Hip rotation during backswing

[clearwaterms]

Let me start by saying that I normally do a search, but I am not certain that I fully understand what it is that I am trying to ask.

I am trying to learn to maintain lag into the impact zone.  I believe that in order to get the club face closed at impact and not flip your hands you have to rotate your hips so that your belt buckle points to the target.

So, being left handed, my miss is a high slice to the left.  With the driver, the problem is intensified.  What I have noticed is that when I focus on tempo, and use my arms and shoulders for the back swing, so that it feels like my hips are parallel to the target, when I initiate the downswing with a weight shift and VERY SLIGHT hip rotation, I am able to get the face into the ball square which gives me that penetrating ball flight which has a straight or slight fade ball flight.

So can the experts here on TST please help me understand, what should my hips be doing during the backswing?

Thank you in advance for your response

[damnitdave]

i would try to focus on what your knees are doing, since they are components in how the hips turn properly in the backswing, downswing in the follow through.  Assuming your feet are both flared at address your lead knee will flex toward the toes while the trail knee straightens, it will feel like the trail hip is turning behind you to give room for the arms to travel on the downswing

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by damnitdave

i would try to focus on what your knees are doing, since they are components in how the hips turn properly in the backswing, downswing in the follow through.  Assuming your feet are both flared at address your lead knee will flex toward the toes while the trail knee straightens, it will feel like the trail hip is turning behind you to give room for the arms to travel on the downswing

I have to be honest, I don't understand what you are trying to say.

It sounds to me like the hips will rotate, but they rotate naturally, and I shouldn't really think about the rotation.

[PirateJim]

This is something I have been working on with my coach.  For me, the "issue" wasn't defined so much by "how much" I was turning my hips in the backswing as by the fact that because I was turning them a lot (trying to get more backswing in spite of 'pushing sixty' flexibility) and sort of swaying right in the backswing because of it.  Now I try to limit the hip turn and really pivot on the hip without any lateral movement.  I have found that this can be facilitated by giving a little "inward press" of the knees (pushing them slightly toward one another) just before I start my swing.

I hate trying to explain that sort of thing because it is really just a "feeling" rather than a real physical thing I do during the swing, but for me it quiets the hip movement in the backswing, making it more an upper-body turn.  The downswing and follow-through are where you want the hip swivel, much more than on the backswing.  And yes, the belt buckle pointing downrange is, I believe, desirable.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by clearwaterms

So can the experts here on TST please help me understand, what should my hips be doing during the backswing?

Thank you in advance for your response

The hips simply turn on an angle.  In order to do that the right knee has to lose some flex and the left knee will gain some flex.  What the hips do, controls what the shoulders do.  Good thread to check out

http://thesandtrap.com/t/55080/myth-of-maintaining-address-flexion-in-the-rear-knee

[clearwaterms]

The video referenced in that thread didn't show up, just a picture from what appeared to be a golf magazine. Reading through the comments however and I think I got the jist of it. Just like Dave said, focus more on knee flex which I do have in my swing, and let the hips turn just enough to clear thr way for the back swing. Is that logical?

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by clearwaterms

The video referenced in that thread didn't show up, just a picture from what appeared to be a golf magazine.

Reading through the comments however and I think I got the jist of it. Just like Dave said, focus more on knee flex which I do have in my swing, and let the hips turn just enough to clear thr way for the back swing.

Is that logical?

[clearwaterms]

Mvac, thanks for the video. It does answer my question. I am fairly I comfortable that isn't my problem. After playing the last two days I am convinced that my problem is with an over the top the movement, likely a result of a back swing that is too long. The problem is that when I try to shorten my back swing like I do with my irons, I end up ground the club behind the ball. It is a frustrating problem because I end up taking these giant golf swings on the tee that ALWAYS end up way left, and it seems the farther right I aim, the farther left I hit it. Time to get more lessons. Today I played a quick 9 and shot a 49 with 3 ob / lost balls off the tee and 2 more that left me in trouble. So at this point, my driver is costing me roughly 5 strokes a side :(