Monday, July 2, 2007

Hips

The hips play a very important role in the golf swing. But most people don't understand the correct motion the hips must make. The correct move is not to turn the hips from the top of the swing, as many would believe.

What you want is a slight lateral shift, or "bump," and then a turn. If you look at players such as Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo, you will see a perfect example of this. These players don’t turn their hips from the top. Instead, their weight shifts laterally to the left side, which drops their arms, shoulders, and club into the slot. From there, they can turn and fire through the ball as hard as they want.

Most high handicappers do just the opposite of what Tiger and Nick do. They turn, instead of shifting then turning. When you turn, your right arm and shoulder throw the club over the top of the plane.

The correct hip movement is as follows:
From the top, feel that you "bump" your hips laterally and slightly to the right. (out to right field) This will drop your arms into the inside slot, from where you can attack the ball.

Once you achieve that inside position, it’s just a matter of turning your hips and firing through the ball aggressively. Keep in mind not to shift your upper body laterally along with your hips. It’s simply a lower-body shift.

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