Despite its reputation as a hobby for Florida retirees or wealthy businessmen, golf is quite a difficult sport to play competitively. Driving the ball down the range takes strength and power, and putting takes focus and precision. While the swing looks like one fluid motion, there’s so much more that goes into the movement. In a recent interview, Auburn golfer Josiah Gilbert broke down the basic mechanics of a golf swing and how each factor plays into his game.
The mechanics start before a golfer ever sets foot on the course. Preparing an individual's body is essential to performing well on a course, as a golf swing exerts a lot of torque on a golfer’s body. Studies have shown that a golfer’s spine can potentially experience up to 8 times their body weight in vertebral compression forces during a swing. Stretching is vital to activate and loosen a golfer's muscles before the first swing.
“We do a lot of work with Matt Smith, who's our personal trainer. We do a full body warm-up and stretching routines before we ever hit balls,” said Gilbert. “And that's good for activation, getting your muscles working in the right areas that we've been looking at as teams and individuals, and it's going to prevent injuries. If you've just gone out there hacking at it just dry, you're probably gonna hurt yourself.”
When it’s finally time to swing the club, there’s more to it than simply taking your best shot. It’s deceivingly difficult to hit the ball accurately while still drawing power from your body. Gilbert spoke on the simple way coaches explain how to hit the ball.
“We always talk about hip-to-hip, so it doesn’t really matter what the top of your swing looks like, doesn’t really matter what your back swing looks like,” said Gilbert. “If you can get it to a good position from your hip to your hip, which is obviously through impact, you’re going to play good golf.”
Hip-to-hip is a common coaching phrase used in golf to simplify the motion and emphasize the importance of the impact zone. The golfer should focus on the swing from when the club is waist-high on the back swing – the right hip for a right-handed golfer – to when the club is waist-high on the front swing – the left hip. As long as the golfer can control the clubface, they should be able to make good contact. While a pretty simple concept, hip-to-hip is one of the best ways to start with the fundamentals of a swing.
Gilbert was also asked to break down a golf swing for a child or someone who had never swung a club before.
“I'll steal my dad's kind of formula as a golf coach: start with the triangle,” said Gilbert. “So your shoulders are the base of the triangle, and your two arms are going to be like the point of the triangle. If you can keep that connected for as long as you can, the club face has to return to square. There's no other place for it to go if you keep everything in shape. So if you can do that, technically, the ball should go straight.”
Although the motions Gilbert described seem easy enough, it’s clear that putting them all together takes a little more practice. It appears swinging a golf club has a lot more thought behind it than most people realize.
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Jackie is a senior majoring in Psychology. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @jackie_domingun
