Losing forward bend going back.

Forward bend is how far the upper body leans toward the ball from the hips, seen down the line. Through a good backswing it stays about the same: the body turns around that lean rather than straightening out of it. Losing it going back means the upper body is more upright at the top than it was at address. MotionEdge's Swing Review compares the forward bend at the top with address and flags it only when more is lost than the tour range allows.

It often travels with other changes in the same backswing: the trail leg straightening, the hips moving toward the ball, or the arms lifting instead of turning. A takeaway that starts well inside can lead to it as well, when the arms lift to find a way up. Coaches call this standing up in the backswing, and several treat it as a lead-in to early extension, the hips moving toward the ball coming down to make room the posture no longer gives.

This is a backswing picture. Loss of posture is the same bend lost on the way down, before the club reaches the ball, and a small rise into impact is normal. It is also separate from address posture itself: golfers start with more or less bend. This guide is about the change from that starting bend to the top.

Film from behind the hands, looking along the target line at hand height, with the whole body in the picture. Compare swings filmed from the same spot, and read the change from Address to Top rather than a single still. Video cannot show what the spine does in three dimensions.

Use a mid-iron and place a mirror down the line from you, or record yourself from there. Hold a second club across the front of the shoulders with both hands and take your normal address posture, with that club level with the ground. Make slow backswing turns. At the end of each turn, look at where the lead end of the club points: in a turn that keeps its forward bend, it points down at the ground around the ball. If it points out past the ball toward the horizon, the body stood up during the turn.

Repeat until the turn reaches the ball with the pointer without strain. Do not bend lower to make it work; set up the way you normally do and let the turn do it. Then take a normal grip and make half-swings without a ball, keeping the same picture of the turn. Add a ball and hit easy shots.

If the swing gets tight, the backswing gets much shorter, or the head starts dropping toward the ball, you are holding a position rather than turning. Make the turn shorter and easier; a smaller turn that keeps its bend is the better starting point.

Record five full mid-iron swings down the line, filmed from behind the hands at hand height, with the whole body in the picture. In MotionEdge, compare Address and Top with the same reference on both frames, for example Spine Angle Line with both the Setup and Live toggles on. Look for a top that keeps about the same lean toward the ball as address, with the hips not pushed toward the ball.

Then watch the downswing and the strike. A backswing that keeps its bend gives the hips less reason to move toward the ball coming down. If the top now looks bent over but the swing is shorter and tighter, or contact got worse, the change has gone too far. Film from the same spot each time so the comparison is fair.