Most golf instructors will correctly tell you to bend over from the hips when assuming your stance. Even exercise trainers correctly advise their clients to bend from the hips when doing exercises such as the squat, good morning and dead lift. It is usually taken for granted that you know how to do this.
However, in my work with amateur and professional golfers, as well as many athletes and fitness buffs, I am continually amazed at how many do not have the ability to bend over from the hips. This is surprising but yet indicative of the fact that somewhere in our educational system this skill has not been taught.
Most players bend over from the waist and create a rounded back position in the stance. Some bend over from the hips and the waist simultaneously. There are even many cases when you are told to bend from the waist when in reality, the instructor means from the hips. Note that it is rare to have golfers or just about any athlete bend from the waist in order to execute a specific sports skill.
When I correct their stance, some golfers and athletes find it difficult if not impossible, to bend from the hips while maintaining the normal curvature in the spine. It often takes many repeated efforts before they understand what is invloved and what it feels like to bend over from the hips and still maintain good spine position. A good part of the problem is that most individuals do not understand the difference between a flexed or extended spine.
One of the best exercises to learn how to bend over from the hips while maintaining the normal curvature of the lumbar spine, is the good morning. In this exercise you contract the lower back muscles to maintain the curvature of the spine and then bend over from the hips without relaxing the tension on the back muscles.
It may take multiple tries but it is teachable and learnable. One of the key elements is to think of moving the hips backwards as you lean forward from the hips. Doing this action allows for easier bending from the hips and still maintaining good balance. Without the hips going backward there is a tendency to become unbalanced.
When you bend over sufficiently far, you will feel a stretch in the hamstrings. Thus, this exercise can teach proper spine position while stretching the hamstring muscles. In addition, it can teach you how to get into an effective stance, one that will not only protect your back but allow for effective shoulder rotation.
For many golfers, it may take weeks or even months before they become familiar with what it feels like to bend over from the hips while maintaining the normal curvature of the spine. But once learned, they see better drives and feel a smoother swing. Athletes on the other hand, find it easier to do some of the key exercises and often find it easier to get into good positions or execute rotational movements when bent over.
For more information on this and other exercises specific to the golf swing, see the book, Explosive Golf and/or the DVD, Explosive Golf. For athletes and fitness buffs Kinesiology of Exercise is recommended.