Go ahead, let your hips turn in the backswing

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As an Instructor I see a lot of golf swings every day and a large majority of the golfing public seems to have an obsession with not turning their hips in their golf swing.

Magazines and books have been pushing the idea that if we can restrict our hip turn and rotate the shoulders substantially more we have the formula for more power (Degree of Shoulder Turn – Degree of Hip Turn = Power). Giving this idea to a novice golfer is like letting a child play with matches; there’s going to be a lot of damage to repair.

The image below on the left depicts a golfer who is attempting to restrict hip turn and generate as much shoulder turn as possible, while the other is embracing the notion that the hips need to turn. What is noticeable is that when restricting the hips the golfer is forced to turn their shoulders and arms on a much flatter plane. Many golfers struggle with taking the club too far inside during their take away and lifting the club to reach the top of their backswing, the classic slicer move (inside-up-over the top). The inside takeaway occurs from the fact that the hips have not rotated and the hands and arms feel the need to fan or rotate the club to generate that feel of rotation.

Going forward the golfer is unable to rotate the hips so they lift the club to the top of the back swing resulting in a very flat shoulder turn and a loop that will force them to come over the top.

Allowing the hips to rotate will help alleviate some of these issues and allow you to create more shoulder turn (even with some steepness to them) in the process.

The images above shows a golfer allowing his hips to turn on the back swing and in return his arms and hands rotate properly creating more connection between the arms and chest. The golfer was also able to generate more shoulder turn by allowing his hips to turn more during the takeaway and potentially breaking the dreaded habit of coming inside-up-over the top. So instead of restricting the hips, let them rotate for a more fundamentally sound golf swing.

5 Comments

1. 

   Nick

   February 19, 2013 at 11:53 am

   I have often been confused by the advice not to restrict hip turn in the back swing. Snead had pronounced hip rotation in the backswing and I don’t hear anyone saying he had problems with power or accuracy in his ball striking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yzE5QODhtg

   Reply
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     Scott Yurgalevicz

     February 20, 2013 at 7:28 pm

     Hey Nick, Thanks for the comment. I too was bewildered by the amount of students I get bumping their hips right and left in an effort to restrict hip turn in hopes of more power. Its almost comical how much better they get the moment I tell them to let them turn, almost every aspect of their swing gets better. By turning the hips you become an athlete!

     Reply
2. 

   Gene

   February 25, 2013 at 3:22 pm

   Scott,
   how true, especially for senior golfers like me – I tried for a long time to keep my hips from rotating – it was supposedly to produce maximum power and once in a while it happened but more often than not, inconsistency reigned – once I started allowing my hips to turn naturally, everything fell into place – I am becoming much more consistent and in control of my swing -this is good instruction for those willing to listen and trust it!

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3. 

   Jeff

   February 26, 2013 at 9:56 am

   I spent so many years working on the “X-Factor” that so many of the golf magazines support, but finally broke free of this advice. Just look at Bubba. He turns his hips more than most people turn their shoulders.

   Thanks for the article, Scott.

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4. 

   Jeff

   February 27, 2013 at 5:12 pm

   Amen Scott. Thanks for liberating the vast majority of golfers who are no longer 20 yrs. and cannot execute the x-factor without hurting their game or their back. Fortunately, I discovered this move some time ago, and found getting the club on plane to be much easier. Loss of distance? Correcting an over the top move will do wonders for your distance.

   Reply