Golf Swing Angle – One Secret To More Golf Swing Power And Accuracy
Many golf teachers say that golf is all about rotation. And in a sense, that is true. More rotation means more golf swing power can be generated. But that rotation needs to be correct for you to gain the most power and accuracy out of your golf swing. So what makes a correct rotation? In large part, your golf swing spine angle. That is not to say that mastering this golf swing angle will let you play golf like Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. You may still have other problems that need to be corrected. But for many non-professional players, it can be easily seen that their golf swing problems result from not keeping the correct angle of their spine.
Why is the golf swing spine angle so important? If you look at the top professional players, you will see that many of them rotate their body around a fixed or stable spine angle. While there is no special magic angle that these pros use, if you analyze their golf swing frame by frame you will see that they maintain their chosen spinal angle throughout their swing. This is one of the major factors that allows them to keep their club on a consistent swing plane. This is true regardless of whether they play using a one plane golf swing or a two plane golf swing.
Of course, finding and holding the correct golf swing spine angle for yourself is easier said than done. This requires correct, consistent practice. The top golf pros hit the ball thousands of times everyday. As a weekend golfer, this level of practice is not realistic for you. But still, hitting a hundred or two hundred golf balls every weekend should not be a problem if you are serious about improving your golf swing. There are some who protest, saying that they only play golf for fun. Well, so do I. But I do not find losing all the time to be at all enjoyable.
Some of you say that you already practice your golf swing a hundred times every evening after work, and play golf both Saturday and Sunday every week. But your golf still sucks. That is entirely possible. There are a few possible reasons. For one thing, you need correct practice. Correct practice requires a certain level of body awareness.
What is body awareness? Let me put it this way – if you are doing something right now – STOP! Can you describe your own posture? The angle of your spine? Where are your arms and legs? Where are your limbs pointed? Can you tell me all these things? If I were standing right there with you, will I see everything that you described?
There are many who will say, “My right arm is pointing at the door. The forearm is parallel to the ground. My body is slightly bent off-centre.” Except that I see something different – right arm just missing the door, forearm lifted about 20 or 30 degrees off the horizon, spine and shoulder hunched over.
If this is you, do not despair. There are two exercises that can help you develop the body awareness needed for you to find and keep the correct golf swing angles. The first is to use a digicam to capture your golf swing practice sessions. Analyze your golf swing frame by frame and try to correlate it with how your body felt every step of the way. The second exercise is to practice your golf swing in slow motion, remaining aware of all your golf swing steps. You need to do both exercises. It is not going to produce fast results, but once you get it you will marvel at the feeling and your improved golf swing.
A second major reason why your golf still sucks despite a lot of practice could be due to lack of strength and flexibility. Have you looked at the backswing of the top golfers? Do you see how much they swing back their golf clubs? That requires a lot of flexibility. And unlike what is commonly thought, that flexibility is not restricted to just the waist. It goes up all the way to the mid-back, shoulders, neck and head. It goes down all the way through the hips and knees to the ankles and feet.
So how do you improve your golf swing flexibility? Do you need to invest in a special golf swing flexibility program? Not necessarily. Dedicated golf swing flexibility exercises would certainly give you faster results, but regularly performing set of general flexibility and stretching exercises for your whole body would also produce good results. You do not need to do very much everyday. Just consistently give all your joints and muscles a good slow stretch after a light warm-up and your body will slowly feel better and better.
The same points hold true for golf swing fitness. Dedicated golf fitness training works faster, but a program of general fitness strength and conditioning exercises work well enough for most weekend golfers. Some low impact aerobics, brisk walking or swimming to improve your stamina. Simple strength training – push-ups, crunches, squats and lunges – will let you put more strength into your golf swing within a few months.
Improving the strength, fitness and flexibility of your body gives you the potential to play better golf. Developing correct body awareness and sensitivity lets you play with the correct golf swing spine angle that hits the balls with both consistency and power. If you have read golf book after golf book and consulted golf guru after golf guru but still failed to play better golf, then maybe going back to basics with these simple, slow and steady methods might work better for you.