A golf swing uses the general sport skill of striking, which is common to a variety of other sports such as baseball, tennis and hockey. While different applications of the striking skill use different techniques, they all rely on the basic kinetic chain of events for their base. Understanding the basics of the striking skill will help you create a more efficient golf swing technique.
Step 1
Stand in a way that allows you to rotate your upper body into and out of your golf swing. Standing with the ball too near your back foot won't let you create maximal hip rotation and weight transfer into your shot. Standing too close to or far away from your ball will cause you to change your alignment during the swing in ways that will decrease power.
Step 2
Begin your swing with a downward knee bend of the front leg as you rotate your shoulders backward. This downward knee bend will be followed with your front leg pushing upward to create reactive power, which contributes to club head speed.
Step 3
Push your arms backward with your shoulders separating your arms from your shoulders as you complete your upper body turn. Using your shoulders to move your arms backward, instead of vice versa, will help you maintain proper body alignment.
Step 4
Extend your arms fully on the backswing to create more energy. The backswing uses eccentric muscle contractions that help you create power. Slow your swing down at the peak of your backswing so you can better coordinate the transfer of energy you have just created to your forward swing.
Step 5
Begin your forward swing by opening your trailing hip as you push up with your front leg, moving your hip forward. This will uncoil your upper body, and creates internal shoulder rotation in the trailing shoulder, which contributes much of your club head speed to your swing, according to biomechanist Dr. Bruce Elliot. This forward hip drive also creates the more efficient push-through striking motion, adds Dr. Ben Kibler, a member of the United States Tennis Association Sports Science Committee. Some athletes push the hips backward to create acceleration, due to a lack of core strength, resulting in the pull-through motion — an adequate, but less efficient, transfer of energy into a sport swing.
Step 6
Drive your arms forward with your shoulders, shifting your weight from your back leg to your front leg. The forward hip thrust should drive your shoulders and arms forward naturally, feeling as if they were "going along for the ride," rather than an active movement you create.
Step 7
Snap your wrists, or turn your hands over, prior to contact and after you hit the ball to maintain maximum club acceleration through your swing. You should begin decelerating your club after you hit the ball. If you do not snap your wrists, your forearm muscles will tense during the forward swing, decreasing your club head speed prior to contact.
Step 8
Experiment with different aspects of the golf swing technique, including your ball placement, grip and stance, to see how each change affects your distance, trajectory and ball direction.
References
- "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; Dec. 10, 2005
- Society for Tennis Medicine: The 4,000 Watt Tennis Player
- Athletic Quickness: Golf - The Anatomy of the Forward Swing
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