Big Muscle Golf

There is a mistake in golf that the majority of players make and that is making the swing with the smaller muscles of the body, namely the arms and shoulders. A powerful golf swing is generated by the leg and back muscles, and in the next few minutes you will understand what I mean by big muscle golf.

This phenomenon occurs more in men golfers than in women golfers. Men have larger upper body muscles and try to power the club with their hands, arms, and shoulders. Most people that watch a golfer swing concentrate on the upper body, and unfortunately so do a lot of the instructors. Golf instructors for the most part have grown up playing golf and the movement of larger leg muscles has been taken for granted without much thought about their workings. It is pretty much the same with every athletic move. When you swing a baseball bat you don't think about pushing off your back foot toward the oncoming ball, or in shooting a basketball pushing with your legs. What we watch and think about is the upper body movement.

An example of using the large leg and back muscles involves a weightlifter. All weightlifters know the importance of using leg and back muscles. In order for a weightlifter to lift enormous weight he bends over and extends his arms down grabs the bar while bending his knees. His first move is to straighten his legs and back. Now he has the bar at about thigh height, again he flexes his knees and pushes upward with his legs while moving his arms under the bar. Now with another leg flex and push with the arms he gets it about even with his chin. Every leg flex and arm movement gets harder, and the worst is yet to come. One last leg flex is all he has left and bar is about face high. From here it is all arm and shoulder movement and this move determines if he is successful or not. It is the hardest because he is using the smallest muscles in the lift, his hands, arms and shoulders.

Like the weight lifter, golf is played from the ground up. If your feet were not stable you wouldn't be able to coil your body on the back swing. When you coil the body you stretch the back muscles, then the leg muscles. If you start the down swing with your shoulders, arms, and hands, you have released your power way too soon. Use your legs to turn your hips, which will turn your shoulders, arms, hands and ultimately the golf club.