5. Repeat your good swings
Think of your spine angle as the axis on which your entire swing
rotates. For your swing to stay on plane shot after shot, you need
to maintain this angle, and that's something that Tiger does
exceptionally well. Look at the following on the left. Tiger doesn't slide or
fall into his swing, and he doesn't try to come out of it. If your setup, grip
and backswing are fundamentally sound, your spine angle should
naturally be in the proper place.
• In the sequence in at the top, taken in 2003, you can see that Tiger's spine angle moves a little, tilting downward in the downswing and moving back up at impact.
• In 2005 (the middle sequence), Tiger became much more stable and consistent with his spine angle. There's hardly any change in his downswing anymore.
• Dead solid perfect — his spine angle is identical at every point in his swing.
How this can help you
You're going to need some PVC pipe
for this one, so go down to your local
hardware store and get about a five foot-
long length of pipe (more or less if
you're especially tall or short) and set a
screw in the bottom so the pipe will
stick into the grass. It's worth the minor
hassle, because your spine angle is so
important to get right and so difficult to
check. Get into your address
position on the range and rest the
pipe on the brim of your cap so it
lays parallel to your shaft at
address. Then start hitting balls while
keeping the pipe along the brim of your
cap. This drill works by keeping your
head level and your shoulder plane
consistent, which in turn keeps your
spine angle consistent.
Watch a video of Peter Kostis demonstrating a variation of this drill:
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