Following on from my first article on learning a new movement skill and applying it to the hip hinge, this week I want to look at another important movement skill, rotation. Golf is obviously a rotation-based sport, and the ability to control rotation efficiently is a basic requirement to be able to complete efficient, safe, repeatable golf swings.

As discussed in my last post and before describing how to go about improving your rotation control, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the steps involved in learning a new movement skill.

Following on from last week, the steps that you need to go through are:
1- Remove the barriers
2- Learn the skill
3- Ingrain the skill
4- Maintain the skill

If you didn’t read the last article, here is a link to it.

ROTATION CONTROL

Learning how to rotate efficiently, primarily involves training your oblique muscles in your abdominal wall to coordinate themselves to produce smooth rotation. This coordination requires that you are able to turn one set of obliques on, while the others switch off to allow movement. Tensing all of your abdominal muscles will produce a solid wall of muscle, but this will not allow you to rotate smoothly.

So, to learn how to rotate efficiently, assuming you have removed the barriers (see above), involves the following steps:

Learn the Skill:

1 – Start by lying on your back, hips and knees comfortably bent, arms in front with fingertips together

2 – Keeping your arms straight and fingertips together, rotate side-to-side, keeping your legs relaxed

3 – You must keep your fingertips together throughout and your arms straight, allowing your hips to roll slightly and your eyes to follow your hands  

Ingrain the Skill:

1 – Progress to standing, with one foot directly in front of the other to narrow your base of support and challenge your core muscles to maintain alignment while you rotate

2 – Further progress by moving into a half kneeling, or lunge, position with your font foot directly in front of your knee. This further challenges your coordination and balance as you are no longer able to make adjustments with your feet

Maintain the Skill

1 – Continue to practice your rotation weekly, with feedback to make sure it is done correctly

2 – Continue to mix up the conditions that you do it under

3 – The more variety the better, as long as you maintain the quality of the movement

I hope that you found this article useful and follow the steps that I have outlined. Next time I’m going to help move you onto Postural Control and in a similar way, show you how you can help your golf game change for the better by doing some basic home exercise.

If you at any time would like more specific and individualised help, please come and see me at Precision Athletica – I work with all levels of golfers from beginners through to PGA Tour players and you can book sessions by calling us on: 02 9764 5787.