One of the biggest differences between elite players and amateurs happens before impact ever occurs. It’s how they maintain their incline to the ground throughout the swing.
Your incline to the ground is set at address, determined by how much you bend forward from your hips and spine.
“You set your inclination to the ground at address based on your posture — your spine angle and how much you bend forward,” says Josh Troyer, GOLFTEC’s Director of Teaching Quality. “On average, Tour players are about 40 degrees forward with their shoulder bend.”
The best players in the world are able to keep that angle remarkably consistent as they rotate. But it’s something that many recreational players struggle with.
“They maintain that inclination to the ground as they make a backswing,” Troyer says. “You can think of it like trying to pound a nail into a wall — if your body is moving all around while you’re doing it, it’s really hard to hit the same spot.”
So how consistent are great ball strikers at maintaining this angle? At the top of the backswing, their shoulders are tilted about 3 degrees less than they were at address.
“If the Tour average is 40 degrees forward at address, at the top of the backswing the best players tilt their shoulders about 37 degrees to the left,” Troyer explains. “That small difference is what maintains your incline to the ground.”
Amateurs, on the other hand, often tilt too little.
“What bad golfers do is start at 40 degrees forward, but they only tilt their shoulders maybe 20 or 22 degrees,” Troyer says. “That’s a flat shoulder turn — and when that happens, their head raises up and they stand up out of their posture.”
The key, Troyer says, is understanding the relationship between your setup and your shoulder tilt at the top — not just chasing specific numbers.
“If a golfer is 30 degrees forward at address, they should have their shoulders about 27 degrees to the left at the top,” he says. “That’s how you maintain your incline. If they went to 37 degrees instead, they’d actually dip down toward the ball.”
It’s not about memorizing measurements — it’s about maintaining the correct pattern. “
“The numbers are important,” Troyer says, “but understanding how that relationship works is what really matters.”
When your shoulder tilt matches your setup bend, you stay in your posture, rotate efficiently and make solid, repeatable contact — just like the pros do.
If you want to learn how to correctly maintain forward bend in your own swing, book a swing evaluation with GOLFTEC below.
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