How to Make a Centered Hip Turn

[Crazycanuck44]

So I think I have the hip turn now but my downswing is sporadic especially with fairway woods. I top them them a lot. I can;t seem to hit down on them always try to sweep it, So bad that I took it out of my bag.

[saevel25]

7 minutes ago, Crazycanuck44 said:

So I think I have the hip turn now but my downswing is sporadic especially with fairway woods. I top them them a lot. I can;t seem to hit down on them always try to sweep it, So bad that I took it out of my bag.

Do you have a My Swing thread with video of you hitting your 3-wood off the deck? 

My best guess is you lack having the weight forward at impact. That could be caused by a number of things. Hard to tell with out seeing your swing. 

[Crazycanuck44]

Ok will do it will be painful for you to watch though.. 18yrs or older only..

[mvmac]

I didn't put this together but I love this sequence of Arnie.

[mvmac]

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/butch-harmon-the-right-way-to-add-turn?mbid=social_facebook

Quote

Greg's swing thought on the backswing was, Right pocket back. That meant turning his right-front pant pocket behind him (above). He later simplified it to RPB, and that often was his last thought before starting his swing. For Greg, it allowed him to maximize his range of motion going back, but it has the added benefit of preventing a sway to the right--a common amateur fault. The sway not only reduces power, it makes it tough to get back in position to hit the ball.

 

[boogielicious]

6 hours ago, mvmac said:

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/butch-harmon-the-right-way-to-add-turn?mbid=social_facebook

 

That is what I use!

[JonMA1]

I think a centered hip turn along with the failure to shift my weight forward on a consistent basis are my biggest hurdles to a better swing. I can't say this with any real knowledge to back it up, but I believe the two are closely related.

If I don't think about anything and swing "loosely", it feels really good and I get my weight forward... somewhat. But when I record this swing, my hips are sliding away from the target on the backswing. When I focus on preventing the slide, I tend to leave too much weight back on the down swing.

This shouldn't be as hard as it is but I've been working on it for a couple of years now.

Edited September 20, 2016 by JonMA1

[RussUK]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but have recently been signed off by my physio and can start swinging "normally" again. Been making full 90 deg shoulder turns as part of my physio and all is good.

Anyway, on to the point of my post. I am a sucker for golf books and like to know about the different ways of swinging. With that in mind i have been reading through the old S&T book on an evening. BUt, is this method classed as a centered turn?

I ask because the wording in the book seems to be a little contradictory. It says no weight goes rearward in the backswing, but im sure i read on here (poss by @iacas) that it has to.

If so, would you say a possible "feeling" would be an increase in pressure on the inside trail foot but no swaying either way?

[iacas]

3 hours ago, RussUK said:

Anyway, on to the point of my post. I am a sucker for golf books and like to know about the different ways of swinging. With that in mind i have been reading through the old S&T book on an evening. BUt, is this method classed as a centered turn?

Done properly? Yeah, I still think so. So long as your head doesn't get ahead of center, and your hips don't go too far forward during the backswing.

Done the way it's often taught? No.

3 hours ago, RussUK said:

I ask because the wording in the book seems to be a little contradictory. It says no weight goes rearward in the backswing, but im sure i read on here (poss by @iacas) that it has to.

It does. They're wrong about that.

3 hours ago, RussUK said:

If so, would you say a possible "feeling" would be an increase in pressure on the inside trail foot but no swaying either way?

No swaying is important, yes.

Some other threads that may be of interest:

That should last you awhile…

[RussUK]

18 minutes ago, iacas said:

Done properly? Yeah, I still think so. So long as your head doesn't get ahead of center, and your hips don't go too far forward during the backswing.

Done the way it's often taught? No.

It does. They're wrong about that.

No swaying is important, yes.

Some other threads that may be of interest:

That should last you awhile…

Thanks Erik, should keep me going while the kids are in bed!

I have just been watching the video yourself and Dave did looking at Suzanne Peterson and Grant Waite, ties in the with the above threads and it was spot on.

I have been trying to engrain the feeling of the weight moving forwards in the downswing but still setting up with a little more on the front foot than normal (usually set up 50-50). The whole "set up with more weight on the front forrt an keep it there" in the S&T is so misleading. Having it described and show visiually as in the video really drives it home.

I think feeling that increase in pressure in the trail foot on the back swing is key (for me at least) and works well with a little more weight forward at setup.

By the way, on another note, been trying the Key #2 drill with the office chair...it works best if you have your own office. I got a few strange looks 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, RussUK said:

By the way, on another note, been trying the Key #2 drill with the office chair...it works best if you have your own office. I got a few strange looks 

Just make sure you "bump" the chair with the left hip, not your "front hip".  The latter might get you fired…

[Gaetano Fasano]

On 8/13/2014 at 3:20 PM, mvmac said:

 

We have to be careful when we talk about what happens and what someone feels happens, can be two different things. Again from this article McLean's model hip turn ranges from 40-65 degrees, which IMO isn't very "restrictive"

 

- In terms of actual weight, if we cut the golfers in half at A4 and weighed each side, it would be close to 50/50 or 55/45 favoring the rear side. This part really doesn't matter though because the golf swing is a dynamic motion.

 

- There is definitely a pressure shift under the trail foot on the backswing, watch this

 

 

 

Hi mvmac and thank you for the great video.

1. I thought the pressure had to move more toward the heel of trailing foot during the backswing but, looking at the video, it seems that the weight stays well distributed between the toe and the heel up to transition.

2. to start the takeaway, would you first move the weight on the trailing foot and then turn?

[mvmac]

6 hours ago, Gaetano Fasano said:

1. I thought the pressure had to move more toward the heel of trailing foot during the backswing but, looking at the video, it seems that the weight stays well distributed between the toe and the heel up to transition.

The trace (white dot) is moving in that direction and you can see how the front heel gets "unweighted". Also as the trail knee decreases in flex that whole leg/foot is pushing into the ground. @iacas is that the right way to describe it?

6 hours ago, Gaetano Fasano said:

2. to start the takeaway, would you first move the weight on the trailing foot and then turn?

I'd recommend doing it more gradually. You can certainly have a little "bump" right but you can't really just load it all and then turn because there is going to be more "weight" being loaded right as you keep turning and your arms move further into the backswing. Two things to take away, keep the torso/hips rotating all the way to the top and at the end of the backswing there should have created a little space between the line on the trail hip at address and where it is at the top.

[Blackjack Don]

This is a very good thread for me at the current time. I have had a problem with my hips sliding to the right which I've been working on to correct. I tried a drill putting a ball under my right foot. Not the best. It did help with not sliding, but I didn't get the feel of turning because the pressure under my foot overrode the feeling of turning my hips (if that makes any sense). I have found that turning the right knee in slightly and pivoting against it, without moving it, lets my hips turn without sliding back. Is this okay? 

This is a really tough habit to break.

[iacas]

Yes, @mvmac.

Some players shift more into the heel a bit on the trail foot, but even those are a bit more minor. It typically depends on when and how they get their right hip turning.

[mvmac]

3 hours ago, Blackjack Don said:

I have found that turning the right knee in slightly and pivoting against it, without moving it, lets my hips turn without sliding back. Is this okay? 

I'd recommend doing the opposite, have the right knee pointing out a little at address. Turning the knee in can tend to restrict the hip turn.

 

[saevel25]

7 minutes ago, mvmac said:

I'd recommend doing the opposite, have the right knee pointing out a little at address. Turning the knee in can tend to restrict the hip turn.

 

I agree. Flaring that back foot really helps free up the hips. 

[JonMA1]

I don't know that this will help anyone else (not even sure it's helped me yet), but I've figured out why I have trouble with the centered turn and subsequent failure of getting my weight forward.

As I get to the top, I might be in ok position - initially. But then I make an unconscious adjustment to get aligned to the target line when or just before starting the downswing. This adjustment causes my hips to slide back at the last second, my weight to go more outside my trail foot and an early shoulder turn. Not quite an over the top, but similar results. It then becomes almost impossible get my weight forward and I end up hitting off my trail foot and coming across the ball.

I'm not doing this on my practice swings because the desire the hit the ball isn't there.

As far as improving, I'm trying to concentrate more on the "swing towards first base" swing thought. From the top, if the thought is to get the swing path in to out more to the right, this can reduce the amount of sway and premature body turn I was getting before. 

This centered hip turn is such a tough thing to achieve. Every year I work on it and every year I revert back. What makes it difficult is that I can hit "ok" shots with this flaw. But it likely leads to a lack of power and undesirable ball flight.