Why the Glutes are the ‘King of the Swing’!!
As many of you will know the gluteal muscles or our ‘bottoms/butts’ as we more commonly refer to them, are the largest muscle in the human body. That said for many people this muscle is the least used within the human body (unless we count using them to sit/rest on)!!
With an increasing number of the population living more sedentary lives, our ‘bottoms’, are not being used correctly. How many of us will spend an hour every morning sat in the car on our way to work, only to sit down again at a desk for 8 hours, then to sit down for another hour for the commute home. Then when we get home it’s time to sit down again to eat dinner, followed by another 3 hours sat watching the TV.
Throughout this full day of ‘sitting’ we have not used our gluteal muscles once, unless you count as a cushion. This lack of use however can lead to postural problems and muscle imbalances, which can affect the function of other areas of our body as well as cause pain and injury.
Our glutes should be big and powerful as they help us to maintain a stable and upright posture, as well as allow fluid rotation of the hips and control of the pelvis. These are not just important functions for everyday living but they are also essential for a consistent and powerful golf swing.
As well as assisting with posture maintenance throughout the golf swing and internal /external rotation of the hips on our backswings and downswings; they are also essential for power generation, speed and distance. For these reasons alone the glutes are known as the ‘King of the Swing’!
If you are struggling with these areas within your golf game, it may be down to your inability to recruit or activate your gluteal muscles. There are also common physical signs that your glutes aren’t ‘firing’ such as; pain in your lower back, tight lower back and hamstrings, and lack of lower body stability in your golf swing (pelvic control).
If you do experience any of these pains or tightness, they may appear worse after playing a round of golf. This is due to the fact that the lower back and hamstrings are doing the work instead of the glutes.
If this is the case however, there are many exercises that you can perform to help activate those glutes and improve their function. Simple stretches of the hip flexors (front of hip), clenching and relaxing of the buttocks and walking/running up steps can all help, as well as trying to refrain from sitting down for long periods of time.
For more information on this article or to arrange a TPI physical screen to assess your glute functionality, please email me on rachael@dynamic-golf.co.uk.
