How to Use Your Stomach Muscles To Hit Farther
By Glenn Mcanally
A lot of how-to articles talk about the body parts that contribute most to the mechanics of the golf swing. They mention the legs, the shoulders, the hips and the wrists, but many articles are curiously devoid of any mention on how important the abdominal muscles are in the swing. Baseball and golf swings both require the use of strong stomach muscles -- not just the abdominals but the oblique muscles, which are to the sides of the abdominals.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Try to first get a better sense of how your stomach muscles help your body get more tightly coiled during the back swing. Rotate your hips while keeping your stomach muscles relaxed. Note how far you turned.
Do the same thing again only this time with your stomach muscles flexed. You will see that when you work the abdominals and obliques you get a little more rotation, which translates to more potential energy.
Take another swing with your stomach muscles relaxed and have someone watch your spin angle. That person will tell you that your spin either shifted up or down or left to right and this throws the swing out of alignment.
Perform the same swing but with the stomach muscles flexed. To an observer, your spine will stay in position and your swing path will stay on plane; in other words your club will be more likely to have pure contact with the ball.
As you initiate the downswing with your legs and then your hips, make sure you really feel the right side of your obliques crunching next or you will be breaking the power transfer chain that eventually ends up in your arms.
Tips & Warnings
If you have weak stomach muscles, you can build their strength with sit-ups, where you touch your right elbow to your left knee and your left elbow to your right knee. This will help strengthen the abdominals and the obliques at the same time.
Don't initiate your back swing with the stomach. It will throw your timing off. Let your legs start the turn, and then the hips will prompt your stomach/midriff section to wind up away from your target (the area where you want hit your ball).
About The Author
Glenn McAnally is a thriller novelist and life long golfer who lives in Southern California. His most recent work is the action thriller Endangered as well as a story credit for the upcoming Nintendo DS title Elite Forces: Unit 77. He is a graduate of Villanova University.
