What
part of the body contributes the most
to
generating the maximum speed of the golf
club head?
This
single answer allowed me to make a huge leap
in my understanding of the golf swing, and
in everything I had seen and read about the
golf swing none of it emphasised it anywhere
near like enough.
I
carried out a survey on the Internet over
several weeks and asked visitors to my web
site the question:
'What
part of the body contributes the most to
generating the maximum speed of the club
head?'
Only 20%
got the answer correct – That’s only 1 in
every 5 golfers! And these golfers had a
wide range of handicaps down to single
figures.
Interestingly this figure corresponds to
another golfing statistic - Did you know
that only around 20% of golfers have a
handicap of less than 18? It made me wonder
whether the misunderstanding of the
fundamental aspect could be the one thing
that is holding so many golfers back.
Which
part of the body do you think creates the
maximum speed of the club head?
The part
of the body that generates the maximum club
head speed in golf can also be found in
other sports such as Tennis, Baseball and
Cricket.
In all
of these sports the role of the hands or
wrists is such that they contribute the most
to generating the speed of the club, racket
or bat.
When the
club reaches the point on the downswing
where it is level with the ground notice the
position of the shoulders. Then take a look
at the point when the club is parallel with
the ground again, after the ball has been
hit and again notice the position of the
shoulders.
Look at
how far the club has moved (over 180
degrees) compared to how little the
shoulders and arms have moved (around 45
degrees).
So the
answer to the question that I posed above is
that it is the hands (or wrists) that
contribute the most to generating the
maximum club head speed. The club is moved
through over 180 degrees whilst the arms
move through less than 60 degrees – all of
the rest of the movement of the head of the
golf club is generated by the movement of
the hands.
Unfortunately the large majority of golfers
think that it is with the shoulders and
arms.
So we
have shown that the club head travels a long
way with very little body movement in the
final stages of the swing, and this is how
the pro's generate club head speeds of over
120mph! We have focused on the movement of
the wrists but it's important to point out
that the wrists are only really hinges at
the point that the two arms meet and are
therefore under the control of the arms. At
the point we have highlighted in the swing
where the club is about to travel through
180 degrees (see images below) the right arm
is bent at the elbow and the left arm is
straight.
Just put
your arms and hands into this position (you
don't need a club in your hands but use one
if it helps). Now simply straighten your
right arm and allow your straight left arm
to move towards the centre of your body
(simulating the point of impact).
Can you
see how the wrists actually move in response
to the straightening of the right arm? This
is a key factor as developing the correct
swing relies upon you getting your right
elbow close to the right side of your body -
if you move your shoulders early in the
swing you won't be able to achieve this
position.
When you
get this move it feels like you are throwing
the club head into the back of the ball,
which in reality is what you are actually
doing and it feels great as you release all
that power right into the back of the ball!
Let’s
see less emphasis on the movement of the
shoulders and more control with the wrists.
This
will create a totally different feel to the
way you’ve been hitting the ball in the
past.
