Dominate the Warm-Up: The Muscles of Golf

Reminder - our ETRAK Pro Dominate the Warm-up series has begun! Over the next few weeks, you will receive emails with breakdowns of each movement in the ETRAK Pro Warm-up. You will receive the first two movements this Friday, March 17th! If you haven’t received your intro email send us a message at info@etrak.tech.

The most important part of ETRAK Pro is the Warm-Up, and it's the same 6 exercises each time. Why? These movements activate the major muscle groups and neuromuscular pathways involved in the golf swing. So what are the most important muscles of the golf swing?

Like any sport, golf requires the coordination and control of multiple muscle groups at the same time. Today, we will cover the most important players. This list is not exhaustive. Other muscles are active in the swing but these are the the muscle groups you will see trained the most in golf performance as they make the biggest impact.

The most important muscles in the backswing can be seen here. In the upper body, the latissimus dorsi extend the arm and rotate the shoulder to pull the club back and rotate the upper body. The rhomboids and trapezius muscles pull the scapula (shoulder blade) back. The erector spinae are deeper than the lats and help to rotate and extend the back.

In the lower body, the glutes stabilize the pelvis and rotate the hips. The quadriceps and hamstrings stabilize the knee and hip.

During the downswing, the same muscles are involved but play slightly different roles. In the upper body, the latissimus dorsi work to pull the arms down and through the point of address. The abdominals and obliques stabilize the torso and transfer power from the lower body to upper body.

In the lower body, the glute muscles initiate the downswing by driving the hips forward and rotating the pelvis. The hamstrings help maintain control in the golf swing. The quadriceps generate power and stabilize the knee.

Lastly, the forearms and wrists are responsible for controlling the club face throughout the swing.

As you learn to dominate the warm-up, you will hear our team reference these different muscle groups. Come back to this page as need to review what we are referring to. Happy training!