Golf Tips for Beginners

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Our golf tips for beginners, swing improvement begins with exploring the muscles involved in a golf swing.  The act of hitting a golf ball involves primarily stretching and firing of muscles. Which muscles are used, when, and how intensely by excellent players is knowledge that can be useful to all golfers. Before describing individual muscles, here are useful definitions. Rotation: Medial and Lateral The upper thigh bones (femur) and the upper arm bones (humerus) rotate significantly when the body hits a golf ball. Were the left thigh and kneecap to rotate clockwise toward the median, that direction of rotation is called medial rotation. Were the left thigh and kneecap to rotate away from the median in a counter-clockwise move, that would be lateral rotation. Note that for the right thigh and kneecap, lateral rotation away from the median is clockwise, and medial rotation is counter-clockwise. 

Medial and lateral as rotational direction descriptors are applied identically to the humerus of the left and right arms, e.g. left humerus rotating clockwise is medial rotation. Iliopsoas When you contract these muscles, you bend the waist and/or raise your thigh. The psoas muscles are least stretched when your thighs are pulled up against your chest. Since that’s nowhere near the case at the top of the lift ‘n coil, Davis’ psoas muscles are extended considerably. Right Gluteus Maximus This buttock muscle: 1) helps extend the right hip joint and 2) either rotates the right femur laterally or rotates the hips counter-clockwise.

Golf Swing Improvement

Golf swing improvement starts with using the right muscles.  When you climb stairs, psoas and other muscles raise your thigh (flex the hip), thereby stretching the gluteus maximus. Then gluteus maximus contracts to help pull the thigh bone to vertical, extending the hip joint, raising you up a step. Ernie’s right hip is flexed significantly, meaning his right gluteus maximus is stretched some. It’s stretched even more, though, because it has rotated counter-clockwise in relation to the right hip. 

Here’s why that rotation stretches gluteus maximus: The gluteus maximus does not attach to the back of the femur. It attaches toward the outside of the bone. If you rotate your right femur counter-clockwise, you stretch your right gluteus maximus. Concerning rotation of the femurs during the lift ‘n coil, the spikes in your right shoe keep your right foot from rotating while your hips rotate clockwise. Tour pros’ hips rotate about 55 degrees. The knee, in between the foot and the hip, rotates about half as much, 25 to 30 degrees. This means that the right knee, even though it is rotating laterally, clockwise, in relation to the median plane, in relation to the right hip it is rotating counter-clockwise, further stretching the right gluteus maximus. 

Therefore, when the right gluteus maximus contracts, it rotates the right leg, pulling it not straight behind, but around and out to the side. Speedskaters have huge buttocks and propel themselves partly through heavy use of their buttock muscles.