Left Hand Golf Tip How The Hips Should Be At Address And Impact

The hips are a vitally important part of the golfing technique both at address and impact.

At address, they need to be aligned correctly to help ensure the body is aimed correctly. During the through swing they must become more active, turning towards the target to produce more consistency and power.
 
When aligning the hips, left handed golfers should imagine they are ‘stacking’ their joints on top of each other. This means the toes are set parallel to the target line, the knees are set over the toes, the hips over the knees and the shoulders over the hips. This stacking or layering of the joints should help ensure on a full shot the body is aligned correctly.
 
There are some different types of hip alignment that left handed golfers can use. On a chip shot, for example, the hips should be set slightly open to the target (pointing right). This is because a golfer will not have the sufficient time to rotate their hips through impact on a chip shot and they must be set open. The shoulder alignment for chip shots should remain parallel to the target line to ensure the swing path is not affected.
 
During a standard full power shot, the hips become active and must be controlled and used correctly. During the back swing as the shoulders rotate underneath the chin turning 90 degrees to the target, the hips will also rotate very slightly; however they become much more involved during the down swing.
 
From the top of the back swing, left handed golfers should feel like the hips are leading the way. This means the hips begin to rotate towards the target and drag the body along for the ride. The hips should begin to turn and rotate until, at impact, they are slightly open. As the golfer hits through the ball, the hips should continue to rotate until the belt buckle is facing down towards the target. This turning and rotating of the hips is one of the main driving forces of power during the swing. Without it the amount of distance achievable is drastically reduced. The turning of the hips is present throughout all hitting sports such as tennis, baseball and even boxing.

Left handed golfers should ensure that at address the hips are aligned correctly and parallel to the target line. But during the swing, players must ensure they become active and rotate through the ball increasing the amount of power produced.