Yoda - here is another series of images that you may enjoy.
The two red dots were placed approximately over L5 and C7, and the green dotted line is simply a straight line joining those two points.
It may look like the spine is tilting left. However, that is only because one is looking at a three-dimensional motion (viewed from an angle) as a 2-dimensional image representation. Conceptually, I have no reason to believe that the spine angle tilt changes during the backswing action - even though the spine is spiraling in space.
Thanks for these instructive views. I find Photos 4-6 particularly compelling. The point I've been making for almost four years now is that almost all great players swing about a reasonably Centered and Stationary Head (or, alternataively, the "Point between the Shoulders"). As a result, the spine remains vertical or, in some players, e.g., Colin Montgomery or Sergio Garcia, may even tilt a smidgeon toward the target.
The reason I've hammered on this is that many teachers take the opposite approach; namely, that the Head should Sway to the right on the Backstroke and that the player's back should assume a significant lean away from the target. They presume that this so-called "slice of pie" -- the 'wedge' created when the back leans away from the vertical -- is characteristic of the ideal pivot and a source of additional power. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is nothing more than an old-fashioned Sway that only disrupts the ideal Centered Arc and makes any real consistency diffficult, if not impossible.
I recommend golfers adopt the Pivot shown here: http://www.putfile.com/pic/5075264. [Golf, Bob MacDonald, 1927] Note the vertical spine and the relative degrees of circular Hip and Shoulder Turns. To my mind, this is one of the most important illustrations in the history of written golf instruction.
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