Posture/balance question

Hi, i was practicing today at the range and was examining my posture. I felt that my balance was a bit off and remembered that i need to stick out my rear end a bit and felt, by doing that, that i am almost sitting down or leaning against something. That gave me a more secure feeling of balance and i was hitting a lot better. Anyone with similar balance issues that were correct this way ?

Hey,

I find that if you bend from the hips to where your head is sitting at roughly 2 o-clock that pushes your butt out a bit and keeps your eyes directly onto the ball. My weight is roughly just over the ankles and feet are roughly 2 inches past my hip sockets with flared hips.

thanks for the replies, i also read somewhere that feet should be at 10 and 1 o'clock, where the left foot is pointing to 10 and the right foot is pointing to 1. Thats supposed to help with proper weight transfer.

Not sure if you are doing that too much, but you do not want your butt sticking out to the point you are arching your back. The lower back should be in neutral, and the upper back should be rounded.

Check out this thread on good golf posture.

For me, if I feel really relaxed I have good balance. I don't feel the need to stick my butt out.

A half hour with a pro might help a lot here, but the key is you want to maintain a consistent spine angle from address through impact. Sticking your butt out might help you not only get to a good angle at address but also lock it in throughout. I would say any time you have doubts about address, balance, etc. a few minutes with a decent pro and some video will be a huge benefit. It is hard thing to get right by just relying on your own feel and guess work.

"maintaining your spine angle" (more accurately - your inclination to the ground, because the angle of your spine changes as soon as you start swinging) has more to do with keeping your head steady, not so much the butt.

I am not sure I follow the distinction between spine angle and "your inclination to the ground" (inclination of what part of the body?), but in any case, I think many golfers who lack good posture at address benefit from the thought of sticking out your butt. Of course, doing it too much isn't good either and can lead to back issues (What's often referred to as "S" posture these days). If you want the prototypical posture (actually prototypical anything really) look at Adam Scott. Maintaining that lean - whether we call it spine angle or something else - during the swing becomes a lot easier if we start with the hips at the right angle. That allows some separation between upper and lower body. I suspect that is the sensation the original poster felt - his lower body was able to maintain a good balanced position, while his upper body turned right over it. I think a lot of amateurs step up to a golf ball they same way they stepped up to the plate in Little League - standing nearly straight up and down. While that might not be best baseball wise, it is worse golf wise. That's probably where "sticking your butt out" came from as a tip as it gets them tilting their upper body but not hunching over. Sure, the image of steady head can help too, but if the hips aren't in the right spot at address, unless you are yogi with amazing hand-eye coordination, it will be hard to swing with any combination of balance, power and consistency.

Just to reinforce the "not sticking your butt out thing": it will really do a number on your back, especially if you're like me and have prior issues with back pain.

That good golf posture thread is really helpful.