Closed Spine?

[NCLefty]

Mike,

There's one idea you talked about during our lesson that I can't seem to wrap my head around - the idea of a closed spine at impact. Could you clarify this for me?

What would be the difference between 'closed shoulders' and 'closed spine'?

You also talked about "shirt buttons pointing at or behind the ball at impact". Can this be done with the typical slightly open shoulders at impact?

Thanks!

[Michael Jacobs]

Mike,

There's one idea you talked about during our lesson that I can't seem to wrap my head around - the idea of a closed spine at impact. Could you clarify this for me?

What would be the difference between 'closed shoulders' and 'closed spine'?

You also talked about "shirt buttons pointing at or behind the ball at impact". Can this be done with the typical slightly open shoulders at impact?

Thanks!

Tracy

Here is a nice image of a terrific model of the answer to the question you are asking. The 'Closed Spine' reference is one that is popular in motion measurement that we see all the time and it is a measurement of the 'POP' term X Factor. X Factor or X Factor stretch is a popular term amongst the body people and relates to the closed spine relative to the pelvis. So the 'Closed Spine' tour averages that I gave you were measured as per the rotation of the pelvis. Whether or not this an important concept when it relates to how much energy gets transferred to the club is a separate discussion. When hitting a driver it is very helpful to see your shirt buttons behind the ball at impact - when hitting shots of the ground it is helpful to see the shirt buttons either slightly behind or perhaps inline with ball.