Golf Smart Academy Forum — Hips-shoulder separation and back pain

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Hips-shoulder separation and back pain ¶

By: Max T on July 28, 2020, 5:32 p.m.

Hi Tyler,

I've always played my best golf when I've been able to establish good separation between my hips and shoulders. I like to think of my hips squarish and my shoulders closed at P6 and from there being able to rotate hard. This is the best way I've been able to generate power, and the inside path and shaft forward conditions it produces produce a long draw.

Unfortunately, it hurts, and I've always had to fall back from it. Mostly muscular but occasionally more sharp shooting pains in my lower back. Is this the reality of this move, or are there drills or stretches I can use to make sure I'm performing it correctly? I'm 30 and not particularly athletic, could this rotational move eventually be replaced by more of a lateral lunge?

Incidentally a backswing move with more shoulder external rotational (waiter and the drinks tray) tightens my back up similarly.

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Re: Hips-shoulder separation and back pain ¶

By: Tyler F on Aug. 1, 2020, 5:08 p.m.

Hi Max,

As you've seen, this movement does produce better geometry than a forward lunge. There are a two main categories of different things that might cause pain. Either the movement itself is stressing an area too much. Or an area is damaged and a "normal golf movement" causes pain because the area isn't functioning well. Navigating pain is a harder thing for me to teach people to self-coach than just performance. So if it were me, I'd probably seek someone in your area to help. Especially given your age and how much of a golfing future you could have. I personally wouldn't want to start working around things that could be cleared up with a little stretching or exercise.

PS - the backswing piece of information leads me to think that it could be lat fascia or quadratus lumborum related, but you'd definitely want to have someone look at it to help you decide.

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Re: Hips-shoulder separation and back pain ¶

By: Max T on Aug. 5, 2020, 4:13 a.m.

Hi Tyler,

Thanks for getting back to me, and apologies for putting you on the spot over something that's difficult to reason online. I think it's a golf first problem, exacerbated by a lifetime of being sat at a desk. I just wondered if there were well known connections with that move and back pain, having seen little bits about "s posture" online. I will hook myself up with a local professional or osteo.

In general, is that separation one of the "non-negotiables" of the STS, or is it part of a matchup? I can't see how else you'd come from the inside with rotation.

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Re: Hips-shoulder separation and back pain ¶

By: Tyler F on Aug. 5, 2020, 9:44 a.m.

Not a problem. I like tough questions. I've studied a lot and understand the complexity of some injuries/pain patterns. So I tend to shy away from blanket injury recommendations.

As far as the necessity. At the top of the swing, the average disassociation is about 45 degrees more turn of the chest compared to the pelvis. At impact, the pelvis has turned about 15 degrees more than the chest. This allows for shallowing out the swing and creating a flat spot. So while it's not absolutely necessary to have that disassociation at impact, it is very helpful. If you don't use that rotation, then you have to work more in an arm dominant pattern. You can still come from the inside with that pattern, but you'll usually have bigger misses and be susceptible to issues with the driver or if you swing hard.

There are always options, but having some rotation in the downswing is something to strive for if you can.