Every golfer understands how frustrating the process of learning to golf can be. At Rotary Swing, we believe that developing a deeper understanding of movement in golf and the underlying golf swing mechanics can dramatically simplify that journey.
Every human being shares the exact same set of muscles, the same skeletal framework, the same joint structures, and they are all designed to function in precisely the same way. Therefore, the mechanics of the golf swing should follow the same foundational principles for every player.
- Does your lower leg hinge back behind your knee differently than someone else's when you contract your hamstring?
- Does your hand move closer to your body when you contract your bicep?
Barring catastrophic injury or disability, every person moves in exactly the same way, and that is precisely where we need to begin our search for the true fundamentals of the golf swing.
Since we all share the same muscles and joints, and those structures are all designed to produce the same movements, that shared human anatomy is the one thing every golfer has in common.
Forget About the Club
Set the golf club aside for a moment. The club itself is not a fundamental of the golf swing.
Many golfers struggle with that concept, since it is the club that ultimately propels the ball toward the target.
Every time we conduct Rotary Swing golf clinics, someone invariably suggests that club positions are fundamental.
When that happens, Chuck likes to toss a club down on the ground and say, "OK, club. Move yourself into that position." Everyone laughs, and the club remains perfectly still.
By definition, a fundamental refers to the origin or the source, the primary mover. Movement in golf does not originate with the club. The golf club is incapable of moving itself into any position on its own.
It Starts With the Muscles
The only force that moves the golf club is muscular contraction. When a muscle contracts, it moves a bone. When the bone moves, that motion transfers to the golf club. But nothing begins with the club — it all starts with the muscles.
The following article will explore the fundamentals of the golf swing in greater depth, because in order to analyze the golf swing objectively and distill it to its essential components, you must first understand the precise definition of a fundamental.
Once we establish that foundation, we will have identified something that every professional in the golf instruction industry should be able to agree upon.
They may continue to debate, but the anatomical facts are black and white.
Anatomical Absolutes
Scientific facts are not open to debate. We know how the brain learns new movement patterns, how the body moves, how the body is designed to move efficiently, and that there is only one truly efficient way to engage specific muscles during the golf swing to produce optimal movement patterns.
The ideal golf swing consists of using the body to create the most efficient, biomechanically optimal movements.
Those are the true fundamentals of the golf swing.
Every golfer rotates around the spine in exactly the same way. That is an anatomical absolute, and we know there is only one primary set of muscles designed to rotate the torso around the spine.
You need to learn what those muscles feel like, where they are located, and how it feels to engage them to create proper rotation in the golf swing.
Once you understand these fundamentals and know which muscles to activate and how to move them correctly, you will finally be able to make lasting progress in your golf swing — just like thousands of Rotary Swingers already have.
You will know exactly what to do and precisely how to do it.
Learning to golf through the Rotary Swing learning program and structured pathway ingrains correct movement patterns through focused, deliberate repetition.
Repetition is the only way your brain is designed to learn.
Black and White
The Rotary Swing approach is refreshingly simple. We examine the golf swing from a fundamentally different perspective than your typical golf instructor. We are not attempting to promote yet another swing theory.
That would be entirely counterproductive — in fact, that is the exact problem we are committed to solving.
There are far too many swing theories circulating throughout the golf world, based on nothing more than personal preference and what an individual instructor has found to work for themselves.
Nobody is asking, "Is it the most efficient way? Is it the safest way to move?" but those questions have definitive answers, and those answers are black and white.
We are certainly concerned with swing plane and club path — we consider those elements extremely important.
We are concerned with the movements that create the swing plane and the club path.
Which muscles contract? What bones and joints move? How are they anatomically designed to move?
That is what determines the shape of the golf swing. That is what moves the golf club and positions the body for an impact that is powerful, efficient, and safe for every joint and muscle group. To see how your own swing mechanics measure up against an elite standard, try a free AI swing analysis.
Our exclusive focus is on:
- The facts of human anatomy as they pertain to movement in the golf swing, and
- How the brain is designed to learn new movement patterns
That second point is critically important. Your brain learns in a very specific way.
Learn to Learn
Consider this analogy. When you first learned to drive a car, your initial experience behind the wheel was overwhelming and completely unfamiliar.
You only had two pedals and a steering wheel — it hardly seems complicated in retrospect — but you still had to start slowly.
Nobody placed you on a racetrack and said, "OK, navigate this course at 100 miles an hour. Try not to crash. Hopefully you'll figure everything out as you go."
Yet that is essentially what happens in conventional golf instruction. Students receive a couple of tips and are told to go practice hitting shots at full speed.
Your brain doesn't learn that way. Your brain is incapable of absorbing anything at 100 miles an hour.
Your brain learns by performing very small, simple, seemingly repetitive tasks, executing them over and over again until they are mastered, and then layering on the next component. That is the only way your brain can learn new motor skills.
As you became a more experienced driver, you gradually took on increasingly challenging road conditions with greater distractions.
That is how learning works, and the exact same principle applies to the golf swing.
Don't Head Straight for the Range
When you are learning to golf, you should never head straight to the range and start pounding balls. It is entirely counterproductive.
All you will accomplish is reinforcing incorrect movement patterns, and you will waste enormous amounts of time trying to undo the damage later.
But of course you already understand this on some level — that is precisely why you are seeking out this information, because you are still searching for tips and quick fixes for your golf swing.
Unfortunately, lasting improvement does not happen that way, and this brings us to another critical fundamental of the golf swing.
Learning happens in a very specific way, and you need a structured learning program and pathway to succeed.
This principle applies to everything you have ever mastered. Think about learning to play a musical instrument, drive a car, or perform basic arithmetic.
You did not begin learning mathematics by studying calculus. There is a reason we start with basic addition and subtraction using small numbers.
The golf swing is the same way. You need to start with the "small numbers" before progressing to the more complex elements.
Just the Facts, Please
It is essential to understand that we have no interest in popular "swing theories," which tour player is dominating this season, personal instructor preferences based on what they have found to work in their own swing, or techniques they have observed in other players at their club. None of that matters.
We are concerned exclusively with fundamentals, facts, medical absolutes based on science.
The Rotary Swing has established a set of golf swing fundamentals based on verifiable facts, developed in consultation with medical experts including orthopedic surgeons who routinely treat injuries caused by improper movement in golf.
Safeguard Your Health
Golf swing injuries may keep orthopedic surgeons busy, but for a golfer it is deeply frustrating to require hip replacement surgery because you developed a habit — or were explicitly taught by a golf instructor — to push off your trail foot, forcing your lead hip out of neutral joint alignment to the point where proper rotation becomes impossible.
That dysfunctional movement becomes embedded in your golf swing. You punish your hip joint for approximately 50,000 repetitions, and then wonder why your hip is damaged and you can no longer play golf. Your hip must remain in neutral joint alignment to protect the joint and allow it to rotate properly.
That is our mission. Our goal is to educate both golf students and golf instructors on the anatomical facts of the golf swing, empowering you to make informed, educated decisions about how you move.
Ask Why
When a golf instructor tells you how to move your body, or you encounter a new tip in a magazine, book, or website, your first question from this point forward should be: "Why? Why do you want me to do that? What effect will that have on my body? Is my body designed to function that way? How am I supposed to learn this movement? Is it the right thing to learn?"
Golf instruction should be grounded in complete objectivity, exactly as it is in every other sport.
Consider gymnastics. When you watch the Olympics, how many different ways do you see athletes perform a back handspring? Virtually none.
They all execute it in precisely the same way because they have studied the biomechanics of the movement and they know what is correct.
A back handspring is an extraordinarily complex movement involving multiple joints, numerous muscle groups, and precise coordination. There is a reason every gymnast performs it identically — because it is safe, efficient, and powerful. It is how the human body was designed to produce that specific movement pattern.
The golf swing follows the same principle. There is a safe, efficient way to create movement in golf. The fundamentals are rooted in medical science, just as every other sport on the planet relies on anatomical absolutes. For a data-driven look at how your own mechanics compare, try a free AI golf lesson that evaluates your form in real time.
Do not approach the golf swing as a random assortment of parts where you simply select whatever feels right for you individually.
Every other sport has recognized the importance of universal technique. That is why Olympic athletes competing in each event all perform the movements in essentially the same way.
All Olympic sprinters run with fundamentally the same mechanics. You do not see anyone running the 100 meter dash backwards because they personally find that approach more effective.
Stay Tuned for the True Fundamentals of the Golf Swing
Elite athletes across every discipline move according to the same biomechanical principles, and that is precisely where golf instruction is finally heading as well. The Rotary Swing has put forth a definitive set of golf swing fundamentals based on anatomical fact for the first time in the history of the golf instruction industry.
We call them the Anatomical Absolutes, or the Anatomy of the Golf Swing.
The next article will examine what a fundamental truly is, because that is the essential first step. We will break everything down systematically from beginning to end.
Rather than rely on what each of us may assume a "fundamental" means, we are going to define the word precisely and then analyze the golf swing objectively to determine what the true fundamentals of the golf swing actually are.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
Golf Greats! Learning to golf can be simplified by understanding movement in golf.
