Inadvertently shrugging the shoulders at set up (knock on effect of this)

[jaffabell]

Hi all, i'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts or has knowledge on the biomechanics of the shoulders and how they effect the overall chain of movement in the backswing.

 

I sit at a desk for a good chunk of the working week and suffer with poor posture, as a lot of office workers probably do. This includes shoulders rounded (wife is always moaning at me to pull my shoulders back) and a bit of a shoulder shrug with leaning forward to type (I don't sit and type in the textbook way where you are upright and supported etc). So I naturally sit at my desk with shoulder protraction and some added shrug (not sure the of the technical term for a shoulder shrug).

 

Anyways I was messing around last night grinding away on my pelvis movements and backswing feelings but something felt off, even when the pelvis was moving right my backswing felt restricted and forced. As part of my work to sort out my pivot i'm also working on my stance and posture - getting my butt further forward and less behind ankles (trying to get more posterior) and having upper body hunched over a touch (like AMG describe looking over a fence, or the holding a beach ball feeling).

 

It occurred to me while looking at my reflection that my shoulders were very much shrugged up in my set up, and I can feel my lead shoulder getting in the way of my head as I turn back. So, I tried consciously unshrugging my shoulders at address and keeping them that way as I started back and was able to feel more free and lead shoulder was getting back and under my chin, rather than colliding with my chin as such. Its at that point I realised that I probably shrug a bit when taking a golf posture and probably caused by my poor posture at work. I also tried holding my lead shoulder more in retraction on the way back (in reality its probably more neutral as I am have too much protraction to begin with in my opinion). For context I also suffer from a weak core, tight hamstrings, weak glutes etc... so my whole chain is effected in various ways

 

Curious if anyone else who sits a lot at a desk has suffered with this, and if any of the instructors who know more about the biomechanics of the swing have any thoughts on this like @iacas, or is it a waste of discussion 😅 

[getitdaily]

🤷‍♂️

[rsballer10]

10 hours ago, jaffabell said:

Hi all, i'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts or has knowledge on the biomechanics of the shoulders and how they effect the overall chain of movement in the backswing.

 

I sit at a desk for a good chunk of the working week and suffer with poor posture, as a lot of office workers probably do. This includes shoulders rounded (wife is always moaning at me to pull my shoulders back) and a bit of a shoulder shrug with leaning forward to type (I don't sit and type in the textbook way where you are upright and supported etc). So I naturally sit at my desk with shoulder protraction and some added shrug (not sure the of the technical term for a shoulder shrug).

 

Anyways I was messing around last night grinding away on my pelvis movements and backswing feelings but something felt off, even when the pelvis was moving right my backswing felt restricted and forced. As part of my work to sort out my pivot i'm also working on my stance and posture - getting my butt further forward and less behind ankles (trying to get more posterior) and having upper body hunched over a touch (like AMG describe looking over a fence, or the holding a beach ball feeling).

 

It occurred to me while looking at my reflection that my shoulders were very much shrugged up in my set up, and I can feel my lead shoulder getting in the way of my head as I turn back. So, I tried consciously unshrugging my shoulders at address and keeping them that way as I started back and was able to feel more free and lead shoulder was getting back and under my chin, rather than colliding with my chin as such. Its at that point I realised that I probably shrug a bit when taking a golf posture and probably caused by my poor posture at work. I also tried holding my lead shoulder more in retraction on the way back (in reality its probably more neutral as I am have too much protraction to begin with in my opinion). For context I also suffer from a weak core, tight hamstrings, weak glutes etc... so my whole chain is effected in various ways

 

Curious if anyone else who sits a lot at a desk has suffered with this, and if any of the instructors who know more about the biomechanics of the swing have any thoughts on this like @iacas, or is it a waste of discussion 😅 

Not a biomechanics expert, but I've had to work on my setup and have some thoughts.

 

First one some players are rounded in the upper back, some aren't. Rounding at the lower back is much more a concern IMO. Sets up bad angles for the hips to turn and generally isn't good for the low back either. Lower spine isn't where you should be looking for mobility.

 

My cue at address is to "set" my lower back (if you've ever been taught to deadlift you may have heard this cue). 

 

Quote

For context I also suffer from a weak core, tight hamstrings, weak glutes etc...

It doesn't take a ton of effort to fix this. At least to the levels required to play better golf and not get hurt.

 

[iacas]

I'd like to help, but:

• You're using the word "shrug" differently than I would, as I'd think a shrug is an upward movement of your shoulders (toward your ears, kinda).*
• How your shoulders are at setup isn't necessarily how they are even by P1.5.
• Feel ain't real.
• No videos to address the bullet point above.
• You might be doing other things to cause your shoulder to collide with your chin.
• Your trail shoulder should retract and your lead should protract during the backswing, generally.

As always… video would be helpful.

 

*

Edited July 19 by iacas
Added shrugs

[jaffabell]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

I'd like to help, but:

• You're using the word "shrug" differently than I would, as I'd think a shrug is an upward movement of your shoulders (toward your ears, kinda).*
• How your shoulders are at setup isn't necessarily how they are even by P1.5.
• Feel ain't real.
• No videos to address the bullet point above.
• You might be doing other things to cause your shoulder to collide with your chin.
• Your trail shoulder should retract and your lead should protract during the backswing, generally.

As always… video would be helpful.

 

*

Yeah I maybe wasn't clear on my post but I am describing a shrug the same way you are, sort of up towards the ears like on those GIFs. I can feel a bit of a shrug when I take my stance, and have to actively relax my shoulders and unshrug to get them to neutral. I think its due to my overall poor posture from work. I can definitely feel tension, not sure it would really show on video. 

You are right that my backswing restrictions could be related to other things, and I believe its a combo of things but I was curious if anyone had ever came across excess shoulder shrug causing issues, as only ever heard of outward and inward shoulder movement being discussed (protraction and retraction).

 

Maybe its just a rabbit hole.

[ShortGolfer]

Why can't you do something to improve your posture while you are at work?  Like sit up straight at the top of every hour?

 

I accidentally dropped an egg making breakfast yesterday morning. I was wearing four inch heels to improve my balance.  Sometimes you have to break a few eggs.

I am used to breaking stuff as a stroke survivor.  It happens when  I push myself.  But, that is how I improve my balance and coordination.

 

I am now moving my shoulders intentionally as part of my new driver setup. I started a new driver swing on Tuesday.  I am getting good distance and ball flight for the first few holes on the golf course, then I will lapse and revert to the old swing.  I'm just going to keep on using the new swing until it sticks.  I typically play as a single right behind a group.  I can play pretty fast with good ball striking and short game, even when driver isn't working.

Edited July 19 by ShortGolfer

[jaffabell]

Interesting that a couple of folks have picked up on my posture and core issues. As with many faults we have, there's no excuse to not improve it really. I could blame my insanely busy life with work, kids and 1 year old baby etc but I just haven't committed to any real exercises to improve it for a while now. I have lost a fair bit of weight this year and I am fairly strong in my upper body from the gym, but truth be told I want to focus more on faster dynamic movements at the gym for the 2nd half of the year. 

I have always typically neglected my core at the gym, yes I will hit it to some degree as I follow a typical bodybuilding workout regime but I do need to dedicate more focus to the core directly.

I can really see how my body is effecting my swing as I close out my 30s. 10+ years ago I was as strong as an ox and could smash the ball with less effort, and had no real clue about technique back then. But now I really need to work on my body if I want to make swing a club better, and not feel sore the next day!

[RayPlan]

I dunno, you don't look that shrugged to me @jaffabell

 

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

8 hours ago, RayPlan said:

I dunno, you don't look that shrugged to me @jaffabell

 

 

 

Yeah, based on this, I'd work on your pelvis movement, OP, rather than looking for some shoulder issue. 

[RayPlan]

Old video though, so entirely possible the shrugging started since then 

[TheDeanAbides]

6 minutes ago, RayPlan said:

Old video though, so entirely possible the shrugging started since then 

Ah, good point. Still, that pelvis is going to have a bigger impact than any shrugging. 

[jaffabell]

7 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Ah, good point. Still, that pelvis is going to have a bigger impact than any shrugging. 

Yep pelvis is still my number 1, and general backswing movement as a whole. Not getting to golf much lately, which is annoying seen as we are in our small golfing window here in Scotland... I have a much better understanding of the pelvis movements now though so I should be able to keep myself on track

[mrgimmemonster]

On 7/18/2025 at 8:29 PM, jaffabell said:

Yeah I maybe wasn't clear on my post but I am describing a shrug the same way you are, sort of up towards the ears like on those GIFs. I can feel a bit of a shrug when I take my stance, and have to actively relax my shoulders and unshrug to get them to neutral. I think its due to my overall poor posture from work. I can definitely feel tension, not sure it would really show on video. 

You are right that my backswing restrictions could be related to other things, and I believe its a combo of things but I was curious if anyone had ever came across excess shoulder shrug causing issues, as only ever heard of outward and inward shoulder movement being discussed (protraction and retraction).

 

Maybe its just a rabbit hole.

 

The biomechanical/anatomical term would be scapular elevation. The opposite would be scapular depression. This is where the scapula elevates and lowers relative to the thorax/rib cage. 

[virtuoso]

36 minutes ago, mrgimmemonster said:

 

The biomechanical/anatomical term would be scapular elevation. The opposite would be scapular depression. This is where the scapula elevates and lowers relative to the thorax/rib cage. 

I think he means his upper back is hunched over. But its actually not a problem. But Jaffa likes to look for hidden golden nuggets.

[jaffabell]

8 hours ago, virtuoso said:

I think he means his upper back is hunched over. But its actually not a problem. But Jaffa likes to look for hidden golden nuggets.

I like to think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle - if some of pieces are not in the correct place, the rest of the puzzle will take longer to piece together - or at best will be a mismatch of what the puzzle should look like when complete

[AyeAre10]

[virtuoso]

2 hours ago, jaffabell said:

I like to think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle - if some of pieces are not in the correct place, the rest of the puzzle will take longer to piece together - or at best will be a mismatch of what the puzzle should look like when complete

I like that. The golf swing is indeed a puzzle.

[jonsnow]

4 hours ago, jaffabell said:

I like to think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle - if some of pieces are not in the correct place, the rest of the puzzle will take longer to piece together - or at best will be a mismatch of what the puzzle should look like when complete

The dog ate several of the pieces of my puzzle, then he crapped on the box so I don't have the picture of what it's supposed to look like...

[RayPlan]

3 hours ago, virtuoso said:

I like that. The golf swing is indeed a puzzle.

 

Like all good jigsaw puzzles, the swing is full of fast-moving parts