By Glen Bowen
Want to be a better golfer? Read on to discover my secret recipe.
The most critical and common swing flaw is leading the club with the hands. This generally consists of reaching across the chest to swing the club in both directions. The swing is weak in terms of power and speed, there is a poor transfer of energy from the clubface to the ball, and it leads to any variety of mishits including hooks and slices.
The golfers that lead with their hands tend to lift or snatch the club up in their takeaway. This leads to multiple swing flaws including taking the club inside too soon where it ends up behind them instead of in front of their torso.
The golfer can just swing the club and hope for the best but using the hands in this way leads to inconsistent hitting which leads to frustration, and often leads golfers to leave the game altogether.
I break down the golf swing into four critical segments, the Takeaway, the Transition, the Downswing, and the Follow Through. There is a specific sequence in which these segments must be performed in the proper golf swing.
Performing each sequence correctly according to bioscience eliminates virtually every significant swing flaw including the most common one, hands leading the club. When the hands lead just about everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
The laws of physics as it applies to golf is the secret to an efficient and effective golf swing. And ball dynamics virtually describes everthing that is right or wrong in the golf swing. You can learn to read the ball’s flight to make adjustment and overcome some swing flaws if your understand the laws of physics.
The laws of physics that have the biggest impact on golf include Newton’s Laws of Motion which are the Law of Inertia, the Law of Acceleration, and the Law of Action Reaction.
However, there are multiple other properties that come in to play during the golf swing including the effects of gravity, especially the center of gravity, and other forces such as torque, energy, conservation of energy, linear momentum, angular momentum, and ground reaction forces, not to mention understanding the differences between speed and velocity, and elastic and chemical energy.
A powerful, accelerating swing that crushes the golf ball is what we all want because it can achieve almost crazy distances with great accuracy—great distances with the least dispersion rates. Crushing the ball at least once per round is what brings us back, so imagine what it must be like to crush the ball every time you hit it.
The Nitty Gritty of Segment Sequencing
In the golf swing the golfer’s muscles convert stored elastic and chemical energy into muscular force which allows him or her to generate a well-timed golf swing. An efficient swing requires the golfer to convert or transfer these various types of energy into motion. An efficient swing requires that each muscle fire and generate force with precise timing to generate and transfer energy to each subsequent body segment in the chain.
During the downswing, energy starts from the ground up. The stronger, larger muscles of the legs and core accelerate themselves and the segments above them by pushing on the ground, then in sequence the smaller, fast muscles of the shoulders, arms, wrists, and then hands fire next to propel the club at maximum speed into the ball. This is known as proximal-to-distal sequencing, or kinematic sequence. It is a basic principle of human motion when the goal is to speed up a distal segment such as the foot, hand, or club.
In golf where the need is to create maximum speed of the club, there is a precisely timed sequence of body segment motions progressing from the proximal (inner), large segments to the distal (outer), smaller segments. During the downswing all body segments must accelerate and decelerate in the correct sequence with precise and specific timing so that the club arrives at impact accurately and with maximum speed.
The most efficient sequence of motion for the major segments is pelvis, upper body, arms, wrists, and hands, and finally the club. This motion must occur sequentially with each peak speed being faster but later than the previous one. This sequence reflects an efficient transfer of energy across each joint and facilitates an increase in energy from the proximal segment to the distal one. The muscles of each joint produce this increase in energy. On the other hand, if the timing of energy transfer is wrong, energy can be lost and hence speed will be lost. Also, if one body part must compensate because another is not acting correctly then injury may result, not to mention exhaustion, fatigue, and mishits.
During the downswing, the larger, inner segments such as the pelvis and upper core body move slower with the speed building as the energy progresses to the smaller distal segments such as the arms, wrists, hands, and the club. Note that the pelvis does not continue accelerating through impact but quickly decelerates before impact. Think of this stage of the swing like running up against a brick wall causing the arms to accelerate through the ball.
Proximal-to-distal sequencing is not usually understood or followed by unskilled golfers, and they have the common tendency of performing the golf swing by leading with their hands in both the backswing and the downswing. This produces slower swing speeds and consequently slower ball speeds. It is also the reason for inconsistent ball striking. The hands should remain mostly quiet during the golf swing to prevent over manipulation of the golf club.
The Takeaway Sequence
It is common for most unskilled golfers to begin their takeaway sequence with the club first through use of their hands, followed by their arms, shoulders, chest and then hips. In other words, they fail to initiate the takeaway sequence with their upper body starting with the shoulder pivot. This is a common mistake among untrained and new golfers. This swing flaw is also known as ‘reaching across the chest’.
The takeaway must always be initiated by the shoulders pivoting around the spine while resisting at the hips to create torque in the muscles. Not only this, but the club should be kept in front of the chest during the backswing, so the club doesn’t end up behind the golfer which is the number cause of the dreadful slice.
Transition Sequence
The transition is the point where the club stops moving in a backward motion at the top of the swing and before the downswing is initiated. This transition is followed by the downswing sequence. The primary focus of the transition sequence is to set up the transition from backswing to downswing to maximize speed into the impact zone where the ball is to be struck with force. This force, of course, is clubhead speed.
It is during the transition sequence that torqued muscle power is stored and is waiting to be unleashed during the downswing.
Downswing Sequence
The downswing sequence consists of the hips being pushed by the trailing foot forward shifting the golfer’s weight to the lead side. This is followed by the upper body, then the shoulders, and penultimately the lead arm gripping the club, and lastly the club. The faster this sequence motion occurs, the greater distance the ball will travel through the efficient transfer of power known in golf as Smash Factor, which is the ratio between swing speed and ball speed.
Acceleration is how fast each segment speeds up and deceleration is how fast each segment slows down. The key to a powerful swing is fast, sequential rotational accelerations and decelerations. The only thing that accelerates all the way to impact is the club. This is a critical feature of the downswing sequence.
Peak Rotational Speeds and Speed Gains – Each segment’s speed peaks sequentially and faster than the previous segment. The higher the peak speed of each segment the higher the potential speed of the club at impact. Also, the speed gain or increase from segment to segment, across each joint, is indicative of how much energy that joint contributes to the final speed of the club. If one joint speed gain is found to be lacking, then that may be an indication of weakness in that muscle group. This weakness can lead to injuries and mishits.
These efficient sequences are usually not followed by unskilled golfers because they are not trained to avoid the tendency of performing the swing task with their hands. They mostly lead with their hands in both the backswing and the downswing which are major swing flaws. Leading with the hands produces slower swing speeds and consequently slower ball speeds. It is also the greatest reason for inconsistent ball striking. Consequently, the hands should remain mostly quiet during the swing to prevent over-manipulation of the golf club.
Follow Through Sequence
After the ball has left the club face the golfer must slow the club down to a stop while still maintaining balance and avoiding injury. The arms should be fully extended during the through swing and allowed to rotate over each other so that the club can come to a soft stop behind the golfer. The club motion should basically die in the final position rather than banging the back of the golfer. With excellent balance, the golfer can hold this stance while watching his awesome ball flight.
Now you know that sement sequencing is the secret to a proper golf swing. Now, go out there and hit ’em straight and long!
—End
November 11, 2023, Glen Bowen, Certified Professional Golf Coach, US Golf Teachers Federation