Do you know of any hip turn drills?

[senorchipotle]

Recently i've had a problem hooking my driver and 3 wood. i diagnosed the problem and found my hips were still closed when i was making contact with the ball. do you know of any drills i can do to ensure that my hips are consistently open on impact?

all advice appreciated!

[iacas]

It's highly unlikely that your hips were still closed at impact. How did you diagnose the problem?

When I hit hooks, the problem was that I didn't push my hips forward enough. They turn just fine on their own.

[CarlSpackler]

Not sure if this will help you, but my teacher has me doing a drill hitting balls (5i) with my feet about 4-6 inches apart and knees touching to promote hip turn/timing. I think this also helps with balance and rhythm.

If you try this, I suggest waiting until the range is empty to avoid funny looks and snickers if you are self conscious.

[deronsizemore]

I agree with Iacas; it's unlikely the problem is with your hips.

If you're hooking the ball, your clubface is closed relative to your swing path. That's about all there is to it.

[TN94z]

I disagree with it not being your hips. I had this same problem in the past. Your swing is all arms and that can cause the hooks. Your hips may not necessarily be closed but they are just basically not doing anything. They are the same at impact as they are at setup....I was doing the same thing.


Think of getting into your golf posture and holding a basketball with both hands and trying to throw the ball using your golf swing. There is no way you can get any distance with the ball without using your hips. Anothre good thing to help your hips is to swing a power fan. I know it is used to help with lag, but it also helps you feel your hips working as you will have to use them to get any speed with the fan. I can remember when I first started really using my hips....they were sore after 4 or 5 swings so you will know when you get it right.


This is one reason I suggest the use of video cameras when checking your swings. It may feel like you are doing this or doing that but when you see it on video, it is completely different. What you feel is not always what is real! In my case, my hips were open and cleared after impact and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I had my swing video taped and noticed that my hips were clearing, but only after impact and not before. Basically I was "getting in my own way." This was causing me to do mulitple things to get the club where it should at impact...including coming up on my toes which has haunted me for years now!!

[AmenCorner]

I disagree with it not being your hips. I had this same problem in the past. Your swing is all arms and that can cause the hooks. Your hips may not necessarily be closed but they are just basically not doing anything. They are the same at impact as they are at setup....I was doing the same thing.

Closed hips seem like an unlikely culprit for a hook in my opinion. But I guess it's possible if your hips aren't clearing that its forcing your hands to turnover prematurely.

I put a club over my shoulders (gallows style) and just turn my body back and forth. That seems to help.

[deronsizemore]

If we're talking about "pulls" and not "hooks" then the hips and weight transfer to the front foot could be the problem. If he's not properly using his hips in the downswing he'll likely start with the shoulders and pull the ball. It could then also be hooking as a result of a closed clubface.

Of course, depending on the type of hook we're talking about, he could be overusing his hips too. If they are too far in front of his upper body he'll likely push the ball out to the right and in an attempt to save the shot flip his hands and snap hook it.

I guess on question would be: what is your ball flight and what kind of hook are we talking about? Push-hook, pull-hook or what? Does your ball take off at your target and then hook or does it start left and then hook some more?

[ControlJunkie]

Anothre good thing to help your hips is to swing a power fan. I know it is used to help with lag, but it also helps you feel your hips working as you will have to use them to get any speed with the fan. I can remember when I first started really using my hips....they were sore after 4 or 5 swings so you will know when you get it right.

What is a power fan?

[RC]

You asked for a drill, here is something to try that will give you the feeling of posting up on the left leg. Tee up a ball, take your grip and stance with a driver. Take the little finger of the right hand off the grip and point it straight out. Stick this little finger in you right pocket. Now slowly move so that you put your club head squarely behind the ball. This is not perfect, you cannot hit balls doing it, but take note of how your hips have had to move forward, and how you have had to turn dramatically to get the club square behind the ball.

An actual stroke hitting the ball will not quite be this magnified but the image is not too far off.... hands close to right pocket through impact, lower body has weight shift to left, and hips have turned, opening up. It is almost impossible for the club to route left and hit a pull hook if your body is moving and turning like this. The swing will be inside-square-inside, exactly what you want. Try the poses with the little finger in the pocket... just don't take a backswing that way -- keep the club in front of your chest on the backswing, then as you slowly simulate the downswing, jam hat little finger into you right pocket and keep turning. Two or three good things happen with these postions, even if they are not the perfect or exact positions you use when actually hitting.

[CarlSpackler]

You asked for a drill, here is something to try that will give you the feeling of posting up on the left leg. Tee up a ball, take your grip and stance with a driver. Take the little finger of the right hand off the grip and point it straight out.

It took me a few reads to figure out that self mutilation was not involved in this drill.

[shankapotamus]

Beat me to it.

[TN94z]

Closed hips seem like an unlikely culprit for a hook in my opinion. But I guess it's possible if your hips aren't clearing that its forcing your hands to turnover prematurely.

If you are not using your hips then your swing is all arms. An all arms swing is very unpredictable and soley relies on timing...you could have many different ball patterns with this swing.

[TN94z]

What is a power fan?

It is the club that has the fan on the end that is usually used to create lag and help with distance:

http://www.golfaroundtheworld.com/pr...9ve7o1nvn7mfk6

[RC]

Should have stressed... don't hit balls doing this. It is simply to put you into posed position at impact (and not exact for that.)

[senorchipotle]

It's highly unlikely that your hips were still closed at impact. How did you diagnose the problem?

well, essentially i started on my downswing before my lower body. so, to be technical my hands were coming in prematurely instead of lagging behind my turn like they used to. i had tried to flatten out my swing plane for more distance, that's what threw my timing all off.

[senorchipotle]

I disagree with it not being your hips. I had this same problem in the past. Your swing is all arms and that can cause the hooks. Your hips may not necessarily be closed but they are just basically not doing anything. They are the same at impact as they are at setup....I was doing the same thing.

thanks... that sounds exactly like what i'm doing. my hips are coming around too late. i noticed that when i made a conscious effort to move my lower body first and keep my hands back, the ball came out dead on the line exactly where i was aimed. although, it did feel quite weird cause when i was hitting with a flatter swing plane it was more of an arm/shoulder swing.

[TN94z]

well, essentially i started on my downswing before my lower body. so, to be technical my hands were coming in prematurely instead of lagging behind my turn like they used to. i had tried to flatten out my swing plane for more distance, that's what threw my timing all off.

Exactly what mine were doing. This actually causes many different misses...not just hooks. This turns it into a timing swing and it becomes difficult to get any consistency.

[senorchipotle]

If we're talking about "pulls" and not "hooks" then the hips and weight transfer to the front foot could be the problem. If he's not properly using his hips in the downswing he'll likely start with the shoulders and pull the ball. It could then also be hooking as a result of a closed clubface.

it takes off at my target on the proper trajectory, but after about 200 or so yards it duck hooks to the left, and sometimes before 200, depending on how much extension i get after my shot.