Spine Angle

[ffejeff224]

So I saw Michael Jordan playing in the American Century Championship last weekend and I noticed that on some of his swings he had a serious decrease in spine angle in his downswing. His head would drop a few inches and he would get closer to the ball resulting in some chunked shots. I was just wondering what you instructors would do to stop this bad habit for golfers with a simlar problem. Sometimes I sort of slip into this as well, and when it happens it is seriously unpleasant because it is hard to hit anything but chunks. What causes people to get closer to the ball in transition and how do you correct this problem? Should the golfer trying bending over more at address, or just work on maintaining address spine angle? I know this may be vague and there may be lots of answers.. but I just wanted to explore this topic.

Thanks!

 

[natep]

In my opinion, good players who lower the head in transition do so because they come into impact with more right wrist bend and right elbow bend than they had at address, and they have to lower the torso to make up the difference.

Bad players who are laying sod could be doing it for any number of reasons. Lunging with the upper body instead of leading with the lower body is a common reason.

Just my opinion.

 

[Phil Rosenbaum]

Not to jack the thread, but one way to make up for laying the sod over it is to putt well! one of our members plays a lot with MJ and said he is the best putter he has ever seen.


The dipping of the upper half of the body can tie into the attempt to square the club face up, and in some cases use the ground more efficiently through impact, if timed well enough.

 

[ffejeff224]

In my opinion, good players who lower the head in transition do so because they come into impact with more right wrist bend and right elbow bend than they had at address, and they have to lower the torso to make up the difference.
.

I don't have a problem with enacting my lower body, but I do have a slight bend in my elbow. Maybe this is it. I will have to try straightening the elbow and see if that helps. What do you mean by right wrist bend... as in left arched wrist bent right wrist?

 

[natep]

Yes, I mean right wrist bent backwards, in dorsal flexion.

I don't mean to say that lowering your head in the downswing is a bad thing. Of all the swings of great golfers I've ever seen, most of them lower the head in the downswing.

The one's that maintain a constant altitude all straighten the right arm and wrist to the same degree at impact that it was at address.

But not all people lower their head for the same reasons. There's a difference between Ben Hogan and an OTT novice who lunges with the upper body and hits it fat.