Help me!

[pablo123]

Hey folks! Does anyone know of any tips to help clear the hips so my hands can release and come round my body? I was getting lessons which include getting my swing recorded and when I started my Dow swing instead of my hips clearing they move forward thus resulting in my hands being pushed away from my body and depending on forearm rotation getting the ball on line. 7/10 I hit it right as my hips are blocking my arms. I've been trying to sort of lock my hips and try not to let them move but I'm still having a nightmare. My coach was telling me to try and drive from the legs, trying to sort of snap my left leg( I'm right handed btw) so my hips can clear but I'm having no joy whatsoever! I'm going to get more lessons from him soon but I thougt maybe some of you guys have any drills to help or any other ideas. Sorry for the huge post but hopefully yous read it and can offer advice.

 

[JustOne]

Make sure your left foot is turned out 30-45° open. Your hips moving towards the target is fine as long as you a)open them at the same time b) don't lean your upper body to the right

 

[Region3]

It might not be the right way, but I found it helps to feel like the downswing starts with turning my hips, and also feel that the weight is transferring to the inside of my left foot.

A drill I've seen on t'internet is to put a stick in the ground at the outside of your left foot, then try not to move it very far (if at all) on your downswing.
I tried it with a garden chair and it did feel like it helped.

 

[RGDave]

You've got to love this obsession with what the hips are doing.
Anyone would have thought it was the secret to playing well.
Is it the secret to playing well?

(Don't ask me, I've never worked on this aspect)

 

[Region3]

When you think about it, you've got to use pretty much your whole body to move the clubhead around 10' through the air, then stop, bring it back down at up to 110mph and get an area roughly 2" square into contact with the ball, on the right path and at the right angle.
What makes it worse is that body position at impact is not the same as position at address.

It's a wonder we ever hit the ball straight at all!

 

[JustOne]

You've got to love this obsession with what the hips are doing.
Anyone would have thought it was the secret to playing well.
Is it the secret to playing well?

(Don't ask me, I've never worked on this aspect)

Funnily enough YES, I'd say it was.

If you combine good hips with the right position at the top of the backswing then you've got a great opportunity to play good golf. The hips driving forward and out of the way let the club drop on plane/inside and gives you the power as you unwind towards the target.


Confused?

Watch Reteif's left hip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auXAWY5S26Y I'd say this is as close to a perfect swing as you'll get.

 

[pablo123]

That's what I'm struggling with, I get to the top and instead of sliding them out the way I either push them forward or now after trying to lock them into position I think I'm tensed up too much and they won't move. I've tried opening my left foot up but it still doesn't feel right. I'll be having a practise in the next couple of days so I'll maybe post a vid up so you guys can have a look. I deffo have poor hip flexibility and stability though. Maybe need to do some sort of exercises to help with this

 

[CrapHacker]

Not exactly a drill, but I'm concentrating on this at the moment, and it does help.

When I'm making my practise swing, I'll really think about moving my left hip backwards, away from the square position, then think in terms of keeping my right elbow close to my body as I swing through, trying to point the club at the target.

If I try to think about it on my proper swing, it all goes tits up, big time. But by making a slow motion move, and a half practise swing, several times, then making the actual practise swing, it does tend to help the real swing get through the ball better. I've not been doing it long enough for it to be permanently in the muscle memory, but it's getting there.

By thinking about just moving the hip backwards, I take out any idea of hip slide from the practise swing, although I'm pretty sure there's still just a little of it in the good swing.

When I say backwards I mean away from the ball, not away from the target, btw.

 

[pablo123]

I found this on YouTube which I thought was quite helpful. What do you guys think? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBqkxZ9rnqI&feature=youtube_gdata

 

[JustOne]

If you do everything that Shawn Clement advocates then you'll have a great swing. I'd watch all his videos if I were you, and keep coming back to them.

 

[pablo123]

I've been trying to keep my left foot pointed out and tried to really feel my left hip moving back but it still keeps coming forward and all my weight transferring onto my toes instead of my left heel. Anyone got any other tips or do I just give up? It's a major balance and stability issue and I can't get round it

 

[CrapHacker]

Giving up is the most sensible answer.

But that would take all the fun out of it.

It's probably just the way you feel things different to other people.

Try something similar, but different, maybe see how it feels if you think in terms of getting your right hip to where your left used to be, so you have to get the left out of the way to give it somewhere to go.

Not saying that's the right answer for you, but it's often a different way of doing the same thing,if you get what I mean. Or not. It's all about feeling.