. The Untapped Turn By Eli Haskell MPT of Body Balance for Performance MTT Contributing Writer In the wake of his dominance of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and elevation as arguably the most popular athlete and television draw in America, it seems Tiger Woods is everywhere. Most golfers and non-golfers alike have a permanent image of the top-ranked player's powerful swing etched in their mind. A distinguishing characteristic of Tiger's swing is his impressive shoulder turn. While most of us realize we may never have Tiger's swing, we should aspire to have Tiger's shoulder turn. Most professional instructors report that students who can't make a full shoulder turn will make compensations during their swing. These compensations include "going deep" with the hands, not shifting their weight properly resulting in a reverse pivot, swaying laterally on the back-swing, or making a "vertical" move with either their arms or upper torso. At the very least, these compensations make a consistent swing difficult to attain, usually leading to a loss of distance, slices, and weak shots. At the worst, they lead to injury and pain. So what is the key to a full shoulder turn? The key actually is not in the shoulders at all, but rather in a properly aligned spine. Biomechanics of the joints of the spine are such that if the spine is curved or rounded it doesn't rotate as well. Most golfers, and people in general, have an excessively rounded middle to upper back caused by muscle tightness in the chest coupled with muscle weakness in the shoulder blades. All the work and play of our daily lives (e.g., working at a desk, driving, lifting objects, etc.) tend to pull our upper spine forward into a curved position. Unfortunately, our spine position doesn't automatically improve just because we pick up a golf club. In many cases, the posture required for golf promotes this curved position and our body becomes a liability rather than an asset to our golf swing. This physical tendency can be overcome with proper golf-specific exercises. For you to improve your middle and upper spine alignment, it is necessary to essentially release, reeducate and rebuild the muscles and surrounding tissue of your upper body through golf-specific exercise. The required exercise cannot be an intermittent activity. Rather, it must be an ongoing process that enables you to release the tight muscles of the chest wall (pectorals and latissimus dorsi) as well as strengthen the muscles between the shoulder blades (lower trapezius and rhomboids). These changes will draw the spine back into a straighter position. Each person is different and exercise should be both golf-specific and golfer-specific to realize maximum benefit in a safe manner. Next time you watch Tiger, notice his posture during address and throughout the swing. In addition to having a balanced and athletic stance, he sets up with a remarkably straight back without the rounded shoulders and forward head position found in many other pros and amateurs. Most golfers have the untapped physical ability to increase their shoulder turn potential by improving their spinal alignment, thus improving their distance, accuracy, and consistency. As for swinging like Tiger Woods, let's start with the spine position and shoulder turn and then see where you can go from there. Eli Haskell is a certified physical therapist and manager of the newest Body Balance for Performance center located at Highlands Ranch Grand Golf in Denver. For more information call toll free: 1-877-764-0361 or e-mail COGolfFitness@aol.com.