How Far Should I Bend at The Waist? How to Determine That?

Having wrestled with lower back problems, I have attempted to play in such a manner that my lower back doesn't take so much abuse.

I've always thought that playing with a more upright stance would help me in this.

However, after being at the range today, I am thinking that a little more bend at the waist would be a good thing - based on how well I was hitting the ball.

My question is how much should I bend at the waist and how should I determine that?

It varies for many people. Some professionals bend over little, some more, depends on what works for them.

As someone with degenerated disks in my lower back and daily back pain, I've found that an upright posture and not "sticking my butt out" is more comfortable and more easily maintained through a full round.  It's probably not ideal but it seems to work for me given my physiological realities.  However, ibuprofen is still my best friend by the 18th.

How much bend is too much is totally specific to the individual.  You need to see what you can sustain for a typical 4 hour round which is not necessarily the same posture that will hold up for 45-60 minutes at the driving range.

so the posture that the S&T guys promote is the correct way....with the shoulders curved, and chin down, feet angled out 20 degrees????......i guess this might be why my lower back hurts cause i didnt listen to them....

Didn't see anything there about the depth of the waist bend, but did notice many photos - seems the right hand is almost as low as the top of the right knee which is a lot lower than my more vertical posture.

Similar to Carl Pettersson ;) who doesn't have a pga swing according to the NBC announcers.

Thanks for your post.

My situation is similar. They want to fuse 4 of my lumbar vertabrae together when we can't control pain any longer.

I've never been willing to try bending lower, but when I was hitting the other day, my ball flight and path was amazing.

Gonna try it out again today.