One of the quiet secrets to a powerful and repeatable golf swing isn’t about swinging harder, it’s about moving better. We hear a lot about rotation and turning, but the key piece that unlocks it all is called side bend. This article will show you exactly what side bend is, why it’s the engine behind so many great golf swings, and give you some simple drills to start feeling it in your own motion.
In simple terms, side bend, or "lateral flexion," is the act of bending your spine sideways. Imagine standing straight up and leaning your ear towards your shoulder without turning&mdash,that’s a basic side bend. In the golf swing, this movement is combined with rotation and forward tilt (your posture) to create a centered, powerful, and on-plane motion.
Think of it this way: at address, you’re tilted forward from your hips. To rotate your shoulders around your spine while maintaining that forward tilt, your body can't just turn like a spinning top on a completely level axis. It must bend sideways. This is what allows you to rotate powerfully while keeping your upper body centered over the golf ball and maintaining a consistent swing radius.
There are two key moments for side bend in the swing:
It's not about lunging or leaning, it's an athletic motion that works in concert with your turn. Confusing "turn" with just "spin" is where many issues start. Adding the proper side bend is what makes it a genuine golf swing.
Understanding the concept is one thing, but knowing why it matters for your game is what will inspire you to work on it. Proper side bend is directly linked to better ball striking, more power, and fewer of the most common swing faults.
Power in the golf swing comes from creating a big stretch in your muscles and then releasing that energy efficiently. On the backswing, lead-side bend allows you to achieve a deeper shoulder turn while keeping your posture. This "coils" the muscles in your torso like a spring. When you start the downswing with trail-side bend, you are using those core muscles to pull the club down from the inside, a motion often associated with incredible lag and whip through impact. Swinging without side bend limits your ability to create this stretch and forces you to generate power with just your arms, which is both inefficient and inconsistent.
Have you ever struggled with thin or fat shots? The cause is very often an inconsistent low point in your swing arc. A major culprit here is losing your posture during the swing, most famously through a fault called “early extension,” where your hips thrust towards the ball and your torso stands up prematurely.
Side bend is the antidote. By maintaining side bend throughout the swing - especially the trail side bend in the downswing - you keep your spine angle. Your chest stays down, covering the ball through impact. This stabilizes the bottom of your swing arc, meaning the club will consistently meet the ball at the correct point for crisp, pure contact, shot after shot.
The dreaded over-the-top slice is the bane of many golfers' existence. This happens when the downswing is initiated by spinning the shoulders and throwing the club "out" and across the ball, resulting in a steep angle of attack. Introducing proper trail-side bend at the start of your downswing does the opposite. It makes your trail shoulder work down and under rather than out and around. This is the "magic move" that drops the club into the slot, promoting an inside-to-out swing path for powerful draws or straight shots.
Let's get specific. As a right-handed golfer, your backswing sequence involves turning your hips and shoulders, but it’s the left side bend that makes it work. As your torso rotates away from the target, your left side should feel like it's crunching or bending downwards toward the ground.
This allows a few very important things to happen:
A common fault is a "reverse pivot," where a golfer will lean their upper body towards the target on the backswing. This is a tell-tale sign of a lack of lead side bend and leads to all sorts of compensations on the downswing.
If the backswing is about setting the stage, the downswing is where side bend really pays off. As you change direction from the top, the sensation you want is an increase in your right side bend (for righties).
Imagine your right oblique and hip getting closer together. This "crunch" on your right side is what initiates the shallowing of the golf club. It drops your thoracic spine down and helps the club approach the ball from the inside, setting you up for that powerful, sweeping strike. This is the move that separates great ball strikers from the rest.
When you master the art of increasing your right side bend as your weight shifts and your hips begin to open, you’ll find that:
This isn't about actively trying to dip your shoulder. It’s a natural reaction to pushing off the ground, initiating the downswing with your lower body, and allowing your upper body to respond with this powerful side-bending motion.
Feeling this for the first time can be tricky, as it’s not an isolated movement. Here are a few drills you can do with or without a club to feel true rotation with side bend.
This drill helps isolate the feel on each side of your body.
This is a classic for a reason. It gives you a great visual cue.
This helps you connect side bend to proper hip rotation and maintaining posture.
Side bend isn't some advanced or complicated move reserved for tour pros, it's a fundamental athletic ingredient that makes the golf swing work. By learning to blend it with your rotation, you'll stop simply spinning your body and start using it to generate consistent, effortless power.
Internalizing new swing feels on your own can be hard, which is where a tool like Caddie AI can make a real difference. We designed the app to be your personal coach, ready anytime to analyze a video of your swing. It can point out if a lack of side bend is causing issues like early extension or an over-the-top motion, and then provide you with personalized feedback and drills tailored right to your needs, so you always know exactly what to work on.
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