Hip Turn in the Golf Swing

[Excaliburxxxxxx]

Great video.

I definitely do not have the flexibility to not have my hips rotate. Ive tried it, it doesnt work for me.

I can hit a 7 wood 180 yards dead straight down a fairway, so I guess I probably dont need to worry about it too much.

[RobertFromHere]

Great tip! Thanks! Works perfectly..

[hsh24892]

Thanks for the quality video. This was my main concern and you solved the problem. Is there any way an amateur golfer like me can have swing like tiger woods without less stress on our body?

[PuterbaughGreenGolf]

@hsh24892 I would be dishonest to tell anyone, including a number of professional players, that they can swing like Tiger and have low stress on their body. Tiger's swing is one in which, as even he will attest, a great amount of stress is put on the body in multiple locations. Interestingly enough, however, I can assure you that Tiger doesn't have such limited hip turn by conscious effort to do so -- that is merely the result of his supreme flexibility and athletic ability.

[Gyro911]

Correct me if im wrong but didnt Jack Nickolson and other old time golfer have hip replacement surgery as a result of over turning their hips which is the reason the modern golf swing endorses a minimal back swing hip turn?

[PuterbaughGreenGolf]

@Gyro911 I'm afraid I do have to correct you on more than one count. Jack "Nicholson" was an actor. The man you're referring to is Jack "Nicklaus." Jack did in fact have hip replacement surgery, but he would have been far worse off had he not used as much hip turn as he did throughout his career. You can try seeing for yourself how much strain is put on your lower back and body when you try restricting your hip turn and making a full shoulder turn. It's quite difficult to accomplish....

[viperkillz]

@Gyro911 1. I don’t encourage the practice of forcing hip turn. I merely stated that trying to “restrict” hip turn intentionally has never helped anyone’s golf swing (unless of course they are naturally very flexible and they were using unnecessary hip turn in their swing). 

2. I don’t encourage forced hip turn, nor do I encourage forced lack of hip turn. The hip turn should occur as a natural necessity to complete the backswing once the shoulder turn reaches a certain point.....

[viperkillz]

@Gyro911 ,,,,,and can’t continue without aid from the hips. This point will differ with every golfer since our bodies aren’t all the same. In my video you’ll hear me say “unless you’re Tiger Woods, etc.” because for some players little hip turn is all that is needed to complete their backswing. Modern instruction promotes less hip turn because new age players on tour (notice I didn’t say general public) have trained themselves to be more flexible, allowing them to use less hip turn.......

[viperkillz]

@Gyro911 .....to make a strong, full turn to the top of their backswing. Try telling one of my 70 year old students to restrict their hip turn and keep their left heel on the ground and see what it does to their games (and more importantly their bodies). The golf swing is meant to feel more natural; less stress on the body suits a majority of the golfers in the world.

[Excaliburxxxxxx]

@PuterbaughGreenGolf

Amen.

Just trying to keep my hips from turning makes my lower spine feel like its about to twist in half.

Frankly I'll take the hip replacement over whatever could happen to my back trying to snap it in half like that ;-D

[PuterbaughGreenGolf]

......Players who have little hip turn only are able to as a result of great flexibility and athleticism. This is not forced nor intentional. The harder you try limiting hip turn, the sooner you'll be retiring from golf to go play another sport which puts less stress on your back.

[eddiebutt1]

Hi there I think my swing is an example of what not to do in the hips can you have a look and give me feedback please I seem to hit the ball ok but my lower body looks wrong you can use it in example lessons if you want to help people sort this problem

[MikePedersenGolfTips]

This is good. For the majority of golfers, especially the older ones, minimizing hip turn on the backswing is death to their golf swing power and consistency. I personally was restricting my right hip too much on the backswing, and had a slight over the top, and too vertical of downswing because of it.

[larrylamp2003]

bad acoustics :(

[wogdoggy]

read daley;s book about hip turn..he duck foots his stance to give hip better hip turn..why not use the big hip turn..? the balls on a tee and its not comming at you at 90 mph..use big the hip turn off the tee.

[fabianforti]

GREAT LESSON...after studying and understanding how the body naturally works, the x factor ( the restrictions of the hips in the backswing) is not a natural move. The attempt to do the x factor causes quite a bit of stress on the body....while forcing many things to go wrong in the downswing( the moment of truth). Good luck

[juicyfruitzy]

@fabianforti totally agree! I watch Arnold Palmer , Sam Snead and Ben Hogan and they all turn their hips 60 degrees on the back swing. Amateurs need to be careful not to move or shift laterally which is a common problem I see.

[bunkerputt]

Excellent advice for mortals like myself.