Don't Forget to Tilt at Setup

[@jsusna1972]

My go-to bad move is over-the-top. I stumbled onto this spine tilt by accident on the range about a month ago. I sort of mimicked the impact position with my spine tilted to the right and my right arm extended at address. I was amazed at how suddenly the ball just shot off the club face! I found out later that this set-up position was known as spine tilt. It keeps me from swinging over the top and my shots now fly a lot straighter. I encourage everyone to try this the next time you practice. Since you haven't been tilting, it may seem really odd the first time you try it, but once your shots start taking off like a cruise missile you will soon incorporate the spine tilt at address.

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hi Jim! Thank you for the feedback. I’m glad this helped for you. Thank you for watching.

[@lim2146]

I've struggled with the same things as you did. Just came home from the range where I really stressed spine tilt. Jeez the 7-iron now is either 170 yards baby-draw or occasionally push/push-fade if I don't close it down fast enough :)

[@thejayvodlexperience7856]

same here, it was like a day and night difference!

[@MarkSmithhhh]

Same, something I don't hear about a lot

[@ElanBrio]

This change my golfing life ! A lot more consistency in my contact

[@DocRobJ]

The old side bend. Does make a difference. Great tip!

[@jeffreyt5479]

You have the “best” content on KZbin. This helped me tremendously. Thanks 😊

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hi Jeffrey, Thank you so much and thanks for watching. I’m glad the videos are helping your game!

[@sneaker_dripz4101]

Very very very underrated tip!!!

[@anthonyowens8513]

Great video!!! You gave good instruction and you spoke directly about your topic without a lot of words. Thank you so much!!!

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Thank you for watching Anthony! Glad it was helpful!

[@golfdoc1950]

I had gotten away from the pre-shot spine tilt without realizing it until I started having a really bad slice with my driver. I noticed I was setting up with open shoulders, leading me to try to correct that, and then I realized all I really needed was to get into a reverse K position at address and the alignment issue went way, along with the slice.

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hey Dan, isn’t it great when you can figure out a solution quickly like that? Glad that helped! Thanks for watching.

[@huddybozak8803]

Do you think the lower right shoulder/spine tilt helps movement by giving the right shoulder scap upward mobility/space to move while staying connected?

[@MarkSmithhhh]

For me I think it does...I always tried to visualize my left shoulder going down.and right shoulder going up and behind me, but I never could do it, until i.tried this, now my right shoulder wants to go up when I turn, before it was already as high as it could go and I really couldn't turn my shoulders on the correct angle

[@glennwatson3313]

My Golf Pro told me about this tilt three year ago. It took me about two years to figure it out. The hard part is not so much the torso tilt but also keeping the head and neck tiled along with the torso. Its not natural to me.

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hi Glenn, you’re right. It seems so simple, but so often people cannot allow their head to tail the same way as their spine. The good news is that you don’t have to be perfect at it. There are some very good players who don’t tilt their head the same way.

[@pigslefats]

Hi Mike I do know that tilt at address (right side bend) is lost at the top of the backswing-you have left side bend so it kind of defeats the object. I know you say you can't have a good backswing without tilt at address. Could you explain why? Is the whole object to try and get some feel for the impact position-a rehearsal as it were?

[@MikeSullivangolf]

The purpose of the secondary spine tilt is to put your spine in the correct orientation from the beginning. Biomechanically your secondary spine tilt is a natural orientation because your trail hand is lower on the club. I hope that makes sense.

[@MarkSmithhhh]

Wowwww this helped me a lot!

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Awesome Mark! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching.

[@MarkSmithhhh]

..I always tried to visualize my left shoulder going down.and right shoulder going up and behind me, but I never could do it, until i.tried this, now my right shoulder wants to go up when I turn, before it was already as high as it could go and I really couldn't turn my shoulders on the correct angle​@@MikeSullivangolf

[@tigerbear3038]

Does having a vertical spine tilt cause fat shots?

[@jungledonkey3926]

Hey TB! It will cause fats, thins, pulls and slices. Typically what’s happens when the spine is vertical the hands start flipping through the ball and it’s never consistent. With secondary spine tilt and maintaining it through the swing it allows you to get in the slot and hit consistent powerful shots.

[@stanpique2161]

I discovered after playing golf for 20 years my spine tilt on my mid and short irons was in a reverse pivot - I fixed that and added 20 yards to my irons and eliminated shanks…

[@MikeSullivangolf]

That’s great Stan. A reverse pivot can cause all sorts of problems!

[@willdarsow]

Mike, is the tilt more pronounced with driver compared to irons, and then does the tilt gradually decrease as you get to 9 iron and wedges etc? Also, does this principle apply to bunker shots and is this generally encouraging a 60/40 weight split between trail and lead foot? Cheers. Great video! Thanks

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hi Will, I don’t typically teach someone to increase secondary spine tilt with longer clubs although some people like to do that. It does also apply to bunker shots. Weight split is about right but there’s some room for personal preference. Thanks for watching.

[@FairwayJack]

Good vid ....how much do your hats cost ??

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Hey Jack, I could send you a black or white one for $25 plus shipping. Thanks for watching!

[@TC.....]

don't you tilt automatically because your right hand is below your left?

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Theoretically you should automatically tilt but it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes it has to be more of a conscious effort.

[@nyshoefly]

Why would you tilt with irons? The whole point is to encourage sweeping up with driver. If you want to hit down on the ball with irons, this seems like a horrible tip.

[@Golf-ib4wg]

This is incorrect. Let Me Clear it up. The spine is going to be more vertical . What creates the tilt is how far you stand from it and the length of the club. Driver for example.. get a vertical spine, holding the club out in front of you and Bend over and because the right hand is lower on the grip, that will give you the perfect tilt. If you set up with that extra tilt. You will be swinging to the right and either hitting blocks or hooks. The club can not go around with a spine tilting backwards

[@MikeSullivangolf]

Thank you for your comment. However, in my 25 years of teaching experience, setting up with the trail hand lower than the lead hand doesn't automatically produce a secondary spine tilt for everyone. For some people it does but for many, it doesn't.