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Be tall to the ball?

Badger_Golfer

Badger_Golfer

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Yesterday I went in for a driver fitting and the fitter offered me a swing tip that I want to see what everyone thinks. He told me that I bend over too much and that I should try to stand taller when I address the ball. He said that if I were to stand in front of a huge clock, my spine angle should be around 1 o'clock but I was standing more with my spine angle at 2 o'clock.
I tried what he said and I gained about 9 mph clubhead speed and about 20 yards of distance (on the simulator). My swing felt a lot freer too and I felt like I was more easily able to go through the ball.
Id always thought that you were supposed to take an, "athletic stance", which for me meant tilting forward a bit at the hips and flexing your knees but perhaps I was overdoing it with the hip tilt. Short of posting up a swing video, thoughts on this swing tip?
 
You should be somewhat bent over and be in an athletic stance. Sounds like maybe you were overdoing it. It should feel like no one could easily push you over from any direction.

Here’s an image of Brooks Koepka just for reference. His head is somewhere between 1 and 2 if you superimposed his down the line setup position with a big clock.

koepka_main_8f8278ec7a6efdee5995c8a312863eb1.jpg
 
About 3 weeks before our season ended I realized my posture had become pretty poor and hunched over so I started standing a little more athletic and it seemed to really help. There were a couple other small changes I made also but I really started hitting the ball more solid.
 
-CRW- said:
You should be somewhat bent over and be in an athletic stance. Sounds like maybe you were overdoing it. It should feel like no one could easily push you over from any direction.

Here’s an image of Brooks Koepka just for reference. His head is somewhere between 1 and 2 if you superimposed his down the line setup position with a big clock.

koepka_main_8f8278ec7a6efdee5995c8a312863eb1.jpg
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's about what I'm going for now. I'd say before my spine was more at 2 or 2:30.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
I have to constantly remind myself to stand taller. For me, I'll tend to add more knee bend vs bending excessively from the waist.

But similar result, taller equals a freer swing and more distance.
 
Badger_Golfer said:
Short of posting up a swing video, thoughts on this swing tip?
Click to expand...

I consider address posture to be one of the golf swing's three fundamentals (grip-posture-alignment).
Your fitter was correct in suggesting "taller posture is better", but the reality is that a height of about 5'9" is ideal for adopting an excellent posture to fit well with golf clubs.
For example, males and females within the height range of about 5'4" to 5'10 may use a posture which allows them to address a golf ball without too much knee bend or bend from the waist.
Your fitter suggesting you try to attain a 1:00 spine angle is sound, textbook golf .If that 1:00 spine angle does not allow the club head to get to the ball, then maintain the 1:00 spine but use knee flex to lower the club head to the ground.
 
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It does depend on a lot of things but frequently it isn’t a bad call. I recently had my instructor move me away from the ball and hinge at the hips more to help me maintain my spine angle. It gave my arms more room to swing and helped my consistency and speed. Everyone is different. I was watching the golf this weekend and Keegan Bradley is very bent over. He is also 6’2 or 6’3 so it works for him. Plenty of speed in Keegan’s swing.
 
Standing taller, as you described, always feels more comfortable to me. When I practice swing with no ball in front of me, it just feels so natural and the swing just seems to flow. I think I am guilty of over bending when there is a ball sitting there.
 
chenrio said:
Standing taller, as you described, always feels more comfortable to me. When I practice swing with no ball in front of me, it just feels so natural and the swing just seems to flow. I think I am guilty of over bending when there is a ball sitting there.
Click to expand...

Consider that when naturally standing tall, walking around etc...one's shoulders are able to move freely without tension.
When a person bends his/her upper body forward from the hips, tension is created and the shoulders do not turn as freely.
So, desirable attributes of a golf swing, such as one piece takeaway, complete shoulder turn,proper back swing pivot/weight shift, smooth tempo and rhythm etc... are easier to achieve with a relatively tall address posture than with a more "bent over" posture.
 
It is always the first thing my coach looks at. He beat into my hand to have an athletic stance and motion.
 
Funny I just saw a video on this by mark crossfield.

m.youtube.com

Mark Crossfield

Welcome to Golf Professional Mark Crossfield's YouTube channel for FREE golf videos and all things golf. Home of the Muppets and the some of the internets mo...
m.youtube.com m.youtube.com
 
The key is when you said it was a driver fitting. 1 o'clock is fine. Now if you have a wedge in hand for a full swing? Not so much unless you are 5 foot nothing.
 
1 o'clock for driver sounds about right. It's good advice, especially if you were exaggerated the other direction.

edit: for the rest of my response, just read leftshot's post. lol He beat me to it.

Personally, I bend at the waist more before adding more knee bend. Anything more than slight knee bend does not work for me physically.
 
leftshot said:
The key is when you said it was a driver fitting. 1 o'clock is fine. Now if you have a wedge in hand for a full swing? Not so much unless you are 5 foot nothing.
Click to expand...

The shaft lengths and lie angles of golf clubs allow for posture to be nearly identical no matter which club a player is swinging. For example, the 1:00 spine angle that the OP's fitter suggested may be used for driver thru wedge. The only difference to the player's address posture should be that there is slightly more knee flex used for the shortest length clubs.
 
WMac19 said:
I have to constantly remind myself to stand taller. For me, I'll tend to add more knee bend vs bending excessively from the waist.

But similar result, taller equals a freer swing and more distance.
Click to expand...

My swing definitely feels freer when I stand taller.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
Chef23 said:
It does depend on a lot of things but frequently it isn’t a bad call. I recently had my instructor move me away from the ball and hinge at the hips more to help me maintain my spine angle. It gave my arms more room to swing and helped my consistency and speed. Everyone is different. I was watching the golf this weekend and Keegan Bradley is very bent over. He is also 6’2 or 6’3 so it works for him. Plenty of speed in Keegan’s swing.
Click to expand...
I'd say that's probably a byproduct of him being so tall. When you're that tall, you either have to tilt more at the waist or flex your knees more.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
This worked really well for me, for about 9 holes. I was driving the ball straight and far, well for me anyway. Then on the back 9 I was once again slicing the ball. 2 more rounds since and I can seem to find that driver swing. Gotta just love this game and the challenges it presents.
 
Being tall to the ball may mean maintaining our normal posture and keeping our head up. When my head is allowed to drop 90% of the time I will hit behind the ball through the swing hub lowering during the downswing. By aligning the cervical and thoracic spine at address I never hit fat shots. In my swing the head is the anchor and the base of the neck is the hub of the swing.
 
The body/knees/bend shouldn't change much between clubs. That's why clubs have progressive lie angles. Here's a tour pro's setup that is representative of the tour averages in Gears Golf for reference:

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oORjYrW.png


The only significant difference is the hands are a little farther from the body with the longer club.
 
I set up to the ball in an athletic stance and feel like I'm looking at the ball through the bottom half of a pair of glasses. This keeps my head between 1 & 2 o'clock and my chin off my chest.
 
Lots of good stuff noted, I agree that posture is key to have a relaxed swing. I’m guilty of occasionally getting too slouched and once I recognize and get back to better posture my strikes are purer and ball flight straightens out. For me if my posture gets odd my ball flight is lower and more left to right.
 
Wow, not sure I am doing exactly what you do, but your thread reminded me of something my wife's instructor said to me, "swing higher". I have been having problems with accuracy lately, and changing back to my high swing really helped. Thank you for reminding me. (y)
 
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