Golf Swing Analysis – Do You Know the Mechanics of the Golf Swing?
Article by Sutikno Slamet
The golf swing has physics written all over it and is a great example of angular motion. It can be simple but is often complicated by too much thinking. The questions are endless. What’s the correct wrist movement in the golf swing? The ever famous golf swing pushes and pulls, cure me please! Well, we need to completely remove distracting thoughts from the golf swing. The ability to perform this activity rests upon the golfer executing the biomechanics of the golf swing over and over again without error (easier said than done). Maybe if we understand the swing more, we can start to do this.
Golf Grip
“Golf begins with a great grip,” says David Leadbetter. The Interlocking Grip is where the right little finger and the left index finger are locked together. Experiment with your grip by hitting balls with the different grips to see what works best. Golf and baseball have similar grips, but remember, they are different in both sports. Baseball players grip the bat more in their palms. Golfers should grip the club more in the base of the fingers.
Address
When addressing the ball, both arms are straight but relaxed, and the left shoulder is higher than the right due to the position of the hands. The “slicer” tends to keep too much weight on the front leg at address for all shots, which restricts the shoulder turn and encourages a steep out-to-in swing. Proper posture at the address position sets up the ability for you to execute the golf swing correctly. Flexibility as it pertains to posture allows you to place your body in the correct address position.
Backswing
The backswing now starts with the initial rotation – shoulders, hips, hands and arms – an almost simultaneous movement. If the take-away is one-piece, there is very little stress on the elbow. From the top of the backswing to the ball is less that one forth of a second. Getting the club inside during the backswing is usually disastrous and a fast backswing will create bad motion and a hands dominated swing that will be hard to repeat. Try hitting balls making a backswing from about hip high with your 7 irons just focusing on shifting back and shifting and firing through-you will get so much power and accuracy you might wonder why you take the club all the way to the top.
Downswing
The object of the downswing is to return the club head to the ball with maximum controllable speed. The downswing begins by pushing your weight from right to left and rotating the body and hips. The motion should be unbroken from the start of the downswing to the finish of the follow through.
Impact the Golf Ball
On impact the hips are turned with the shoulders parallel to the ball. Often less accomplished players break down at impact, cupping their lead wrist, losing power early and decreasing their accuracy. Something else that I strongly emphasize and explain in detail is how to use extension and timing to work with the centrifugal force and momentum to create a whip like action through impact. Oh, and by the way, this is not the time to take your eyes off the ball.
Follow Though
The motion should be unbroken from the start of the downswing to the finish of the follow through. For example, Tiger Woods allows the club head momentum to extend his follow-through far around his back, completing a long and smooth club head rotation.
Sometimes when we understand or are reminded of the simple parts of something, it can help us figure out what we need to do to improve. Pick something, work on it, own it, and then move on. Focus and you will see results.
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