The golf swing is a specific application of the general sport movement of striking. Used for playing baseball, tennis, golf and hockey, the striking skill relies more on hip and shoulder rotation to create power than the arms and hands, according to biomechanists at the University of Western Australia. Knowing how to properly use your shoulders and hips during a golf swing will help you card more birdies than bogeys.
Step 1
Stand in relation to the ball so that you can create a more straight back-and-forth club path. Standing too close to or far away from your ball will create outside-to-inside or inside-to-outside swing paths, requiring more arm to move the club to the ball and less shoulder and hips.
Step 2
Place the ball farther forward in your stance or closer to your front foot to allow you to shift you weight from your back to front leg as you open your hips. Use a more closed stance, which has your rear foot slightly under you, on longer shots requiring more of a weight shift.
Step 3
Begin your back swing by turning your shoulders backward. This motion helps coil your torso and moves your arms backward, rather than a take back that starts with your arms pulling your shoulders back. A good upper body coil allows you to bring your arms farther away from your body, creating more acceleration during the forward swing.
Step 4
Bend your forward knee down as your turn your shoulders backward to prepare for the leg push that will help you open up and create more power on the forward swing.
Step 5
Begin your forward swing by slowing down your club at the peak of the take back, then opening your hips to drive the club forward. This opening of the hips creates the more powerful push-through motion for sport striking, according to Dr. Ben Kibler of the Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center. The push-through motion helps create the internal shoulder rotation that the Australian researchers have identified as a key contributor to club or racket speed during a golf or tennis swing.
Step 6
Drive your arms forward with your trailing shoulder, rather than letting your arms pull your shoulder forward. A larger body part like the trunk will better accelerate smaller body parts like the arms. As you drive forward with your hip, shift your weight from your back leg to your front leg. If you shift in the opposite direction, you will create the less efficient pull-through method of swinging.
References
- Athletic Quickness: Golf - The Anatomy of the Forward Swing
- "The 4,000 Watt Tennis Player"; W. Ben Kibler
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; Muscle Activity During the Golf Swing; A McHardy, H Pollard, 2005
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; Biomechanics and Tennis; Dr. Bruce Elliot, December 10, 2005
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