This month's edition focuses on the analogy between a summer boat ride and the golf swing. Most of you are now asking yourself the following question, "How can thinking about a boat ride help my golf swing?" Well, this is not an ordinary boat ride! This boat ride involves the whole family, mom, dad, and all five children. The kids' greatest enjoyment on these boat rides is tubing behind the boat through the inlet. There is a direct correlation between swinging a golf club properly and enjoying a day tubing. Let me explain!
There are two separate forces at work in the golf swing that draw a parallel to the boat and inner tube. These two forces are centripetal force, defined as an inner pulling force, and centrifugal force, which is the force on the outside of a circle. In the golf swing, centripetal force is the big muscles moving the small muscles. It is the inside moving the outside--the core muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abdominals, and obliques) moving the club. Now let's link these forces to the boat, the tow rope, and the inner tube.
When imagining a tubing trip on the boat as it relates to the golf swing, the boat represents the core muscles of your body mentioned above, the tow rope acts as the arms and the shaft, and the inner tube reflects the club head. Now let's apply force to the objects. As long as I am driving the boat in a straight line, the kids can relax and have fun, but it really becomes a party when I begin making turns and doing doughnuts with the boat. The kids on the inner tube now go outside the wake and begin picking up speed through the turn. The faster and sharper the turn, the more of a sling shot effect is propelled through the tow rope and into the inner tube. The children are feeling the centrifugal force on the outside of the arc generated by the turning of the boat on the inside.
Centripetal force creates power in the golf swing. Therefore, in order to generate more force in the golf swing (which is equivalent to power), you need to turn your hips (core muscles) in your pivot. Your core muscles act like the boat to create the centripetal force needed in the golf swing. The more you use your core muscles in the golf swing, the greater the centrifugal force that is applied to the head of your club in the form of speed, just like the inner tube. The simplest tip to explain this is to get your back side moving in your pivot. From chip to drive, the golfer must learn to rotate around the spine. The only stroke in golf where rotation is not required is the putt. Therefore, for any of you that are having power leaks, I would inspect the boat (core muscles)!
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In review, the job of the boat is to pull the inner tube and the job of the pivot is to create power. The pivot or turn of the boat has to lead the club head (inner tube) or the sequence is off. If the boat slows down dramatically while making the turn then slack builds up in the tow rope and the kids start complaining. Likewise, if the pivot slows down, club head speed slows down and power is lost.
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