Hips WAY out in front at impact

[ukbballrulez33]

Hi guys,

Long time reader and first time poster. I'm 23 years old and have been playing golf for about 3 years now (really wish I had got into it a lot earlier). I recently started taking some lessons from a PGA pro here in town and right now we are really trying to work out a kink that is holding me back from everything else.

My hips are way too fast. So fast that they are leaving my arms in the dust and there is no way I can catch up with them. While I love my golf teacher, he is very technical and doesn't give me very many drills to work on (mainly because he works with low handicap players). So I know what is wrong...I just don't really know how to fix it. I came here to ask if any of you had any drills I could focus on to really keep my hips from getting so far out in front. My swing thought is to let my body start the downswing but apparently that goes to the extreme.

I have attached a video via youtube of my swing. I known it's far from perfect, but it seems as if my golf coach just wants me to focus on getting my hips corrected for right now. Another thing (I don't have a front view video but I'll get one up later) is that my hips don't "slide" near as much. My hips are pretty much a roation back and a rotation foward. A little bit of lateral movement but not near as much as he wants me to have.

It's really hard to work on because he wants my hips to slide more...but yet be slower. I understand what he is saying but when you try and think about it in your swing it's almost contradictory. Not to mention when you have to focus on your hips so much, you completely ignore what your arms and hands are doing through impact.

Here is a video of my swing. I'm hitting an 8 iron. All comments are welcome (even if they aren't about my hips). I want to be good at this game and am willing to put in the time and the work to do so.

[ukbballrulez33]

Here is the video in slow motion.

[iacas]

Your hips aren't way out in front. They don't slide forward very far, but they don't turn back much at all on the backswing, so…

[ukbballrulez33]

Originally Posted by iacas

Your hips aren't way out in front. They don't slide forward very far, but they don't turn back much at all on the backswing, so…

Thanks for your reply. When I watch the video, I see my lower body facing the target at impact. That's what I meant by my hips being too far out infront. So instead of like 90 degrees open...I guess they need to be more like 30 degrees open at impact.

Also, are you suggesting that I should turn my hips more on the backswing?

[Ernest Jones]

Sounds like you need a new coach. Maybe I'm missing something but if I was paying someone to teach me golf but felt the need to get help elsewhere because he's not giving me drills and stuff to work on I would probably think about getting a new coach.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by ukbballrulez33

Thanks for your reply. When I watch the video, I see my lower body facing the target at impact. That's what I meant by my hips being too far out infront. So instead of like 90 degrees open...I guess they need to be more like 30 degrees open at impact.

Also, are you suggesting that I should turn my hips more on the backswing?

They're not 90° open at impact. Probably 40°. And sliding inhibits rotation (or delays it).

And yes. They barely turn at all.

[jclark]

I would slow down your transition, that's really helped me improve. Your transition is lightening fast! It's really hard for anything to go right on the downswing if you rush transition and have too fast of a tempo for your swing. My 1 cent. (I would put 2 cents but I just had a baby and we are poor now!) Good luck!

[JoshKeller]

Originally Posted by jclark

I would slow down your transition, that's really helped me improve. Your transition is lightening fast! It's really hard for anything to go right on the downswing if you rush transition and have too fast of a tempo for your swing. My 1 cent. (I would put 2 cents but I just had a baby and we are poor now!)

Good luck!

this wwas the first thing that jumped out to me. You appear to be swinging 100% speed right from the top, instead of building up speed to impact.

[ukbballrulez33]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Can you give me some drills that I could use or some swing thoughts to slow my transition down? I feel like when my swing thought is "swing easy", I end up losing my form or don't keep my acceleration on the downswing like I should.

Thank you all.

[jclark]

The web/YouTube/5SK has some great vids, check them out! What works for me is at the top, SLOWLY shift weight toward target and you shouldn't feel the upper body doing anything (although it is) once you have transferred weight your club should have dropped into the slot. Last thing you should feel is your arms speed up at the last second and accelerate thru the shot. These are my feels that work. One drill I work on is trying to load up and transition/shift weight AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE! The slower the better. Think smooth and slow!

[ukbballrulez33]

Originally Posted by jclark

The web/YouTube/5SK has some great vids, check them out! What works for me is at the top, SLOWLY shift weight toward target and you shouldn't feel the upper body doing anything (although it is) once you have transferred weight your club should have dropped into the slot. Last thing you should feel is your arms speed up at the last second and accelerate thru the shot. These are my feels that work. One drill I work on is trying to load up and transition/shift weight AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE! The slower the better. Think smooth and slow!

Thank you! I will give it a try. Since I'm young its hard for me to think "slow as possible" on the transition. I want to swing fast as in my head it seems like that would create clubhead speed. I just have to get my mind into "slow transition".

[jclark]

Golf magazine (july 2013) page 131 has excellent instruction on not rushing the downswing and staying smooth. I would upload a picture of it but it is copyrighted material. Out of the 9000 ads in the mag, every once in a blue moon they have good instruction that helps me out.

[Wally]

A good tool to use would be the Golf MTRx app. It measures hip speed and rotation and has some prescribed drills for your swing. It has helped me.

[jclark]

A good tool to use would be the Golf MTRx app. It measures hip speed and rotation and has some prescribed drills for your swing. It has helped me.

Just downloaded it and first swing scored an 85. Very interesting tool...

[ukbballrulez33]

thanks for the continuing tips. I've found some videos that have really helped me lately and I plan on checking out both the golf digest article and that golf MTRx app. I don't have an Iphone (android) but I have an Ipad so I believe I can just upload a video on there and use the app on my Ipad. If you all have any other tips for me (whether or not they relate to my hips or just my swing in general) I would love to hear them. I'm just trying to concentrate on one swing thought at a time for now.