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Helping Hackers - Maintaining spine angle and bending at the hips    Back to Topics  Page: 1 of 3     
From: Muggyweather (1 of 28)   11/3/2009 10:22:54 PM
To:
Recently saw a bunch of videos online about maintaining spine angle. Popular one by Watson at a tournament driving range in which he says maintaining spine angle back and through is the key to good ball striking. Saw one by Kostis and one by someone else advocating two sides of the same drill. Pretend your butt is against a chair or your head is against a wall and keep them there.

But they don't discuss what motor action you should use to maintain spine angle or what motor action would lead to you losing it.

I got a theory. Could the key be bending at the hips at address? I have learned to do it this year and I am still trying to internalize the set-up. It is a very different sensation than bending from the waist. Bending from the hips, sticking the rear end out in this little movement between your lower back and the hips, seems to provide a real solid foundation for the lower body, and it also seems to force the spine and back to be as erect as it could physically be (back may never really be "straight" but you get the sensation that it is as straight as it could get).

And this bending at the hip posture seems to minimize the risk of overturning on the backswing or swaying on the backswing. And it also seems to allow for a "level" hip turn back and through.

Is the bending at the hips correctly the key to maintaining your spine angle back and through?

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From: curran90 (2 of 28)   11/4/2009 5:15:04 AM
To: Muggyweather In response to Post 1
The spine angle can only change if the head moves. The head can move side to side and your spine angle can still be maintained but if the head moves up or down then the spine angle must change. So Tiger and others who let their head drop as they swing into the ball are changing their spine angle. In Tigers case it is ever so slight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy9GTAENiJA
Since the head is on top of the spine you can't move one without the other and if you keep the head stable then the spine angle most do the same.
Edited 11/4/2009 5:21:00 AM by curran90

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From: farball (3 of 28)   11/4/2009 6:53:43 AM
To: curran90 In response to Post 2
Over the years we have heard it doesn't matter whether the head moves thus many say don't worry about keeping your eye on the ball.
Keeping the eye on the ball is just another way of keeping the head still and all good ballstrikers(except lorena, annika and duval)keep their heads still until long after the ball has left the face of the club.
Watch any slo mo and you can see it.
When my ballstriking gets a little sloppy, I can usually look to moving my head as the reason.
Good posts

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From: curran90 (4 of 28)   11/4/2009 8:04:33 AM
To: farball In response to Post 3
You are spot on and even though Annika's head turns to look at the target as she is striking the ball (blind golfers play golf because they know where the ball is and it isn't moving) the head doesn't move up or down so she has kept her spine angle.

While it is important for some golfers to maintain a spine angle some golfers can let their spine angle move all over the place and still win tournaments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jviToMF5kYk
However, if you look very closely you will notice that the spine angle moved just a little before impact, which is all that matters because the ball doesn't know what you do after the ball has left the club face.
Edited 11/4/2009 8:08:00 AM by curran90

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From: Jar. (5 of 28)   11/4/2009 10:10:34 AM
To: Muggyweather In response to Post 1
"Is the bending at the hips correctly the key to maintaining your spine angle back and through?"

The above statement is very important, however, it mainly deals with one end of the spine. The other end needs to be setup well, also. The upper back and shoulders can slouch regardless of the hips so it is useful to try and keep your upper back erect, also. Try to get your shoulder blades relatively close together and have your arms set up like you are going to carry firewood rather than have them hang down like some sort of ape.



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From: Muggyweather (6 of 28)   11/4/2009 12:34:24 PM
To: curran90 In response to Post 2
Then this begs the question, how do you keep the head from moving (or moving in undesirable ways and manners)? What actions by the rest of the body would maximize the risk and what would minimize the risk?

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From: wmblake (7 of 28)   11/4/2009 12:49:55 PM
To: Jar. In response to Post 5
"than have them hang down like some sort of ape"

That's pretty funny.

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From: wmblake (8 of 28)   11/4/2009 12:52:59 PM
To: Muggyweather In response to Post 1
It seems to me the other part of this - and I agree with you on the bending from the hips and Jar, too, about upper back - is the bend in the knees and hips has to be retained - the butt still out rather than move toward the ball ("goat humping" to use someone else's description). Somewhere I read that this is part of why core strength matters. I have taken the "spare tire" route to core strength.

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From: wmblake (9 of 28)   11/4/2009 12:55:29 PM
To: Muggyweather In response to Post 6
I am way out of my league with this guess, but I think the setup, with some tilt away from the target (unless you're a S&T person), and then rotation of the shoulders rather than sliding of them plays a role in this... And my head also "rotates" sometimes to let my shoulder come under.

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From: Muggyweather (10 of 28)   11/4/2009 1:06:11 PM
To: wmblake In response to Post 8
Bending from the hips correctly at address, rather than bending from the waist, will allow the rear end to not move forward and allow the back knee to remain flexed on the back swing. It is the cause and those things are the effects or some of the effects. That is why bending from the hips, as opposed to the waist, is so crucial.



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