Originally published in on 2006-05-01

THE ARMS 

Power, everybody needs it, everybody wants it.  The question is how do you create power in your golf swing? It’s the role of the backswing to create power angles and the downswing to release these angles at just the right time to produce the clubhead velocity you need to hit the golf ball a long way.

At address the arms are essentially straight but not stiff as they hang underneath the shoulders. The elbows are hinge joints that fold the arms in toward the body [flexation] during the backswing and away from the body [extension] during the downswing. The two major muscles involved in this action are the biceps [backswing] and the triceps [downswing.] The contraction of the biceps muscles causes the trail elbow [right for right handers] to fold into a powerful lever at the top of the swing.     

Coming down to the ball, the triceps extends the trail arm from its folded position in a rather violent straightening that gives the clubhead a sudden burst of speed. It's this explosion that's responsible for the majority of power in the full swing.

Lever-Joints

We have established that levers are multipliers of power in your golf swing but how do they do their thing and what makes them so power-laden?

Levers occur where your bones come together in an interface called a joint. A major joint-lever is the elbow, where the long bone in your upper arm meets the two bones of your lower arm. While there are different kinds of joints, the elbow is of the hinge variety and its function is to fold and extend the arm. When the arm is hinged as it is at the top of your swing, it is in its leveraged positioned, ready to strike.

The only way you can self-move your body is by using your muscles --- the source of your power. In our example of lever-joints the biceps muscle is the major muscle that flexes (bends) the elbow hinge while the triceps muscle is the major muscle that extends (straightens) it.

The stronger these muscles are, the more power they generate. Muscles get strong when you overload them by lifting weights so the more you build your "lever-muscles" the faster you can unleash your strike at the ball. Golfers can't maximize their power potential saddled with a flabby triceps/biceps pair. If you can't feel a muscle on the back of your arm .....

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