Man, let me tell you, getting that golf posture right when I’m addressing the ball… what a journey that’s been for me. For the longest time, I just sort of hunched over, you know? Figured as long as I made contact, how I stood didn’t really matter. Boy, was I wrong about that one.
My shots were just all over the shop. One day I’d be slicing it like crazy, the next it’d be a nasty hook. Sometimes I’d hit it thin, other times I’d dig up half the fairway. And my lower back after playing 18 holes? Seriously, don’t even get me started on that. I just couldn’t get any consistency. I’d blame my clubs, the course, even the weather. Everything but my own setup, which is pretty typical, right?
Figuring It Out: The Early Days
Then, I was watching some golf on TV one afternoon, and it kind of clicked. These pro guys, they all looked so solid, so balanced before they even started their swing. Not like me, looking like I was about to topple over. So, I decided, okay, I really gotta work on this posture thing. This has to be it.
My first attempts were, well, pretty awkward. I went to the driving range, grabbed my trusty 7-iron, and tried to remember all the stuff I’d vaguely heard about. Bend from your hips, not your waist. Sounds easy, but when you’re used to slouching, it feels super weird. I felt like a robot. I was probably overthinking every little thing, and it showed in how stiff I was.
Then I started to really think about my knees. Just a little flex, people said. Not locked straight, not super bent like I was sitting down. I must have spent a whole week just trying to get that knee flex feeling right. I’d set up to the ball, look down at my knees, shuffle a bit, look again. My mates on the range probably thought I’d finally lost my marbles.
- I really had to consciously push my hips back. Imagining I was about to sit on a high stool helped me a ton. That was a big moment for me.
- Then, just letting my arms hang down naturally from my shoulders. Before, I think I was reaching out for the ball, which tensed everything up. So I focused on relaxing them.
- Trying to keep my spine straightish, maintaining that angle. This was a tough one. I’d start out okay, then somewhere before I swung, I’d either straighten up or slump back down.
Getting into the Nitty-Gritty: Drills and Feels
I actually started practicing my setup in front of a big mirror in my hallway. No club, just getting into the posture. Again and again. Felt a bit daft at first, not gonna lie, but it really helped me see what I was doing. I could see my shoulders were rounded, or my weight was too much on my toes. Seeing it made it easier to correct.
So, what I started doing was this: I’d stand up tall first. Then, I’d tilt forward from my hips, trying to keep my back relatively flat, not curved. After that, I’d flex my knees just a little, making sure they felt like they were over the balls of my feet, giving me good balance. Then, I’d just let my arms hang down. It felt so much more athletic than my old “question mark” pose. I also made a point to keep my chin slightly up, not tucked into my chest, which helped my shoulders sit better.
I sort of developed a little mental checklist I’d run through:
- Are my feet about shoulder-width? Okay.
- Hips tilted back? Yep.
- Knees nicely flexed? Got it.
- Arms hanging loose? Check.
- Spine angle feels solid? Good to go.
It sounds like a lot, but after doing it a million times, it started to feel more natural, less like I was building a piece of IKEA furniture.
Slowly but surely, things started to improve. My ball striking definitely got more consistent. I wasn’t suddenly hitting it 50 yards further, but the contact felt so much purer. And you know what? My back stopped giving me so much grief after a round! That alone made all the practice worth it. The biggest change was feeling balanced throughout the swing. I wasn’t fighting to stay upright anymore.
Now, am I perfect every single time? Not a chance. I still catch myself getting a bit lazy with it, especially if I’m tired or not playing well. So, it’s something I always have to be mindful of. Before pretty much every shot, I do a quick internal check of those key feelings. It’s not as deliberate as it was when I first started, more of a feel now, but I know I need to pay attention to it. Sometimes I’ll still go back to that mirror if I feel things are getting sloppy.
So yeah, that’s my story of battling with golf posture. It’s not the most exciting part of golf to practice, and it definitely takes some patience, but for me, it’s one of those fundamental things that really made a difference to my game. If you’re finding your shots are a bit all over the place, maybe just take a moment to think about how you’re setting up to the ball. Could be a simple fix, you never know.
