An article on using your muscles to make a proper golf swing.
The proper golf swing involves all the muscles in your body. This complicated pivotal movement put some thirty-two individual muscles into play. Like any other skill, constant repetition done properly will improve form and muscle. The avid golfer can, by repetition and additional exercises developed specifically to develop those muscle groups that are required to execute a proper golf swing, improve his swing and his overall game play.
The Components Of A Proper Golf Swing
The three components of a swing are the backswing, the downswing and the follow through. The backswing stretches those muscles required to execute the optimized downswing, for it is the power in the downswing that is going to drive the ball across the fairway. Once the ball is hit the follow through comes into play. This is to reduce the chances of any injury and to get the muscles back into shape for a rest.
The power for the shot in the downswing comes from three areas: the arms, the torso and the wrists. The force generated by the torso is mainly a conversion of a pivotal force around an axis. Its primary function is to build momentum. This needs a strong foundation and a stable axis. The hip joints and the spine are the pivotal points.
The arms generate the bulk of the propulsive power required to increase the velocity of the club. After all the power generated by the arms and the torso, one may think that the wrist plays an inconsequential part in the swing. But it is the wrist that guides that final stroke that channelizes the force to hit the ball dead centre.
The Muscle Groups That Perform The Swing
Each muscle group in the body contributes to the game of golf. It is the muscles of the chest, the back and the upper arms that generate the force of the downswing. This force is transmitted to the golf club by the speed built up during the downswing. The main movers are the pectorals, the deltoids and the teres-latissimus muscle groups of the chest, the shoulders and the back respectively. The muscles of the forearm and the wrist control the direction of the swing.
Strategies To Improve Power And Speed
The goal of additional training, other than for the swing, is for strengthening the core muscles and to improve the reflexes. Abdominal exercises and balance drills help stabilize form. Weight lifting is for strengthening the leg muscles, the upper back, the chest and the shoulders. Exercises to improve strength in the wrist are required for those who hardly do any manual work.
Isometric training is added to additional training to improve the reflexes. Fast muscle response is required to transfer the velocity of the swing to the ball with minimal contact time. As such supplemental training to improve speed of muscle response is essential. A judicious balance of strength and speed will show remarkable improvement in ones game of golf.
