LETTER FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSIONAL
INTERNAL ROTATION VS . EXTERNAL ROTATION
Happy March Everyone ! Spring is in the air , and with no more football on Sundays must be that time to get back to our golf focus . This month we ’ re going to take a look at internal rotation and external rotation . I know what your thinking , what is this golf pro talking about ? Those are big fancy words , but keep the faith , knowing the difference between internal and external as it applies to rotation and the golf swing can be beneficial in many ways .
First off lets look at internal rotation , it is defined as rotation toward the midline on a vertical axis . The muscles involved for the shoulders are the subscapularis , pectoralis major , latissimus dorsi , teres major . If we want to take that definition and give it meaning , if you have ever seen a shot put being thrown , that is a great example of internal rotation of the shoulder being used .
On the other side External rotation , is defined as rotation away from the midline on a vertical axis . The muscles used in external rotation as it pertains to shoulder is the infraspinatus and teres minor are responsible for the motion . External Rotation of the shoulders would be similar to throwing a baseball . So essentially in the golf swing the shoulders use primarily external rotation .
Then there is also internal and external rotation in the lower body , as we swing the club back , the lead league goes into internal rotation , and the trail leg goes into external rotation . The internal and external relationship in the lower body can help be illustrated the image below .
The lower body uses the internal and external rotations to produce power from the ground . So keeping both your shoulders and hips in proper working order , and stretching and light resistance training will help significantly help you with your ability to produce power in your golf swing , as well as better balance as we rotate in the golf swing . I hope you all have a great month and will see on the range !
Ben Johnson
PGA , Teaching Professional
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