Fitness

Making the Kinetic Link

By Dr Sean Fletch

If we consider the body to be a key piece of equipment, how does that equipment impact an individual’s game and how does one use their equipment for the best results on the course. Misinformation about golf swing biomechanics however, can lead to a fit individual, but have no impact on performance. I will attempt to draw a more specific link between swing biomechanics and fitness practices.

There are many opinions and theories about what the body does or should do in the golf swing, but research and advanced 3-D technology have established that regardless of technique, equipment, swing theory, etc., every elite golfer establishes what is called a “kinetic link” when they swing a club.

Why should you as an average golfer be interested in the kinetic link and golf biomechanics? If you don’t understand how you create power in a golf swing, unless you plan to rely on luck and good genetics, you will never be able to change your ability to effectively create more power, without injury. The kinetic link in simple terms is the biomechanical description of how the body efficiently creates power in a golf swing. Regardless of swing style, every golfer on the PGA Tour performs a kinetic link.

I will use the example of snapping a towel to explain the kinetic link in simple terms. There are two parts: the arm and the towel. As the heavier arm moves forward towel counter leavers back, causing a stretch in the muscles, which then contract (shorten) in response, causing the towel to move forward or snap over the arm, which is now stopped and stable.

The stretching of the muscles caused a contraction. This is the manner in which muscles generate power. To get maximum power out of a muscle you must “load” the muscle. This is done by moderately stretching the muscle, quickly with minimal time delay between the moment of stretch and its contraction or shortening. In other words it works nothing like a coil or a spring. An example of this principle of muscular loading is jumping. Instinctively everyone partially squats prior to jumping. You don’t jump higher by squatting slower, or deeper (bigger stretch), or by holding the squat longer (increased time delay). The squat is a “counter-movement” in jumping and does not serve to spring load the body but to pre-stretch the muscles involved.

In applying these principles to the golf swing, the kinetic link has four segments. The four segments are: the hips, torso/shoulders, the arms and the club. Like the squat before jumping, the counter-movement is the backswing. In the right handed player, as the swing transitions from back swing to down swing the hips accelerate in the direction of the downswing. The torso/shoulders lag behind as they follow in the direction of the backswing allowing for a more effective stretch (load) of the hips. Shortly thereafter the torso/shoulders follow the lead of the lower body and begin accelerating in the direction of the downswing. In an efficient swing, transition occurs in a coordinated fashion between each segment until all body segments are accelerating in the counter-clockwise direction of the downswing.

This coordinated sequence of movement between the four segments individually and as a whole, combined with a coordinated loading and firing of each linking muscle group is what creates the maximum club head speed at impact. A breakdown in this kinetic link will lead to compensations physically and in technique, creating greater physical wear and tear, injuries, and inconsistent performance.

If fitness is to have an impact on performance, training must address breakdowns within the athlete’s kinetic link.

'A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are'

Ara Parasheghian