Most strength coaches and especially golf instructors will correctly tell you to bend over forwardfrom the hips. This movement is needed in many exercises especially in the deadlift and good morning and in golf, when assuming your stance. It is usually taken for granted that you know how to do this.
However, in my work with hundreds of athletes in different sports as well as amateur and professional golfers, I am continually surprised at how many do not have the ability to bend over from the hips. This is 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. Some bend over forward from the hips and the waist simultaneously. There are even many cases when you are told to bend forward from the waist when in reality, the instructor means from the hips. Note that it is rare to have an athlete or golfer bend only from the waist.
When I correct their stance, some golfers and athletes find it difficult if not impossible, to bend forwardfrom the hips while maintaining the normal curvature in the spine. It often takes many repeated efforts before they understand what is involved in this action and what it feels like to bend over forward from the hips and still maintain good spine position.
A good part of the problem appears to be that most individuals do not understand the difference between a flexed or extended spine. These are basic terms yet they seem to have been ignored by most individuals. This indicates the great need for better education and use of terms that should be universally accepted in the athletic world. A book that can help you greatly in this area is Biomechanics and Kinesiology of Exercise.
One of the best exercises to learn how to bend over (forward) from the hips while maintaining the normal curvature of the lumbar spine, is the good morning but without any weights. In this exercise you contract the lower back muscles to maintain the curvature of the spine and then bend over forward from the hips without relaxing the tension on the back muscles.
It may take multiple tries with someone watching and correcting or explaining what you are doing in the process of executing this movement. However past experiences show that it is teachable and can be learned. One of the key tips or suggestions is to think of moving the hips backwards as you bend forward from the hips.
At the same time you should maintain a rigid spine so that there is no movement in the waist. By repeatedly leaning the head and shoulders forward while simultaneously moving the hips backward will soon make for easier bending forward 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 hamstring muscles. 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 athletes and golfers, it may take weeks or even months before they become familiar with what it feels like to bend over forwardfrom the hips while maintaining the normal curvature of the spine. But once learned, they see better exercise execution and if a golfer, better drives and feel a smoother swing.
For more information on this and other exercises see Biomechanics and Kinesiology of Exercise. In addition, if you are a golfer I want to see this and other golf specific exercises see Explosive Golf and the Explosive Golf DVD.