Golf Tips on Swing and Speed Drills

Hold your follow through after swinging.Golfer teeing off image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com

The most important part of a golfer's game is not the expensive driver, irons, putter or the ball. Even if you have the best equipment in the world, it means nothing if you do not have proper swing mechanics. Through rigorous practice and drills, a repeatable, correct swing can be achieved. Muscle memory is a key, but there are other tips to remember when performing swing and speed drills.

The Takeaway and Backswing

Take a relaxed grip on the club and address the ball. At address, the club should be positioned at the height it will be when striking the ball. The takeaway initiates the swing; proper tempo and form during the takeaway are essential to the golf swing being effective. A complete backswing involves maintaining a straight left arm, breaking the wrists, and rotating the torso so that your back nearly faces your target. Throughout this process, the head should remain still and the eyes should remain focused on the ball. Keep the back knee slightly bent and your weight on the inside of the back foot. This will provide a solid foundation for the explosive downswing.

The down swing is a synchronized explosion of all the muscles that were coiled during the backswing. Remember that power is generated not in the arms, but through the core muscles in the torso and legs. Pause briefly at the top of your backswing. Make sure your eyes are on the ball and your head has not moved. The left arm should still be straight and the back should be facing the target. Maintaining a bent right knee, initiate the downswing and explode through the ball. A swing should finish with your weight transferred to the front foot. Hold the follow-through after striking the ball. You should be able to hold it indefinitely; if you can. This means balance was maintained throughout the swing. If not, a slight adjustment needs to be made in the swing with regards to body rotation and weight transfer.

Swing speed is generated through the explosiveness of the core muscles in the human body. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are what drive this explosiveness. These muscles are seldom used in everyday activities, but can be activated through specific exercises used to target them. Isometric training is one of the best ways to activate fast-twitch muscle fibers. Isometric exercises involve holding a muscle at a certain level of contraction for an extended period of time. During this time, the muscle will still be working, but the body will not be in motion. Though it may sound counterintuitive, developing fast-twitch muscles can improve contraction speed by up to ten times the rate of slow-twitch muscles. Resistance band, free weight and body weight exercises can all be modified to involve isometric training.