The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips - Page 4

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

I think a lot of people fake it. They hit the ball and then push forward and finish in a decent position, but they aren't where they need to be at impact.

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

The background isn't identical either. This was recorded back (1992 or earlier) when we didn't have high-speed cameras so maybe he moved slightly between photos.

But the yellow line is further forward in the second picture and yet it still demonstrates very clearly how far forward his hips have gone.

So it's still a very useful pair of pictures.

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

I think that has a lot more to do with it than "where" they were going. It's tough to feel exactly where your hips are at impact because they're moving and they move even faster after impact.

And thinking about my hips rarely works for me. I do better when I focus on my knees - making my right knee "bank inwards" or making my left knee go down and forward (it won't actually be able to go down, but it prevents me from standing up too quickly).

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

And they're also both one guy's theories. Doesn't mean they're right.

Having said that, it seems he basically agrees with the transfer of weight via a sliding (or "pushing") set of hips coupled with a turn.

The parts I don't specifically like are how high he wants to see the swing go. Too much lifting for my taste.

Yes, the downswing begins with a hip push/slide. In slow motion it's often before the club stops going back, but it can be tough to see in realtime and even tougher to try to groove on your own... so to this point I've kind of avoided talking about specifically _when_ it occurs.

I'm not sure I ever really said what you attribute to me saying. A proper hip push is required to generate maximum speed. You can't get to maximum speed purely by rotation.

I have said that - having pushed the hips forward already - the more open you can get your hips at impact the more speed you can generate, yes. But that assumes you've pushed forward properly. Stay on your right side and spin your hips like crazy and the ball isn't going anywhere near as far as a guy who doesn't spin his hips fast at all but who gets a good push forward.

The hip rotation isn't "at the end of the range" when you reach impact. For most top-tier golfers, Tiger included, they're only about 30° open at that point. They'll rotate another 60-80 degrees or so after that and have only rotated about 60 to get to that point from the farthest back in the backswing. They're not "at the end." They're at the halfway point.

Who the heck said it was a power leak? I'm going to have to scroll up after I post this reply... wow. Whoever's saying that is on drugs.

Of course it's a necessary move to preserve lag. That's one of the first things I said. Casting and over-the-top swings go hand in hand. If the knee kicks out towards the ball and the hips rotate too early, you cast and throw the clubhead over the plane, and you lose not only clubhead speed but also good compression of the golf ball by hitting it squarely.

I think that's fine if you're a two-plane swinger. If you're a one-plane swinger, there's really no "fall-in" or "time" required.

Here's another way of putting what you're putting so it applies to all types of swings.

When you rotate the hips too early, the hands go out (over the plane) because the shoulders do too.

When you push the hips and hold back on the rotation, the hands can stay back, in, deep (whatever word you want to use), on or even slightly under the plane, from which you can deliver a solid hit.

Again, goes right back to this picture:



Another way of thinking about this is that when your hands get over the plane, it puts a lot more emphasis on swinging your arms for speed. Arms aren't great at swinging around in circles really fast - they're great at pushing or pulling really fast. Nobody starts a lawnmower by making a giant arc with their arm - they pull it right towards their body.

WHen the club gets out over the plane, you rely on your arm to create speed. When the club remains inside, you can rely on the rotation of your body to create speed.

Plus, arms away from your body slows your body's rotation down too. Same reason figure skaters tuck their arms in and rotate faster - it's tougher to spin when mass is located farther from the center axis.

The hip bump keeps everything closer to you. The "tees under the armpits" drill works for that, too. The closer your arms and hands are to your body, the faster you can rotate.

I'd call that a secondary function of the hip slide/push. The first is that it sets you up to deliver consistent, solid contact with maximum control and speed. The second is that it helps you rotate fastest by keeping your mass close to the center of your body or pivot point, which adds an additional level of speed.

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

Dave, for those who haven't guessed, is the instructor I've worked with this year. He's the one who put the tripod between my legs. We spent a lot of time at my last lesson this year working on pushing my hips forward more (and my right knee). I've gotten better at it all year, but previous lessons worked on the takeaway, position at the top, etc.

Dave's an instructor and hosts day-long classes (though he's done for the year). If you're within even six hours of Erie, PA you'll want to check in early next spring with Dave to see about attending - it's well worth it.

Anyway, I wanted to give Dave proper credit for pointing this hip push/slide out to me. After he pointed out the forward hip push to me in my first lesson, I've been studying it all summer, did the photos here in this thread, etc.

Now, the Academy Dave owns is a Stack and Tilt certified academy (first in the country or something like that), but I didn't want the words "Stack and Tilt" to confuse anyone here. As I pointed out, the best players in the world do this move - it's not "specific" to S&T or anything else (unless you'd like to say that it's "specific to good ball-striking").

Anyway, credit where due, and now back to the topic at hand...

Re: The Biggest Secret? SLIDE Your Hips

You could put a stick in the ground outside of your left foot and try to get your knees and hip there quickly. You could do the thing with the tripod and keep your knee inside of that... You could have someone observe you, a "carbon-based video camera" instead of a silicon-based one.

If you hit the ball low and draw it already, you may be compensating (like a really strong grip, perhaps) somehow and you may hit some really ugly shots if you add a good hip push PLUS your compensations.

Or maybe you already push really well and don't have a compensation.

I find the same thing. Different thoughts work for different people. The knees work for me, but I focus more on my right knee.