How the Lower Body Moves In the Golf Swing

The golf swing is an incredibly complex full body movement that requires both precision and power. It is one of the only athletic movements in sport that demands finesse with speed. When we break the golf swing down and look at the specific muscles and movements required of the body, we find that nearly every muscle in the body is used. This involves several specific movements at specific joints. In this article we look at some of the key muscles involved in the swing, along with the specific joint movements required to make a full, safe, powerful swing. The specifics of each muscle used in each part of the swing could fill a book or have individual articles for themselves. So today, we’ll focus on how the lower body moves in the golf swing.

Starting From the Bottom

Let’s start at the lower body and work our way up. This is where everything starts, the ability to use the ground in the golf swing is immensely important to create a powerful repeatable swing. Our feet are our only connection to the ground so proper mobility within the foot and ankle is something we look at in every one of our assessments. For a right handed golfer during the backswing, the left ankle, or the lead ankle, needs to move into eversion. This occurs when the outside of your foot tilts up. At the same time, inversion is required of the right foot or trail foot. The opposite is required in the downswing. The left foot, or lead foot, needs to move into inversion.  At the same time the right foot, or trail foot, needs to move into eversion in order to maximize ground force interaction.

Improper mobility of the ankle joint could lead to a sway or slide in your golf swing. This is far more common than people realize. To diagnose a slide in your swing, and whether it’s coming from a mobility issue or technique issue, as well as how to fix any of the causes take a look at this video on our YouTube Channel. There are several small, intricate muscles that aid in the inversion and eversion of your ankle. Namely, the tibialis anterior and posterior invert the foot, while the fibularis and extensor digitorum evert the foot. These muscles contribute heavily to your body’s ability to balance as well, so don’t neglect the lower leg muscles when training!

What About the Knees?

Moving up the chain we get to the knees. We saw the ankles were a source of mobility to allow our body to properly rotate. The knees are the opposite, they are a source of stability in the swing. As we continue through the chain we’ll start to see an alternating pattern that is very important to a safe, pain-free golf swing. The knee joint has several groups of muscles that cross the joint to provide the knee with its proper motion of flexion and extension. A proper setup requires a bit of knee flexion, while extension comes in to play to complete the swing and end in a tall finish. While we see plenty of tour players let the lead leg drop towards the ball in the backswing, and it may seem like this motion is coming at the knee, but it isn’t. This motion is external rotation of the lead hip, and is something we look at next. If the knees are moving laterally in your golf swing, take a look at this video on how to properly fix that.

Next Up Is the Hips

How the hips move in the golf swing is one of the most important factors in avoiding back pain while playing. The hip is one of the most complex joints in the body that has several muscles to control it.

The hip joint is meant to be mobile. If we look back at the previous joints, the ankle is mobile, the knee is stable, and the hip is mobile. This trend will continue as you move up the body as well. The hip needs to maintain its mobility in the golf swing in order for the joints above and below can remain stable. If the hip lacks the proper mobility needed, we try to create rotation and mobility through either the lower back, which is supposed to be a stable section of the body, or the knees, which also need to be stable. We sacrifice stability either above or below the joint. If the lower back starts trying to make up for this mobility, this can lead to back pain, which is extremely common in golf. So if your lower back is something that hurts in the golf swing, you may need to look at whether you’re creating rotation through the hip properly. The image below shows all of the possible movements at the hip joint. We are going to focus on internal and external rotation.

Focus On Hip Rotation

In the back swing the trail leg needs to internally rotate while the lead leg has to externally rotate. This is absolutely crucial in creating a safe backswing that doesn’t compromise your back. Again, you can refer to this video to help you properly diagnose whether your hip internal rotation is a cause of a slide, or even causing back pain in your swing. A quick and easy way to see if your hip internal rotation is where it needs to be, make sure you’re checking both your lead and trail leg. From the top of the backswing and moving into transition to the downswing, the trail leg will begin to move into external rotation. This is where using the ground comes into play. The hip should act like a corkscrew for your foot as you rotate using the ground, and that trail ankle should begin to move into eversion. The lead hip will begin to internally rotate more and more until you get to the top of the follow through.

If you need any ideas or exercises to work through all of these motions and ensure a proper golf swing, make sure to check out our Instagram.