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The Position of Your Right Shoulder & the Spine Angle
I have talked about the position of your right shoulder and the spine angle at address from time to time. It's very important to understand those positions for fixing your slice and consistently hitting straighter shots.
The Position of Your Right Shoulder
You can judge a golfer whether he/she is good player or not by watching the position of the right shoulder at address.
Most amateurs have their right shoulder too high at address. Their shoulders are level with the ground when they set up to the ball.
But in golf, your right hand goes lower than your left when gripping the club. So your right shoulder should be lower than your left as well.
However, it might feel unnatural to lower your right shoulder. You won't have your right shoulder lower than left in your usual life.
I think that's why most golfers have their shoulders level with the ground when they set up. But unfortunately, this is causing them lots of trouble.
If you set up to the ball without lowering your right shoulder, your right shoulder and your right arms moves a bit toward the ball at address.
This means your shoulders are open to the target. But by moving your right shoulder and your right arm forward, you can set up to the ball without lowering your right shoulder.
With the open shoulder line, you are going to hit a slice. So you are going to have to do something to close the face during the downswing.
In this process, you will lose most of your power. So even if you are successful at closing the clubface, you won't hit it very far at all.
How much should You Lower Your Right Shoulder?
So how much should you lower your right shoulder? The answer is as much as you lower your right hand when taking your grip.
So golfers with a ten finger grip should lower their right shoulder a bit more than golfers with overlap grip.
Sean Fister, who won numerous World Long Drive Championship, said your right shoulder should be lower than your left by about 3 inches.
The Spine Angle
Another important point to check your address is your spine angle.
As you lower your right shoulder, your spine should also be tilted away from the target at address.
Even if you lower your right shoulder correctly, your shoulders will be open to the target if your spine is not tilted away from the target.
So always remember to lower your right shoulder and tilt your spine away from the target.