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Golf Question: How Can My Big Muscles Control My Golf Swing?The big muscles produce the power in the swing but also play a pivotal role in the consistency of a players strike. Using the arms or not allowing maximum rotation will cause poor strikes and a loss of distance from shot to shot.


    The back swing should be initiated with the shoulders and left arm, taking the club back on a straight line using the natural rotation of the shoulders to create the arc.
    Whilst the shoulders are rotating, the hips will also begin to rotate to approximately 45 degrees. This 45 degree tolerance between the hips and the shoulders encourages a faster, more powerful hip rotation through the impact zone initiated by the legs, driving the hips past the ball before the shoulders and club get to impact.

    This produces much more force into the ball through a gradual increase of speed during the down swing, with the intention of more distance being created. However, if the golf swing contains more arms and less rotation, the swing will become less powerful because you are now technically using your smaller muscles and generating less power on to the ball.

    To build a good golf swing with your big muscles, you will need some key checkpoints to help you on your way:

  • 90 degree shoulder turn with your left arm covering your right shoulder when looking down the line
  • 45 degree hip turn with weight distributed approximately 60%-40% favouring a flexed right knee.
  • Weight on your left side and hips rotated past the ball at impact
  • Full rotated follow through and weight on the left side

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A common fault amongst many amateurs is the overuse of the arms during the golf swing. The initial theory is that the arms will provide power and consistency but this is actually the opposite of what happens.

To swing with the body, you are essentially using your shoulders, hips, legs and core muscles within your chest, stomach and sides. These are the biggest muscles we have and we use them for everyday tasks. They also provide the most power and consistency in the swing. The rotation of the hips during the down swing pull your upper body back towards the ball creating a gradual increase in speed, which at impact equates to power and distance that the ball will travel.

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A lot of club head speed and therefore power can be created from the wrists, however, just relying on them will lead to a variety of club face angles at impact which will obviously lead to an inconsistency in shot direction.

Although the wrists help generate power, they alone will have little chance in hitting the ball as far as you can using the power in which your core muscles can generate. The wrists should work in conjunction with the rotation of your hips and shoulders on the down swing in order to create your optimum distance with your shots.

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The big muscles in the golf swing certainly wont pose you any problems in terms of inconsistency. If the movements are totally new to you then of course you will have some issues getting used to the new moves, whereby your timing is off leading to poor strikes. With practise, your understanding of what you are doing and why you are making the changes will ensure that the transition is seamless.