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Loss Of Posture Analysis - Pros Vs Ams

In this analysis video, we discuss the key features of the full swing loss of posture pattern. If you struggle with consistency of low point control or getting open at impact, this video understand what may be happening.

Playlists: Swing Analysis Videos, Stop Standing Up In Your Backswing

Tags: Standing Up, Analysis, Concept, Intermediate, Beginner

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In this analysis video, we're going to look at the swing pattern for loss of posture.

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Now, the definition of the swing pattern for loss of posture is essentially a elevation

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of the thorax where a lack of left tilt during the back swing. So the thorax is going to be

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somewhere right around in here on these two golfers. And what you'll see is during the back swing,

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you'll see the thorax actually raise up. So if we look at this other gentleman who is a little

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bit more of a low handicap golfer, you'll still see a raise of the thorax. Now, the other

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way that you can look at this pattern, still from the down the line camera angle, is if you

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were to look at the amount of left tilt of their thorax or the amount of left bend, you will

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see that loss of posture golfers tend to have flatter shoulders and as a result, we'll usually

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have steeper arms to adjust. But the pattern is a raise of the thorax and a loss of this left

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tilt during the back swing. Or I guess I should say a failure to develop this left tilt

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during the back swing. Now, one of the common patterns with this pattern or the common

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ball flights that you'll typically see is players who have this loss of posture during

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their back swing are typically going to have more of a flexion-based swing than a rotation

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base swing. As a result, they're not going to be very open with their body at impact.

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And so that will typically move the bottom of this swing further behind the golf ball. As a result,

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they will struggle with fat shots and top shots. They will have a path that's going typically

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to the left, but we'll get into that more in the next section. Now, there will always be examples

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of players on tours who demonstrate some of these swing patterns. So here's Kenny Perry, who's probably

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the most predominant golfer with the loss of posture or swing pattern. Typically, the loss of posture

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swing pattern is going to cause a transition that is more flexion-based. But what you'll see with Kenny

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Perry is he does a great job during transition of getting back into position and then allowing

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rotation to help him provide the proper angle of attack and path into the golf club.

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Compare that to this low handicap amateur golfer. You'll see that there's a lack of that

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drop during transition, which is one of the common compensation patterns or associated

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movements with the loss of posture or swing pattern. Typically, when you lose your posture,

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you will have to then result in a little bit more of a cast and crunch in order to get the golf

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club back down to the golf ball.

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Now, let's take a look from a power path and face perspective. So from a power perspective, this

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loss of posture is going to load your six back abs and it's going to load your shoulder. So

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typically what happens is you're going to do more of a crunch movement from the upper body and

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you're going to do more of a tricep extension or arm extension. The areas where it tends to

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weaken your body is it tends to weaken the ability to create speed from the legs and from the hips.

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It also tends to weaken the amount of rotational capabilities. When you have this left shoulder down a

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little bit more, it loads your obliques where standing up like so is typically loading more

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your rectus or your six pack muscles. Your obliques do a great job of rotating you while your six pack

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muscles do a great job of flexing you. You'll notice that Kenny Perry during this transition

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is going to get back down into his hips and create a little bit more of a steep path for his shoulders.

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Compared to where it was truly at the top of his swing.

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That movement during transition has reloaded the hips and reloaded the obliques and those allow

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for some of this rotation to occur during his downswing where the amateur not sitting back down

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into the hips but rather bending more into the spine is not going to have the legs to

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necessarily push off and create speed and so always left with his crunch and chop from his arms.

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From a path perspective simply standing up will create more of a shallow path because it gets the club

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swinging more on a horizontal plane. Unfortunately, most amateurs that stand up will then use the

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arms more vertically and do that forward crunch that I discussed. So as a result those two movements tend to

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create more of a steepening path. So by itself the stand up move or the loss of posture during the

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backswing is going to create a shallow angle of attack or a shallow path but it's usually a company

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by an overly steep compensation which results in the steep and left path that most amateurs who

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struggle with this pattern battle.

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Lastly the loss of posture swing pattern by itself has a minimal effect on face rotation.

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One of the most common compensating or associative movements with the loss of posture swing

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fault is going to be the cast pattern because when I've raised up my upper body I've loaded that

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shoulder and I've loaded that tricep and I've created a whole lot of vertical distance between

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myself and the golf ball which provides for a powerful platform for my arms. So you'll see

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frequently the arms leading transition or leading the early stages of the release.

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Just like so. So you'll see a little bit of a cast pattern and a lack of drop during transition.

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That drop helps load the hips and create the lower body power. So if you don't drop all you

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have left with is using those arms to create power. These two movements tend to create

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an appearance at impact where the hands are a little bit more even with the golf ball or

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off of the right side of the body. It's not always the case as you'll see on this

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skilled golfer on the left. He's able to still get his hands a little bit ahead of the golf ball

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but that would be part of this common pattern the loss of posture swing pattern.

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