7 Most Important Muscles for Golf Swing Speed

Golf is a popular sport that allows you to enjoy time with your friends and exercise different muscles. It also offers a viable career option if you’re passionate about the game. The best part is that golf courses are readily available in many countries for practice.

However, it is essential to understand the most important muscles for golf swing speed. Knowing them will help you improve your skills and play the game better than others. 

Read on to find out the most important muscles for golf swing speed and how to improve them.

See also: Is Golf a Sport? (Yes, and Here’s why!)

5 Most Important Muscles for Golf Swing Speed

Following are the five most important muscles for golf swing speed:

1- Gluteus Maximus

The glutes are integral muscles in your body for golf because they allow you to rotate your hips. External and internal rotation is possible due to these muscles.

So you can easily perform excellent backswings and downswings because of your glutes. It primarily stabilizes your body and protects the spine while performing specific movements.

This muscle also allows you to maintain a good posture to perform a good finish. Without robust glutes, you will be at risk of sustaining spine injuries while playing golf.

Typically, your core muscles experience stress and pain, which will eventually lead to severe injury. So you must ensure your glutes are active and strong to help you play golf well.

2- Pectoralis And Latissimus

These two are upper body muscles essential for performing an excellent swing. They help make the shoulder adductors strong, which are used to bring your arms across your body during a swing. The upper body muscles also allow you to raise your arms in the air to hit the golf ball.

The pectoralis major or chest muscle helps the shoulder flex and the arm extend, vital for rotation and a smooth and effective golf swing.

Latissimus Dorsi works with the pectoralis major, helping the arm to adduct or move toward the body and rotate and extend all muscle movements necessary to perform a golf swing.

You must ensure these two muscles are strong and flexible when playing golf. Otherwise, your movement will be restricted, negatively affecting your golf swing speed.

Strength will enable you to control the club more easily, while flexibility will improve your backswing. Exercising these muscles will help you enjoy better overall control.

3- Core

Your core must be highly flexible if you want to maximize the benefits of golf. Core muscles are the primary ones that contribute most to a good swing speed. Without flexibility, you will not be able to rotate your club properly while taking a swing. You will also not be able to take your arms back enough to hit the ball with good force.

Strengthening your core will help you prevent lower back injuries, which are generally faced by many amateur and pro golfers. Learning to initiate your golf shot from your core will improve consistency when playing golf.

Glutes are an important core muscle that you should exercise. Besides that, abs must be strengthened too. This will allow you to develop additional torque for hitting the ball with correct momentum.

The most important feature of the core is that it holds everything together and helps you turn your torso.

4- Lower Body Muscles

Many lower-body muscles work in sync to help you improve your golf swing speed. The quadriceps are the primary lower muscles that offer stability and balance while hitting the golf ball.

They are helpful for backswings as well as downswings. So you must stretch these muscles properly to achieve high flexibility.

Hamstrings are also essential for maintaining the correct posture while finishing. It allows you to swing with adequate speed so that you can put the ball in the hole easily.

If you don’t exercise lower body muscles, the impact will not be strong enough to help you score.

5- Hands And Forearms

It is no secret that hands and forearms are primarily used in golf. You need good strength in your hands to hit the target easily.

The forearm muscles are essential, particularly for a golf swing, because a proper grip on the club drives the ball in the right direction. Each of muscle in your forearm helps provide a solid and secure grip on the golf club.

A firm forearm is a key to having a good grip, meaning you can transfer the force generated by all the important muscles into the club and the golf ball.

Conditioning your forearm strength, mobility, and endurance helps prevent chronic repetitive motion injuries, including golfer’s elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Developing your hands and forearms will also help you achieve good speed while taking a short swing. If you don’t have enough strength, the ball will not rise, and you may hit the grass with your club.

Forearms are also essential for golf because they direct all the torque and force by the other muscles to the club.

Flexibility is also necessary for these muscles to rotate without stressing themselves. Inadequately exercising hands and forearms will prevent you from playing exceptionally well.

6- Deltoids

The deltoid is a triangular shoulder muscle, which gets its name because of its similarity to the shape of the Greek letter ‘delta’ (Δ).

Deltoid muscles help efficiently move your arms in diverse directions, which is essential when playing golf. In addition, deltoid muscles protect and stabilize your shoulder joint and help create a powerful swing.

Performing backswing will require shoulder mobility and strength, and strengthening your deltoid muscles will increase joint stability and lower the risk of injury.

7- Legs

Every golf swing requires stability, and strong legs are essential to creating a stable and effective golf shot.

The muscles in the lower body include the quadriceps, abductors, glutes, adductors, and hamstrings.

Strengthening leg muscles help a golfer, particularly beginner golfers, create a controlled swing.

The most activated muscle during the forward swing phase in the lower body is the upper and lower gluteus maximus on the right side and the biceps femoris. On the left side, the most activated muscles are the vastus lateralis and the adductor Magnus, according to research issued in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

See also: Can You Lose By Playing Golf? (Yes, here’s why!)

Dos Golf Build Muscles?

Golf is a good sport for exercising your buttocks, abdominal muscles, and lower back. It will help you build strength and mobility while improving your balance. The game will also allow you to improve your core and suffer from less stress.

However, swinging the club does not provide adequate resistance for building strong muscles. Your flexibility and strength improvement will be restricted. This is why performing additional exercises by working out is essential for building muscles significantly.

5 Golf Exercises to Increase Swing Speed

Every golfer continually looks for ways to hit longer and more accurate shots. And the speed generated with the clubhead is dependent on the length of the shot. Improving your physical conditioning is an excellent way to enhance your golf swing.

Now that you know the most important muscles for golf swing speed, here are some exercises to improve them:

1- Box Squats

Performing box squats will primarily improve your leg power and help you build strength easily. You will have to stand upright while placing a box or chair behind you.

Then, perform squats by ensuring your weight on each side of the body is equal. This balance is essential for performing the exercise correctly.

You must move down until you’re sitting on the chair or box. After that, rise to the upright position and repeat the steps multiple times.

Performing the exercise daily will improve strength significantly. Once you become advanced, you can decrease the chair’s height for more resistance.

2- Slow Sit Up

Slow sit-up exercise is essential for improving your core muscles, including the glutes. It will help you generate more power while swinging to hit the ball with a greater impact.

However, the slow sit-up is not performed like the standard sit-up. Instead of starting from the floor, you will gradually begin the activity upright and lower yourself.

The exercise will also help you raise your torso properly and lower it down. Aim to perform two to three sets daily, with each set including 8 to 12 repetitions.

Besides that, keep your arms and back straight while elevating yourself to the upright position again.

3- Russian Twist

The Russian Twist is the top exercise for improving your rotational strength to hit the golf ball with good speed. It will allow you to become more powerful when turning your back for the swing. The exercise is performed by sitting on your buttock with slightly bent knees. 

It is recommended to be off the ground, and rotate from one side to another. Every time you tap the floor with your hands after a complete rotation will be considered one rep. Aim to do at least ten to twelve reps daily and increase them gradually.

4- The Superman

Many golf injuries occur in the lower back due to high stress and inadequate exercise. That is where Superman will help you.

Adding superman exercises will prevent your lower back from sustaining injuries by strengthening various muscles, including the glutes, back, and core. You can do the exercise by lying flat on your stomach and placing your arms forward.

You must also keep your legs straight on the ground. Then, lift the arms and legs simultaneously and drop them back. This will be considered one rep.

Be sure to perform two to three sets with 8 to 12 reps. You should also hold the arms and legs in mid-air for a few seconds before dropping to increase resistance.

5- Glute Bridges

Glute bridges primarily target the gluteus maximus muscle, the largest one in the buttocks and essential for longer and balanced golf shots. 

In addition, glute bridges work hip and knee extension, using the same muscles, including the gluteus maximus and quadriceps. Performing glute bridges will strengthen and build your butt, eliminate pain and help improve overall performance.

If you are a beginner, stick to the basic glute bridge; try to do three to four sets with 15 to 25 reps each.

Type Of Exercises	Muscles Addressed	Effect on Your Golf Swing
Leg curl	Hamstrings	It helps produce more power.
Leg extension	Quadriceps	It helps produce more power.
Leg press	– Quadriceps – Hamstrings, – And gluteal muscles	It helps produce more power.
Abdominal curl	Rectus abdominis	It helps transfer power from the lower to the upper body.
Low back	Erector spinae	It helps transfer power from the lower to the upper body.
Rotary torso	– Internal obliques – External obliques	It helps transfer power from the lower to the upper body.
Chest crossover	Pectoralis major	It generally swings movements
Lateral raise	Deltoids	It generally swings movements
Super pullover	Latissimus dorsi	It generally swings movements
Super forearm flexion	Forearm flexors	It helps better control your club while playing golf
Biceps curl	Biceps	It helps better control your club while playing golf
Triceps extension	Triceps	It helps better control your club while playing golf

Does Lifting Weights Increase Swing Speed?

Exercising will help develop proper joint mobility and stability, laying the foundation for better golf swings, meaning faster clubhead speed and longer drives. Indeed, studies consistently indicate a strong correlation between weight training and an increase in clubhead speed.

The explosive action of the golf swing puts considerable stress on your shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, producing high torque forces on the low back and hip structures. Therefore, if you are not strong and fit in these parts, you could experience injuries in these and other body areas.

Strength training enhances your muscles’ contraction capacity, movement force, and musculoskeletal function. Strength training provides a dual advantage: it will make you stronger and prevent golf-related injuries.

Do Deadlifts Help Golf Swing?

For golfers, deadlifting activates the glutes and enables more athletic movements supported by the hips. It also develops a more stable base for your swing, helps correct early extension, and facilitates hip first rotation. Deadlifts are an excellent exercise to help your golf swing and elevate your golf game. 

By incorporating deadlifts in your fitness routine, you can produce driving power more efficiently and safely absorb swing forces.

Since powerful golf swings and injury preventions are the keys to successfully playing, you should consider starting a sensible golf workout program.

Are Push-Ups Good For Golfers?

For golfers, the benefits of push-ups are that they strengthen the pectoral (commonly referred to as the chest) muscles and enhance soft tissue stability in the shoulders. The rotator cuff muscles and deltoids are vital in controlling the club’s positions as you swing and safely stop the club.

One thing about push-ups is that they get boring. But before you totally say no to this effective body-weight exercise for something else, try at least 30 to 50 push-ups in the morning.

In a study of male firefighters, men who could complete at least 40 push-ups over 30 seconds had a considerably lower risk of heart attack or other cardiovascular issues over the next ten years than men who could complete less than ten push-ups.

Hopefully, this will motivate you to incorporate push-ups into your fitness routine.

Final Thoughts

This is all the information about the most important muscles for golf swing speed. Focusing on the different groups and exercising them daily will help you play golf like athletes.

The best way to perform the activities is by forming a workout routine, including the essential exercises.