You’ve probably heard that you need to work on your hip turn in your golf swing. Or, if you haven’t, you’re probably unaware of the importance of hip rotation in its role in your golf swing.
In so many sports and activities, the emphasis on perfect hip rotation and control is the key to success. From dancing, boxing, and even in the sport of golf, good hip movement and stable control for smooth hip rotation will improve the power, accuracy, balance, and rhythm of every competitor.
Why Proper Hip Rotation Leads to Better Golf Swings
Hip movement and proper rotation is one of the keys to having that perfect golf swing. The swing — in the backswing, downswing, or any other swing for that matter — is the essential art of the golfer, and most spend their lifetimes perfecting their swing. The swing is the primary engagement of the golfer with the ball. The club is the primary tool, and it comes into contact with the ball, the essential reason why being fitted with the correct clubs is important.
But the body wields the tool, and to get the best from the club, your body needs to yield the right amount of power, balance, and accuracy. To get that perfect swing, golfers are taught the fundamentals of swinging a golf club. In principle, they are taught how the entire body is used to correctly initiate and follow through with any kind of swing.
From the influence that head positioning has on the ball, to how the arms should interact, grip and handle the club for optimum efficiency, to how essential hip rotation is, and the importance of perfect leg placing and movement during the swing, all are included in the fundamentals of golf. The key to gaining perfect accuracy and power without any upsets in balance is emphatic hip rotation.
Your hips work in union with the many other body parts activated in the swing action to create a harmonic rhythm that will build the tempo of your game. The perfect control of hip rotation will lead to an increase in power generation, meaning that you should be able to get more force on the ball to launch it further distances.
You will also be able to strike more accurately, hitting the ball with greater precision to control the direction and aim of all that newfound power. The hip rotation during the swing will also improve your ability to control the club, allowing you to keep the face of the club square in measure to the ball.
Failing to rotate the hips, or rotating them improperly, can cause rookie mistakes to occur in your swing action. This includes inconsistent striking of the club and pulling or pushing the ball that will cause inaccuracy. To improve that swing, here is a look at the fundamentals of how hip rotation is applied in the golf swing.
How to Rotate Properly
To describe the perfect rotation necessary for competing in golf, many teachers would quote the words of an old legend, Jack Nicklaus, ‘Turn, don’t slide.’ Swaying with your hips in an attempt to follow through the rotation is something that you should stay away from.
It can lead to a bad habit, and it creates a bad twist in your spine positioning that is not only peculiar but will also upset the balance in your lower body, sacrificing stability and producing poor swings. Swaying will also prevent full rotation during a downswing that can cause poor action on the ball. Hip swaying doesn’t rotate them and is a common mistake among rookies or players who weren’t taught the difference between the two.
Rotation of the hips should be completed smoothly and naturally, making it look as if it is second nature. It should not look like a Friday night dance move that will embarrass your friends, or like swaying to an offbeat rhythm. The proper means to rotate the hips, meaning the amount of turn, speed and degree of rotation, is taught individually for each type of swing, mostly because the positioning of each swing is different and initiating the movement is unique to each. The basic principles are the same, though, smooth, natural movement should be observed with every swing.
During the Backswing
When initiating a backswing, you want to rotate the hips away from the ball when completing the strike so that you can have stability in the lower body. Do not change or misplace your weight as you bring the club into a striking arc, but instead attempt to displace more pressure evenly into your stance. As you shift your shoulders, the right leg and hip side must work to give you a good position from which you can activate better leverage to provide the club with optimum acceleration.
When the shoulder tips the chin, you should by then be in a rotated position to bring down your backswing. Never neglect to progress the rotation as you follow through with the swing. You would not want to create any pause in the rotation, as this could lead to pushing or pulling the ball. Stay limber and relaxed by trying not to stiffen your arms or stance but opt for loose, flowing action.
Don’t try too hard, and keep practicing to make the rotation seem and feel as natural as possible. Keep the movement smooth and rotate through the impact of the strike to help you perfect the follow-through of each swing. This will improve your control and accuracy of striking and launching the ball.
As you bring the swing in, the tension and added pressure on your stance should gradually be released; focus on adding that extra edge on the force exerted on the ball by the club. Perfecting the flex movement of how the leg is used during the swing will assist in improving leg control.
Summary
Hip rotation is very important in golfing, and learning to perfect it through continued practice is all-important, especially if you want to be a top competitor. Hip rotation and not swaying will improve balance, power, control, and feed, as well as that needed edge of perfect accuracy and the square placement of the club upon striking.
Not only that, but the proper means of rotating your hips will make you look like those players that people emulate for their perfect synchronizing and the smooth movement of their swings.
