Saturday, August 27, 2011

Supplemental Training Can Build Up Your Muscles And Golf Swing

By Danielle Russell


Every part of your body goes to work when you swing the golf ball - there's more to this motion than meets the eye. This particular gesture has you rotating from one direction to the other, using some 32 muscles in the process. Just like it is in other sports, repetition with the proper form can get your swing places. Strengthening your muscles or certain muscle groups through exercise could be an unorthodox, yet very effective solution if you want to increase your work rate and improve your golfing game in the long run.

Breaking Down the Swing

A golf swing is made up of three distinct components - back swing, down swing and follow through. The forward swing is responsible for building up the power and getting the ball to a certain distance. As for the back swing, this basically stretches your muscles in such a way that your down swing becomes more powerful. The follow through, while more important in the actual game, is also important when it comes to avoiding injury, as it helps muscles get to the right position and state before they go to a state of rest.

Three areas of the body are responsible for generating swing power - the trunk, arms and wrists. W hen talking about the force generated around the trunk area, this would be the centrifugal force that has built up momentum in order to generate power. You would have to take note of the pivot points and make sure they stay stable. The spine and the hip joints are what you'd call pivot points.

If you're wondering what part of the body is responsible for pushing the club forward at a high velocity, it would be your arms, particularly when your arm muscles contract. The seemingly inconsequential contribution of the wrist is important for stability and in order to properly direct the forces the swing has built up.

A Look At The Different Muscle Groups Involved

The major muscle groups used in the trunk are the lateral rotators of the spine and hip. These muscles are part of a larger group of back and abdominal muscles, which you may be more familiar with. At first, these muscles would move the trunk sideways left to right when you make your back swing. After which the group on the other side contracts to rotate the trunk from right to left to power the downswing. Your hips and thigh muscles would be there in reserve, backing up the other muscles as your trunk rotates, and providing a strong anchor for your spine.

Propulsive force in the downswing would be generated by your upper arms, back and chest muscles. This power is translated through the speed built up in the golf club. The arms would be generally moved through the "lats" (latissimus muscles found in the back), "delts" (your shoulder's deltoid muscles) and "pecs" (pectoralis muscles found in the chest). And once again, your wrist and partly, your forearm would lead your swing to have the right direction.

Training Strategies to Improve Power and Speed

If you want to gain more muscle strength and cut down on your response time, supplemental training is the answer. You'll have to focus on your abs and improve your balance, so you can consequently exercise and strengthen the key muscles used in your golf swing. Such key muscles include your shoulder, chest and upper back muscles which can all be strengthened through weight lifting. A lot of people who are not used to manual labor have limp wrist muscles and weak forearms, so you'll want to focus on these as well if this does sound like you.

Isometric training is incorporated into supplemental training to improve response times. Golf swing velocity is best transmitted to ball speed by making the contact time as short as possible. By this alone, it would be absolutely necessary to improve the speed of your muscle contraction. So if you really want to improve your golf game quickly and effectively, all it takes the right balance of speed and power.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails