You may be able to hold a regular plank—but can your core keep you stable when your body is loaded from one side? That is where the side plank becomes especially valuable. Running, golfing, skiing, cycling, lifting, and field sports rarely challenge your body in a perfectly symmetrical position. One leg accepts your weight. Your torso rotates. Your arms and legs generate force in different directions. Your core must keep your spine and pelvis controlled through all of it. Sid

Are you trying to create a bigger backswing by twisting harder through your lower back? That may be part of the problem. A powerful golf swing requires rotation, but that rotation should be shared between your hips, pelvis, upper back, shoulders, and spine. When your upper back does not rotate well, your body often tries to find that motion somewhere else. That compensation may show up as: Excessive lower-back twisting Your lead heel lifting early Your posture changing during