Good Golf Posture - Page 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo68 

1. What's your proof that the rounded spine is more atheletic? "I contend"..................that's your opinion. In a lot of sports, you assume a ready position that includes a relatively straight spine; hence the atheltic position.

See above. We've given reasons. It's my opinion, backed by, among others... these three reasons off the top of my head:

1. More relaxed (less muscle tension)
2. Shoulders more in their impact positions (not retracted)
3. Able to view the ball out of the center of our eyes.

"Warming up" isn't relevant to the topic, so let's just ignore that you (or the other person) said anything about sore backs or "back issues." I don't feel I misread what you wrote - I will admit to misjudging the relevance (none) to the topic if it makes you feel better. :)

It's generally unwise to assume. I think I've established that I'm a credible instructor. You seem willing to take the word of anyone who puts themselves out there. Also, I don't know what in the hell I'm selling exactly, but I suppose that doesn't really matter. You've got your opinions and aren't budging. That's fine.

I'll let the rest of your post go without response, because it's late and I think we've been over it all already, but I will disagree with one part: given the choice between two players who are equidistant from "neutral," (the TW photos I've posted today are pretty close to neutral - slight rounding of the back), I'll take the one that's too round over the one that's too straight, for the three reasons listed above, and more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvmac 

Ok so for you there are alignment issues.  What other problems would this posture cause?  What would these players be able to do better if their spines were straighter?

 

There are different body types and the guy on the right is again, VERY TALL from the look of it. Unless he buys longer clubs of course he'll have to bend more somehow to get down to the ball.

I get it guys; you're instructors advocating a certain way of playing. You're offering information to the public which is great and I appreciate reading different philosophies. I choose to believe in the more traditional approach to the setup but not to the extreme.

Good luck in your ventures.............. 

You guys like to beat a guy to the ground...

It's just nice to see Waite in long pants for a change, which reminds me, why don't we see his actual students' swings more often and less of his swings? It would be like ignoring Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, or even Tiger Woods, and raving about how Sean Foley hits the ball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kapanda 

You guys like to beat a guy to the ground...

Scary isn't it? Especially considering the fact they're Moderators/Administrators here.

Typically Mods/Admins are charged with keeping the peace and allowing discussions to occur without it getting personal. Guess that's only the case if you choose to drink the Kool Aid they're serving. Very telling indeed...........

Despite some of the usual non-constructive sniping, I'm actually finding this thread interesting.     One thing I'm not seeing here, though, is that regardless of any "flat back" versus "rounded back" discussion is that the spine has 4 normal curvatures - there is no such thing as a naturally straight spine.     

I'm certainly not a physiologist and have no more than a minimal layman's understanding of how the body works, but it seems to me that if you have a set up posture that basically conforms to your natural spine shape, you won't have to make unconscious corrections through the whole shoulder turn and swing.    If you have parts of the spine that naturally have slightly more curvature (let's say it's the thoracic curve) and you try to straighten them more at set up, this puts stress in that area and you're having to work muscles that would not otherwise be compensating.   To try and maintain that same alignment through the swing would mean you have to keep making muscular and skeletal corrections through the swing to maintain the straighter-than-natural alignment.     Although this is certainly physically possible, anytime you're fighting your natural body build through a series of motion opens the door for inconsistency.   

Looking at pictures of the different players posted through this thread, it appears that many are simply using their natural spine curvature in their posture and swinging around that.   Trying to suggest someone with more natural curvature should straighten out (or vice versa) would seem to introduce more swing inconsistency and be more prone to injury.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clambake 

Despite some of the usual non-constructive sniping, I'm actually finding this thread interesting.     One thing I'm not seeing here, though, is that regardless of any "flat back" versus "rounded back" discussion is that the spine has 4 normal curvatures - there is no such thing as a naturally straight spine.     

 

 

I'm certainly not a physiologist and have no more than a minimal layman's understanding of how the body works, but it seems to me that if you have a set up posture that basically conforms to your natural spine shape, you won't have to make unconscious corrections through the whole shoulder turn and swing.    If you have parts of the spine that naturally have slightly more curvature (let's say it's the thoracic curve) and you try to straighten them more at set up, this puts stress in that area and you're having to work muscles that would not otherwise be compensating.   To try and maintain that same alignment through the swing would mean you have to keep making muscular and skeletal corrections through the swing to maintain the straighter-than-natural alignment.     Although this is certainly physically possible, anytime you're fighting your natural body build through a series of motion opens the door for inconsistency.   

 

Looking at pictures of the different players posted through this thread, it appears that many are simply using their natural spine curvature in their posture and swinging around that.   Trying to suggest someone with more natural curvature should straighten out (or vice versa) would seem to introduce more swing inconsistency and be more prone to injury.

I would agree. I think that when you commonly tell people to have a "flat back" they overly straighten their spines. We don't really want people super slumpy or excessively (by the very nature of the word duh) rounding their backs, but a natural rounding of the spine is all we're after.

For decades the common advice has been to have your chin up and have a flat or straight back and sticking your butt out. There have been videos of people putting clubs against their backs and saying "just bend from the hips" when really there's a little more bend than that, largely from the thoracic spine. After all, our shoulders round in a little as our arms reach in front of us, and the spine curves roughly an added 10° or so forward (the same 10° or so that the spine "extends" as it tilts about 10° left during the backswing to retain our inclination to the ball).

Some people play without spines..........take my manager for instance.

Seriously; take him.

Awesome post, thanks. 

Intresting.....how important is it to have a straight back? but really? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo68 

 I choose to believe in the more traditional approach to the setup but not to the extreme.

This post made me laugh.  I wondered what this non-traditional guy would say to it:

Great info.  thanks