[Vickie]

Neil, yes you are correct that there is a very specific manipulation of the spine for a proper address. When I talk about slumped, rounded and anteriorly rotated shoulders (all which can mean the same thing with slight specifications) I am speaking of your general posture. When your posture is already in a restrictive state and you then further restrict the alignment, albiet appropriate, for the purpose of the golf posture then you risk a level of restriction that increases your exposure to joint complications. The theory is to start with a perfect alignment (I hope to see one once in my life) and then watch your bodies magnificent ability to manipulate it and recover from it with no impingment of the joint.

In a previous post I talk with Martee about a shoulder / arm pain that is potentially created by the same phenomenon. It is not the golf swing so much as the permanent structural problems that occur throughout our lives which finally just show up in this athletic endevor. A lot of pain that is blamed on golf or incorrect use can be traced back to structural problems that have nothing to do with the game. Correct the foundation and all things, long and short, will be better and easier on your body.

So . . . I put a lot of emphasis on training for a maximum capability for the foundation of everything you do, not the least exciting of which is golf. If you raise the capacity of your body to perform in a controlled environment like a training session and if the body returns to it's original flexibility and balance then it is just not as impacted when you need to use it in a 'contorted state'. There is a natural and appropriate state and then the not so natural things we do with our bodies. Exercise is not natural so we go to some extremes to make it effective and safe. The golf stance is not a naturally occurring stance and we go to some extremes to perfect it to be effective and safe. But in the mean time the body has to be allowed to come back to a neutral and relaxed state.

Every contribution from every post is valuable to me and important in it's own right. And every post is applicable to one individual physical experience with the injury, the stroke patterns, and the solutions. It is most important that we all keep sharing and learning and from these posts; you can usually find your way to your best answer.

Vik