Home of the Rant

Overview

In any sport, some athletes are born with the ability to excel with less practice and training than others. Such is the case with golf. Some are able to drive a golf ball great distances without the hours of training it would take others. But in those hours of training, a beginner, amateur, or pro can learn the correct sequence in body movement during the swing to optimize power.

Facts

The “kinetic chain” is a term used often in sports to describe body and muscle movements done in a correct sequence to create or enhance athletic ability. The human body, physically speaking, is designed to allow for great amounts of energy to be transferred from one part to another, while at the same time maintaining balance and posture.

Posture, especially when talking about the golf swing, plays a major role. The ability to stand with strength and balance in the feet and legs, while rotating from the hips trying to generate power from a standstill, is a rare and learned ability. Thus biomechanics, a branch of science, can help us learn more about the functions of the body in the golf swing by using motion capture technology to analyze its mechanical movements.

The force on a golf ball generated from the golf swing is initially started by the twist, or backswing. The backswing is the gathering phase of the body’s energy to generate force to be transmitted to the ball. The result of the force created during the swing is then transferred from the club head to the ball in the form of kinetic energy.

Functions

Bad information about the mechanics of a golf swing can lead to a poor performance by a normally fit and strong golfer. It is the manner and sequence of body movements during the complete swing that dictate performance the most.

Every golfer establishes a kinetic link when he swings a club. Without understanding how power is created, no level of fitness can make up for poor swing mechanics.

To create a firing of the muscles (the downswing) at a high velocity, they must first be “loaded” (the backswing) or stretched. According to Dr. Sean Fletch, this is done by “moderately stretching the muscle, quickly, with minimal time delay between the moment of stretch and its contraction or shortening.” The backswing is the counter-movement for the golf swing the same way squatting is before jumping into the air.

The golf swing has four segments: the hips, torso/shoulders, the arms and the club. At the completion of the backswing, the swing transitions as the hips accelerate into the downswing. The torso/shoulders lag behind, forcing the arms away from the hips, creating a greater stretch and separation of club-head and hips, producing more acceleration into impact with the ball.

In an efficient swing, transitions from segment to segment are done in a coordinated fashion. The linking of each muscle group is what creates maximum club-head speed at impact, and a reduced risk of injuries to the body’s core. Regardless of physical condition, a breakdown in swing kinetics can cause injury, wear and tear, and inconsistent performance.