One very common question we receive on the Rotary Swing website is, "How much spine angle should I have at address in golf?"
In other words, how much should the spine be tilted over toward the ground when addressing the golf ball?
The truth is, there is no single, universal spine angle. There cannot be, because every golfer's body is built differently.
There are numerous factors that go into determining proper spine angle in golf.
The length of your legs and their ratio to your torso length, the length of your arms, and the length of the golf club all have a significant impact on how much spine tilt you should have at address in golf.
It is critically important that you find what is optimum for your individual build, and that is exactly what we are going to accomplish here.
Hinge, Don't Bend
You are going to learn the importance of hinging from the hip to get into your golf posture.
Many golf instructors talk about "bending from the waist." Do not bend from the waist.
When you bend from the waist at address in golf, you are curving your spine into a compromised position.
You want to keep your spine in neutral joint alignment as much as possible to protect it throughout the golf swing.
If you simply start curving it, you expose yourself to all kinds of potential problems.
Curving the spine is poor posture, and it is detrimental to your back health.
It is extremely difficult to rotate something that is kinked and bent. You want to keep the spine as straight as possible.
Obviously, your spine is not literally straight — we mean "straight" in the sense of neutral alignment, so you can rotate freely without risk of injury.
The only way to keep your spine in neutral is to hinge forward from your hip sockets instead of bending at the waist.
If you have participated in any athletic sport, you have probably performed this movement many times already.
If you ever played baseball, if you have done squats in the gym, if you played football — for each of those activities, you do not get into an athletic stance by slumping over with a rounded back.
You do not see many shortstops with poor posture. They hinge from the hips so they can activate their glutes.
The glutes are tremendously powerful muscles that help you move explosively and stabilize your body.
We are going to apply the exact same principle in the golf swing. You need to activate the glutes for stability and power in the swing, and the only way to do that effectively is to hinge from the hip. To see how your own posture and hip hinge affect your swing mechanics, try a free AI swing analysis.
Balance and Bow
Try this simple drill to help you determine how far to lean forward.
You have already done the drill of rocking forward and back to find your true balance point. Now you are going to repeat that process.
Find where you are balanced over your ankles, and then simply bow forward.
As you do this, keep your spine nice and straight so you are "in the box." Remember, we have already covered getting in the box.
Hinge forward from your hip sockets and let your hips drop back behind you until you feel your toes get light.
It will not require a lot of forward tilt. If you are keeping your spine straight and simply allowing your hips to drop straight back, you will find that your toes become light surprisingly quickly.
Try it again.
Find your proper stance width, and then relax your knees just slightly.
Rock forward onto your toes, rock back onto your heels, and then settle into your natural balance point. Once you are balanced, take a bow.
Bow forward, letting your hips drop back. Feel your toes getting really light. As they are starting to come off the ground, relax your knees a little and let your arms hang down naturally.
Great Posture
Now you are in excellent posture, with great balance, and fully prepared to address the golf ball.
Your hips are positioned back behind you so all of that weight is not pushing you forward.
Remember, when you swing the golf club there is going to be a tremendous amount of force pulling you toward the target line, and you need to be able to resist that force effectively.
Now you are in the correct position. You have hinged from the hip, allowed your toes to get light, and relaxed your knees just slightly.
Looking from the down-the-line view, you should find that the backs of your knees line up directly over the center of your ankles.
If you drew a line straight down from your knee, it should intersect the middle of your foot. You will feel that you are activating your quads (the muscles on the front of your legs).
You do not want to activate your quads. You want to activate your glutes, and this requires that your hips shift back so your weight is positioned over the rear of your foot.
Then you will feel the weight settling into your glutes. You need to feel that engagement.
You can experiment with it. Bend your knees excessively and you will feel the quads activate — but the quads are counterproductive in the golf swing!
Now hinge from the hips and let the weight settle back so you feel the glutes activate.
This is the posture you are looking for at address in golf. For real-time feedback on how your hip hinge and posture hold up during the swing, try a free AI golf lesson that evaluates your form.
That is it! Get into good posture, bow forward until your toes get light, relax your knees, and let your arms hang down naturally.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
What is the correct spine angle at address in golf?
Bending from the waist at address in golf: Don't do this!
Hinge from the hips
Bow forward until your toes get light
The glutes provide stability 
The knee is bent too much - this is incorrect!
