The Perfect Posture For Your Golf Swing (Part 1) You have arrived at your ball on the tee or on the grass. Now: How far over do you bend at your hips? How much do you bend your knees? Where are your The Perfect Posture For Your Golf Swing (Part 1) You have arrived at your ball on the tee or on the grass. Now: How far over do you bend at your hips? How much do you bend your knees? Where are your arms supposed to be? What about your back and head positions? What did that guy on TV say about parallel lines, anyway? In this article you will learn some information that will improveyour golf swing dramatically. Some of my golf students getamazing improvements to their golf swing simply by being in thecorrect posture before they carry out their swing motions. When you are in your best possible posture you can almost feela good swing before you actually do your swing. This article is in two parts. It will: 1. Describe a routine that you can do in front of a mirror totrain yourself how to be in most of the correct posture angleswithout using a golf club. Pt. 1 #12. Show you how to have perfect body alignments. Pt. 1 #2 3. Show you how to achieve all of the correct posture angleswith a golf club. Pt. 2 #3 4. Describe a quick way to ensure you are in the correct bodyangles during your round of golf or while practicing. Pt. 2 #4Please note that pictures and video clips are displayed in thecopy of this article which I have on my website (given below).1. The Basic Training Routine Here are the steps to get into a good posture. Do them in frontof a mirror so you can get feedback of the movements you makeand the positions you achieve.* Stand at attention with your feet about shoulder width apart.* Reach out your arms so that your hands are almost straight outfrom your shoulders.* Grab your left thumb with your right hand (right thumb withleft hand for lefties.)* Firm your whole body to maintain body control for the comingmovements.* Lower your arms until you feel the top of your arms touchyour ribs just under your armpits.* Snug your arms lightly downwards and inwards to your ribs. Note: I remind golf students of the previous two steps with oneword — TOUCH.By maintaining this touch position in the arc of your returnswing to the ball you will avoid many of the bad swing resultsgolfers experience. But, the "one wrong thought" I wrote aboutin a previous article makes most golfers lose the control andprecision that this "touch" provides.Maintaining this "touch" is one of the "don't moves" which Iteach. It is at this point that I tell golf students that"there is power in no movement". End Note* Tilt your left thumb downwards as far as you can. Note: Lefties are to tilt your right thumb downwards. Do not twist your hands or your wrists to do this step. You will feel a noticeable stretch in your left forearm. This stretch sets you up to swing any club you use so the clubdoes not dig into the ground behind the ball. End Note* Bend forward at your hip joints. Note: Try several bend angles at your hips when you dothis step. Keep your back as straight as it was before you bent forward. Keep your head from drooping downwards More on this step Pt. 2 #3 where I describe the same steps usinga golf club. End Note* Bend your knees forward until the muscles just above yourkneecaps start to firm up to prevent you from fallingto your knees.Note: Several of my golf students bring their hips forwardwith their knees. You must avoid this as it brings your hipsunder your shoulders causing your balance to move backwardsonto your heels. Think of some of these thoughts when bendingyour knees: 1. Bend your knees forward and reach your hips backwards. 2. Get into the ready position common to most sports. 3. Get into the position you need to push a vehicle out ofa snow bank or mud-puddle or to move a sofa/couch to vacuumthe floor. 4. If you are familiar with any kind of baseball then you makethe bend of the knees the same as the back catcher startingthe squat position. 5. If these thoughts don't help you get the knee bend correctthen — picture yourself beginning the first movement of sittingon a toilet seat. (My junior golfers love that tip.) Correctly doing this move will usually place your shouldersslightly forward of the front of your shoes. It will alsoplace your hip joints over or slightly behind your heels.End NotePractice the steps above facing the mirror and standing sidewaysto the mirror. In fact, do so in both sideways positions. 2. Setting up those perfect parallel body alignments Your foot position is the foundation to being lined up correctlyto where you want your golf ball to stop (or, best of all, fallin the hole on the green.) Your feet also act as guides for yourturn movements in your swing sequence. (Future articles and mylesson modules will show you how your feet can guide yourswing movements.) You have arrived at your ball and you have positioned your feetso they are parallel to the line of flight of the ball. How do you ensure that your knees, hips, and shoulders are alsoparallel to the flight line? For almost all golfers and "would-be golfers" this can be doneby sight and feel. KNEES: When you have taken the posture position described in Part 1 #1you can look down and see if the SAME length of both of yourshoes is visible past your knees. If so, then your knees arealigned parallel to your feet. HIPS: If your knees are parallel to your feet then your hips arealready parallel to your feet. This applies to almost everyone.The exception will be anyone who has different lengthsin their legs. SHOULDERS: When you stand at attention your shoulders are each above oneof your hip joints. You will feel comfortable with no side or back muscles working.When you bend at your hips you must feel this same comfort— no muscles working or straining. Your shoulders will be in line with your hips, but at an angle.Since your hips are parallel with your feet then, so will yourshoulders be parallel to your feet. During a round of golf a quick glance out of the bottom of youreyes will confirm your knee and hip alignment. A quick thoughtabout whether your back and sides feel comfortable will helpconfirm that your shoulders are in line. More instruction on a good setup posture is found in Part 2.As well, I have additional notes about how to avoid improperposture and body alignments at my website.Copyright by Glen Osborne August 2004. All Rights Reserved Article Tags: Perfect Posture, Golf Swing, Golf Students, Golf Club, Body Alignments Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com