In the golf swing, the kinetic chain is the different parts of your body acting as a system of chain links to transfer energy from the ground through to the golf club.
The energy or force generated by one part of your body (or link) is transferred efficiently to the next link through optimal coordination of their movements, what we think of as timing.
Thus energy moves up the chain, from one body segment to the next, each movement building on the previous segment’s motion and energy.
This efficiency of this energy transfer, summation and amplification is what determines club head speed.
The kinetic chain connects adjacent joints and muscles throughout your body, and also includes the golf club.
In the Swing like a Champion System Pattern, your legs generate the majority of the power, and the large muscles in your core contribute significantly to force generation.
A weakness or a faulty movement in one area will impede the transfer of energy. Your body will try to compensate for this blockage, and make up for the lost energy, by overusing or misusing other parts of your body.
These compensations lead to manipulations which lead to further loss of power, swing flaws and inconsistency.
Also, these blockages and compensations will result in the smaller, stabilising muscles surrounding the faulty movements being placed under enormous stress.
Not only does this make an efficient swing impossible, but in time it will lead to discomfort and injuries within your joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
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Golf Swing Sequence and Timing – Common Faults, which gives a comparison of the kinematic sequence for typical amateurs and Tour Pros, showing the common flaws that may plague your own golf swing.
Golf Lag and the Compound Pendulum, which describes how you can use physics to generate more speed, accuracy and consistency in your golf swing, with less effort and less strain on your body.
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Golf Anatomy and Kinesiology, a collection of articles describing the roles of the muscles involved in the golf swing.
