good posture is, look at Michelle Wie set up from a down-the-line viewpoint. Posture to die for. Among the men, Retief Goosen is exemplary

Excuse the thread necromancy, but I recently found out how important posture is. Without concentrating, I find I'll round my back, slump, etc..If I take the time to create proper posture, align my back, etc., I discovered my ball striking improves DRASTICALLY. Almost negates the chance for hitting the ground behind the ball.

When you've first ressurected the thread, I'll leave this here. Good thread on golf posture: [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture]Good Golf Posture[/URL]

Were you suggesting that thread should have been merged with this one?

Not really. Just left it here for people to find if they search up this thread. Not sure what happends if you merge them. From the forum I moderate, this thread would become the first posts, which would make the other thread weird.

Hmm . . . it would indeed. Sorry about the confusion, but I just didn't understand your phrasing.

Any time I'm tired and my swing falls apart I often have friends comment about my poor posture. I end up bent over in the middle back and result in a flat swing plane and lifting and dipping. Ten minutes with a pro always helps. To excercise the correct feel back into my muscle memory. But, while I have heard many of the comments made above, it is often difficult to feel when my posture has weekend without another players eyes to help(Or video). I've worked on limiting my golf on a given day to help. It seems like anything over 24 holes, or two days in a row and I am undoubtedly slouching and breaking down in posture.

Good posture is seen in nearly every PGA tour players set up.  You are absolutely right and you need to have good posture to move forward with the game.   A straight back and broad shoulder constitute good posture.  I could get much more technical, but if you are teaching posture to someone get them to stick their chest out, bend their knees slightly, and get into a balanced set up.

I don't agree with that.. Many golfers have a rounded back, even Tiger.

To me good posture means balance, if someone was to walk up to you, they could push you and you would be able to resist a decent amount of force before being forced to move from your stance. If your immediately falling backwards or forwards you are not in good posture.

This thread hits home for me. I just had a lesson from my local PGA pro, just because I'd never had one and was interested in what I was actually doing.. Watching the video, he commented on my rounded back and generally poor posture. Although he said he'd like to see that change, my club position at full back swing was "perfect" (shaft was level with the ground and club face was correct), my swing path was "perfect", my head position never moved, and I was striking the ball very well. So at my age of 55 and slightly disabled right leg, he said "don't change a thing!"