In the 1996 classic Happy Gilmore, Chubbs Peterson famously said, “it’s all in the hips.” 

Although it is wise advice, it is not completely true, as torso rotation and swing path are equally important. However, swing mechanics are complex, and so as not to overwhelm you, this article focuses on how much hip turn is best for your golf swing.

A 2019 report by Golf Digest revealed that the average PGA Tour pro rotates their pelvis up to 30-degrees by the time the shaft is parallel to the ground. Conversely, amateurs only make it to 15-degrees, which reduces power and the ability to get your club on plane for impact.

That is not to say that you can’t strike a golf ball if you don’t rotate 30-degrees, but doing so maximizes power and accuracy. In this guide, we’ll show you how to optimize your rotation. Plus we’ll discuss the impact of excessive and insufficient hip turn.

How Your Hips Should Turn in Your Swing

Step 1 – Posture

Before I take you through the optimal positioning during your swing, it is necessary to understand how to set up for maximum hip rotation. It all starts with your posture when you address the ball. 

In the video below by the golf instructor at Athletic Motion Golf (AMG) they highlight the contrast between an amateur golfer’s posture vs that of a Major Champion. In their address position, the client’s shins were vertical. Compared to a professional who tilts them. The amateur’s back was also hunched over compared to the straighter spine angle of professionals.

You also notice that the superior golfers bend their knees slightly to promote the transfer of weight to the backfoot on your backswing. Then to the left leg on your downswing.

Without the correct posture at setup, it is challenging for casual golfers to encourage flawless rotation during their golf swing.

Step 2 – Takeaway

Takeaway refers to the first part of your backswing where the golf club shaft is parallel to the turf before taking it to the top. AMG showcases that a Tour Pro at this point has shifted their weight to their trailing buttocks, adding power to your back leg.

For example, if you are a right-handed golfer, you should feel the weight shift from your left Gluteus Maximus to the right. 

To achieve this push off the turf with your left leg if you are a right-hander. That will help push the weight from your lead hip to the trailing on.

If your posture is incorrect from the get-go, you will feel pressure on the right and left hip, opening you to injuries and an inaccurate shot. Shifting your weight back on your backswing and forward on your downswing and follow-through enables you to get the club on plane. That produces maximum energy for increased club head speed and accuracy.

Step 3 – Top of the Backswing

The tutorial by AMG demonstrates how your weight should be firmly on your right side at the top of the backswing. Your right hip should sit higher than your left, readying itself to shift that power to your front foot on the downswing.

When your weight is not positioned optimally in your trailing hip at the top of your downswing it is difficult to transfer it. As a result, you lose power, clubhead, and ball speed, leading to a loss of distance.

Step 4 – Downswing

As you saw in the tutorial by AMG, it is imperative to shift your weight to your leading hip on the downswing, to maximize energy transfer. In the demonstration, we see how a pro transfers their weight from the right gluteus maximus.

When the shaft is parallel to the ground, most weight should be on your left leg if you are a right-hander. Only 15 to 20% of your weight should sit in the center or right of your hips.

Once your club shaft is parallel to the ground and is on the desired path, you are in a position to release the hips and ready for impact.

Step 5 – Impact Position

The final part of the hip movement occurs before impact. Once your shaft is parallel to the ground, you need to keep rotating the weight to the front. When your clubface makes contact with the ball, the weight of your lower body should be concentrated on your front leg.

Getting yourself into that position for impact enables you to generate increased club-head velocity, ball speed, and a higher coefficient of restitution (COR). These three components help you produce a better golf shot and improved distance.

When you do not shift your weight through to your front leg, you risk falling back on your shot, causing you to balloon your strike and lose distance.

What Happens When You Over Turn Your Hips

GolfTec VP Nick Clearwater explains that when you overextend your hips during your swing, it can cause you to swing over the top and induce a slice. It can also lead to you closing the clubface at impact and snap hooking your shots.

However, from my own experience, over-extension generally causes a vicious slice, as you cannot square your clubface up at impact, leaving it open.

What Happens When You Under Turn Your Hips

Insufficient hip rotation causes your arms to take control of the swing. That can reduce your swing speed and make it difficult to get the club on plane. That means that you may develop a steep angle of attack and strike the ball with an open clubface.

Therefore, you become susceptible to inconsistent strikes, such as a chunked or slice shot.

Drills to Improve Your Hip Turns Through Your Swing

Golf Ball Drill

Golf instructor Clay Ballard suggests practicing a simple drill by placing a golf ball under each foot. If you are a right-hander, position the ball under the toes of your left foot and the heel of your back foot.

Focus on shifting the weight from the front to the back on your backswing. And back to the front, on your downswing. 

On your backswing, your toes push down on the ball, driving power to the opposite side of your hips.

Conversely, your heel lifts on your back foot when transitioning energy from your right hip to the left on your downswing.

This drill helps you understand the leg drive that goes into shifting your weight from side to side during your swing.  

Wall Drill

This is an even easier drill than the golf ball. Place your back up against a wall or a board and practice shifting your weight. You must remain in contact with the wall at all times.

When I was a kid, I would cover a chalkboard with the dusty substance, and after each shot, it helped me better understand whether I had shifted my weight or not.

Getting used to the motion of hip rotation and shifting weight from your lead leg to your trailing leg and back.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.

Source link

Golf Digest suggests that professional golfers rotate their shoulders an average of 60 degrees during their swing. Amateurs turn their shoulders between 10 and 30 degrees less than the pros.

When your shoulders rotate in sync with your hip turn, you are rewarded with optimal power at impact for explosive ball speed and consistent distance.

So I’ve put together the 9 best shoulder turn drills to improve your swing and increase rotation. The drills in this guide help you activate your full shoulder turn to help you achieve results you never thought were possible.

1. Arm Band Drill

This Swing Correcting band keeps your arms and shoulders in sync during the swing. The band creates resistance to restrict you from releasing your arms too early in the swing. As a result, it forces you to rely on shoulder turn to guide the clubface back and down.

Place the band over your arms until you feel enough tension for your arms to create a V-shape. Once your left and right arm are straight, you can begin your takeaway.

2. Top Down Drill

This is a simple setup to help awaken the shoulders when you are on the range or warming up for a round. Move into your address position and commence your backswing. When you reach the top, hold your position. Then, initiate your downswing and feel the full shoulder rotation.

Your back shoulder should feel as if it is slightly lower than the front. At this time, you should pull out of the shot before your clubhead reaches the ball. Then repeat this process three times.

The final step requires you to take your stance and have a full swing implementing the technique you have just practiced. This drill aims to help you get used to the motion of the accurate shoulder turn.

3. Skipping Stones

ball at the wickets. This instruction proved handy on the golf course by ensuring I optimized shoulder rotation. My coach would give each lad a stone and request us to pretend that we were skipping them across a lake.

If you eradicated upper body rotation, you lost speed, and the release angle was all over. The same lesson applies to golf; with no sufficient torso rotation it is difficult to maximize your power, ball speed, and accuracy.

Grab a stone or a ball, and set up as you would for your standard golf swing. Start your backswing with your chosen object in your right hand, and when you hit the top of your swing, pause. Lower your left hand and pay attention to how much tension is on your right shoulder.

It is imperative to rotate your shoulders and hips and shift the weight to your left shoulder and leg. From the top of your backswing, pretend like you are skipping a stone across a lake and then shift your weight front shoulder and lower body.

You will notice that the object travels further and straighter when you achieve optimal shoulder rotation. But when you get it wrong, there will be a loss of speed, distance, and accuracy.

4. Club Across The Chest

This is another basic drill that you can carry out anywhere with a wall nearby. Take out an iron and place it across your chest, with the grip pointing towards your trail leg. Cross your left and right arm to secure the club and ready you for the drill.

Rotate your torso until your front shoulder is brushing the wall, then shift the weight to your front shoulder. When executed correctly, the grip should gently touch the wall. If it does not touch the wall, you have produced insufficient shoulder tilt, sending the club off your desired swing path.

This training exercise gives you an idea of the impact that rotation has on your plane. When you produce an adequate shoulder turn, you enjoy improved accuracy.

5. Swivel Chair Drill

The swivel chair drill can be carried out from your office as long as you have a swivel chair. Martin Hall teaches you to keep your knees and legs stable while turning your shoulders as far as possible:

Maintaining stability on a swivel chair is difficult at the best of times. However, if you can rotate your shoulders without moving the chair, you improve the control of your core muscles. As a result, you enjoy a better tempo and rhythm, leading to superior accuracy and consistency.

6. Takeaway Drill

Another drill that you can do at home or the driving range is the takeaway routine. All you need is a golf club. Get into position as if you were about to hit a shot. Make sure that your feet are stable and that there’s no movement from your left or right knee.

Use the momentum of the shoulder rotation to take the club head back while resisting with your front shoulder and leg. This is a simple exercise and specifically aims to give you the feeling of a big turn.

Initially, it can be awkward to execute, but over time, a supreme shoulder rotation should be the norm in your swing.

7. Medicine Ball Side Twist

The medicine ball side twist is not a direct golf drill, but it refines the muscles needed for superior shoulder turn. When you go to the gym, get three to five sets of fifteen repetitions with the medicine ball.

Sit down with your legs stretched out and place the medicine ball on your right side. Lift the ball up and use the turn of your shoulders and upper body to maneuver the ball to your left side and repeat the process for fifteen reps.

Not only will this drill increase your core and upper body strength. It will also improve the flexibility of your torso.

8. Hands And Upper Body Synergy

Top Speed Golf explains that your hands, and arms, should reach the top of your swing simultaneously with your upper body. That means that you have achieved a consistent tempo up to that point. When you are in that position at the top, it encourages a full turn from your right hip and shoulder to your left side.

This drill intends to get you focused on bringing your hands and arms to the top of your swing, in line with your upper body.

If your hands are too early to the party, it could cause you to overextend the clubhead and send it off plane. Conversely, if your upper body arrives first, your clubhead may end wide of the body and leave you at risk of hooking your shot.

9. One Handed Swing

Grip a short iron or pitching wedge with your strongest hand, and place your weakest hand across your chest. Set a ball up, and get swinging. This training drill is designed to force you to rely less on the leverage of your arms and more on your shoulder turn.

Naturally, you will not strike every shot cleanly, which is not the point. When you swing back with one hand on your club, you will feel weak, causing you to activate other muscles in your upper body to enhance your power. Plus, over time, this drill will increase your ball-striking abilities.

Golf Shoulder Turn Drills: FAQs

Why Is A Full Shoulder Turn Important In Golf?

A full shoulder helps golfers maximize club head speed. Plus, it increases your chances of getting the club on plane for superior accuracy.

Without a full shoulder turn, you reduce the energy transfer from your trailing side to the front, leading you to a loss of power and distance.

Overall, a full shoulder turn delivers two necessary elements that golfers need for success, distance, and accuracy.

How can I improve my shoulder turn in golf?

If you undertake any of the above drills on this list, you can improve your shoulder turn in golf. However, I recommend starting with three basic drills, the top down, skipping stones, and the club across the chest.

The skipping stones set up gives you a simple drill to practice the transfer of weight from during your backswing through to impact. Plus, the top down drill trains you to shift your mass from your right shoulder to your left on your downswing.

Finally, the club across the chest exercise is a simple way to replicate the motion of shoulder turn throughout the swing.

However, some golfers do not have the physical ability to maximize shoulder rotation. For those players, I recommend learning about the closed coil golf swing.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.

Source link