Any help with moving the hips first

[Chilidipper]

I was wondering if anyone struggled with this and if so how did you overcome this. Sometimes I feel like I get lazy or complacent and use more upperbody than lower. When I practice my swing in the basement when I use my hips to start the down swing or activaly move them more it seems the hands and club head really come through square regardless of your backswing.

ANy thoughts would be great. Thank you.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I cant really say without seeing what you might be going through, but try not to think of it as the "hips". I think of it as more of a subtle weight shift to the left (if youre a righty) Ive found if you backswing and coil properly, the initail hip coming turn down just happens naturally. It has to. Its not something I consciously think about. The way i load my back leg in the backswing, if my hips didnt clear i would fall on my ass just tring to swing the club. So i would think work on solid fundementals and the rest should take care of itself.

I dont make an effort to rotate my hips to the left until the ball is already gone. Its not a big complicated move, so dont make it out to be more than it really is. Keep your upper body relaxed, with your legs more as a base on which to turn, and just let the club swing.

[mm6840]

Hi,

A few days ago was similar thread From my point of view : try focus on the core movement (and not just hips) and hips will go left first ! Can't work without a solid/planted left leg.

regards,

[supersport]

I go back to the old batting technique of taking a step towards the pitcher. The "step/squat" feel/sensation is the goal. For me, that is.

[blackxpress]

I cant really say without seeing what you might be going through, but try not to think of it as the "hips". I think of it as more of a subtle weight shift to the left (if youre a righty) Ive found if you backswing and coil properly, the initail hip coming turn down just happens naturally. It has to. Its not something I consciously think about. The way i load my back leg in the backswing, if my hips didnt clear i would fall on my ass just tring to swing the club. So i would think work on solid fundementals and the rest should take care of itself.

I agree wholeheartedly. The only thing I can add is make sure your hips don't slide down the line when you take the club back. Beyond that, instead of thinking about turning your hips, try to think about the finish. Finish with your belt buckle facing the target.

[Stuart]

I have to respectfully disagree. If you are someone who doesn't naturally fire their hips, then I think you have to practice with the intention of initiating your downswing by firing your hips, until this becomes habit. You're correct that firing your hips will square your club face. Whenever you make a swing change you really have to be conscious of the way you practice to make sure you don't fall back into your old habits. When you go out to play you don't want to think about it but when you practice exaggerate the feeling of firing those hips.

[golfdad]

i tend to agree with stuart on this, that, you may have to isolate the hip motion in an exaggerated way to introduce this new mentality or habit in your golf thinking.

one way you can try is ask someone to be around to give you a hand.

backswing to the top, stop, ask a friend to hold onto your arm/stick to immobolize your upper body.

slowly transition your weight from right to left. you can think of that as "hips" or even some leg/knee trigger. bottom line: the weight should transfer from the inside of the right lower limb to the inside of the left lower limb, thus you still maintain balance and not swaying "out".

another perspective to review is your grip and your grip pressure. IF you have a weak grip or an improper grip or if you grip too firm by having the grip inside your palm more than the fingers or excessive finger pressure like a death clamp, you compromise your ability to maintain a functional wrist hinge, leading to casting or over the top move both of which can contribute to the earlier upper body move. in other words, if any of the above mentioned upper limb link is improper, you are prone to swing upper first. if the links are worked out, the lag is natural and the lower limb move is actually natural and inevitable.

there are many ways to visualize this (of course we don't want to overanalyze it). i tell my kid to release the club when their club is past the ball already, so they think to release the club after the impact. of course, in reality that may not be the case, but the mentality help them to capture the right frame of mind.