What is all of the talk round a hip turn? How much is right, how much is too much? When do you know if you are getting it right?
The hip rotation in a golfing swing frees the rest of the body to move. It can be the prompt for part of the swing and the downfall of a bad swing. Concentrate on getting it right, whilst not thinking about it too much! Golf really is a game of absolute opposites and it is simple to understand why there is stacks of confusion in the sport.
The first pointer when talking about the hip turn is that it is merely that. It is a tiny movement of the hips, combined with the legs and upper torso. But, it is not the entire body travelling. The aim is that the legs, hips, torso and shoulders rotate to give the swing a wide arc, whilst the head stays entirely steady. Imagine that your head and feet are clamped whilst the rest of the body rotates and you are getting there.
Stage one of the hip rotation is the back swing of the stroke. Feel your upper body and arms leading the turn and just let your hips go with the flow. At the top of the back swing, check that the club is pointing where you want the ball to go and then peek at how your hips have turned. They should be halfway between the initial point of pointing to the ball and the facing away from the ball. A 45 degree rotation, or an eighth of a full body rotation.
If you have rotated in excess of this the your legs have yielded too much, less than this and you are too stiff and not storing the energy looked-for to send the ball towards the flag.
Now the fun bit! I pause every so quickly at the top of the back swing. Merely long enough for me to think 'hips'. At this point my reaction is to start the hip movement to start on the down swing action. This is a slight left shift of the hips, which drops the shoulders nigh on vertically, bringing the arms down. There is also a small movement of the arms to bring your right elbow towards your right hip.
The finishing part of the hip swing is to open them towards the target somewhat. This is the end part of the left shift and will let the club and arms to pass cleanly in front of the body.
But keep in mind - the head stays still! You are rotating the body, not moving the head.
If you have ever skimmed stones across water then you will know the final hip position feeling from that, even though you don't yet realise that. Pretend to skim a stone and look at where your hips finish off. That is the position you are trying attain!
To recap, starting square to the ball the hips should turn 45 degrees away from the ball, nearly being dragged by the upper half of the body, then start the downswing with a slight left shift of the hips and a turn towards the target, finishing as although you are skimming a stone.
Oh, and did I mention - keep your head still! It is a rotation, not stirring the whole body!
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Written by Keith Lunt. If you want to read more about golf training, call into the site. Or pop in excess of to read more about golfing equipment
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