GO | NO GO: ADDRESS – SPINE ANGLE TILT
GO: At address on a full swing, your spine angle should be tilted back so the front of the rod points slightly upward. The longer the club the more tilt you need.
NO GO: Your shoulders should not be level. This causes a steep or outside takeaway path.
Spine angle at address is a golf swing mechanic that many golfers fail to realize the importance of, particularly in regards to how much it can do to help improve their game. Setting up correctly when you address the ball is critical to making a good golf swing. If your set-up is not properly aligned to your target, and your spine angle and shoulder tilt are not correct, it is very difficult to recover or compensate and make a good golf swing. For a right hand golfer, when you grip the golf club your right hand goes below your left hand. This means your spine should be angled slightly back. Described another way, your spine should be slightly tilted towards your right side. This spine tilt angles your leading shoulder up, and your trailing shoulder down, allowing you to easily slide your right hand on the golf club below your left. If your shoulders are level at address it means your front side is slightly collapsed and your weight is probably distributed too much on your front foot. When your front side is collapsed, or your weight is too far forward, it is easy to start the golf swing by taking the club away too far outside, or too steep, both of which cause multiple swing issues typically resulting is a slice, poor contact, and loss of power. Having the correct spine angle and shoulder tilt, encourages a straighter and lower takeaway making it easier for you to execute a proper backswing.
How do I stop a slice? This is a question many golfers ask, but few realize their problem can often be traced back to their set-up. The Swing Align golf swing trainer can help. An easy drill to do with Swing Align is to check the angle of the alignment rod across your chest. At address the alignment rod should be square to your target line and angled slightly up. This position is the beginning of a successful golf swing! When you take the club away, the front side of the alignment rod that is angled upward, should immediately start moving down instead of out or around your body. After getting in the right set up position, with your spine angled slightly back and your shoulders tilted up, you are ready to make a great takeaway. You can put your Swing Align device on at any time and practice your set up position – at home, in your office, in the parking lot or at the driving range before you tee off. Practicing a good set up only takes a few minutes and leads to more accuracy and increased power, and eliminates common swing flaws like a slice. If you practice your set up position regularly it will become more natural when you are on the golf course.
Be sure to use the Swing Junction ground alignment product to insure that your upper body and lower body are aligned. Setting up square when using a Swing Align device becomes as easy as looking down! This sort of self-check drill is perhaps the most useful feature of Swing Align devices. The highly visible alignment rods that move with your body can tell you something about every part of your swing. Much of this information requires some research, our site is a great resource for information of this kind and we strive to update it with new tips and tricks as often as possible. The best source, however, for information pertaining to correcting your golf swing’s mechanical flaws with a Swing Align is through lessons with a golf instructor. If you bring your Swing Align to your golf lessons not only will it act as a second set of hands for your instructor, but it will teach you valuable lessons about how you can properly utilize the device on your own time. Swing Align illustrates many complicated golf swing mechanics, like proper spine angle and swing plane, in an incredibly simple way. Once your instructor has shown you what to look for, practice becomes a simple matter of drilling the positions. With bright rods to guide your way you are bound to have an easier time remembering exactly where to place your body. You can significantly improve your retention, as well as your personal progress, all for around the price of a single additional golf lesson. You owe it to yourself to make the most out of your practice.
