When looking at countless of Tour Professionals and elite players, there are definitely similarities they share for why they are so consistent with their ball striking. One of the areas that stand out the most is their ability to maintain spine angle. What this basically means is that from the moment of set-up to when they contact the ball, their spine angle is roughly the same. More specifically they are able to keep their butt back instead of coming forward which is what most people do.
When the butt comes forward from it's original position when swinging down toward impact, it leads to early extension. With the butt coming forward, the spine tends to straighten which leads to impact issues. The most common shot resulting from early extension is the 'thin' shot. Now the first step to curing the early extension comes from having great set-up fundamentals. These include the distance from the ball (Butt end of the club roughly a handspan from the body) and setting your spine angle at 45 degrees with a fairly straight back.
You also need to develop a sound path to ensure you can use your body in the most efficient way. For example if you are someone who swings too in-out (Toward the right) on the follow through then you will naturally start to move the body more to the right thus causing your body to lose posture. You want to endeavor to keep your arms in front of the chest from the start of the swing until completion. The first step to having a neutral path with the arms in front of the chest is ensuring that at the first position when the club is parallel to the ground, that the hands and clubface are forming a straight line. You also want to add a small amount of hip turn as well.
Now the last step may require gym work depending on your body's strength and weaknesses. Sometimes we can naturally perform the correct move in golf and other times, including professionals, have to work hard in creating the desired movement in their body. The easiest way to work on early extension is simply place your butt against a wall. Just ensure it's barely touching so you don't cheat and then practice rotating your body back and through whilst keeping your butt on the wall. Once you can perform this action, you would have successfully maintained pine angle.
If you'd like any further help in trying to maintain spine angle, just contact myself at David Waters Golf.
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