Upper Body Back, Lower Body Down

The basic core motors of the golf swing are the upper body (chest and shoulders) and the lower body (hips, knees, and feet). Men are more apt to use their shoulders for core motion and power; women are more likely to use their arms. The best players, however, employ a more dynamic motion in which the upper body controls the winding of the backswing and the lower body controls the unwinding on the downswing.

Better players wind their chest and shoulders against the resistance of the lower body and reverse the club from the ground up, using their lower bodies to initiate the downswing. Some top players describe the backswing wind up as hands, arms, hips, shoulders but in reality the big muscles of the chest and shoulders wind the club back and the feet, knees, and hips initiate the downswing. Remember, for a consistent golf swing, big muscles move small muscles. In other words, the dog wags the tail; the tail doesn't wag the dog!