If you are one of the millions of golfers who would like to hit the ball farther, you may be struggling to figure out where to start.

Should you buy new clubs? Make radical changes to your technique? Hit the gym to build muscle? There are plenty of options available, and many of them can actually provide improvements over the long run. However, there is probably a source of untapped power already waiting to be used in your swing. If you can harness this potential, you may be able to hit the ball farther as soon as your very next round.

The potentially untapped source of power we are talking about is your hips. Unless you are already using your hips effectively, you stand to gain significant power by learning how to execute a hip turn during your downswing. It’s not necessarily going to be easy to add this element to your swing, but the rewards can be quite impressive if you do. With a proper hip turn helping to lead the club into impact, there will be the potential for speed in your swing which simply didn’t exist when your hips were staying out of the action.

In this article, we are going to offer advice on how you can properly use your hips to propel the club through the hitting area. The real challenge here is not so much the turning of your hips – that should be pretty easy – but rather the way your hip turn fits in with the rest of the swinging action. Your swing needs to be a cohesive unit from start to finish if it is going to be effective. Learn how to blend a powerful hip turn into the rest of your swing and you’ll suddenly have access to power which had previously been locked away.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

The Benefits of a Great Hip Turn

When you were first getting started in golf, the use of your hips was probably the furthest thing from your mind. You were simply trying to get the ball up off the ground with each shot, so you focused on your hands and arms and the way they moved the club through the ball. That is totally understandable, and it’s fine for a beginner. As you advance in this game, however, it’s important that you learn how to use the rest of your body effectively.

Before you head out to the range to work on using your hips in your swing, we think it is a good idea to explain why it is that using your hips is a good idea. What do you stand to gain? Why do the hips play such an important role in a good golf swing? The points below will speak to these questions, and they should provide you with all the motivation you need to get down to work.

• Swing down on the proper plane. The first point we are going to address actually doesn’t have anything at all to do with power. Instead, it is going to relate to the path that the club takes down into the ball. Quite obviously, your swing path is one of the most important elements of your swing, as it goes a long way toward dictating where the ball is going to end up. For the average golfer who doesn’t use his or her hips properly, swinging down on the right plane is going to be a challenge. Often, when the hips don’t turn correctly through the downswing, the body gets in the way of the swing and the club is forced to the outside of the proper path. That means the club will be moving from outside-in when it comes through the hitting area, and a slice is the likely outcome. The slice is such a common issue in the amateur game precisely because the average golfer fails to get his or her hips out of the way correctly at the top of the swing. We’ll talk more later about how to execute this move properly, but for now it’s important to note that a poor hip turn is directly related to the slice.
• Build speed from the top. As a golfer, you need to understand that none of the speed from your backswing is going to be carried over into your downswing. The club has to change directions at the top of the swing, which means it has to come to a stop. As a result, no speed that may have been built up on the way back is going to do you any good when it comes time to strike the ball. What does that mean? Simple – all of the speed you are going to use at impact needs to be developed between the top of the swing and the moment of the strike. You don’t want to waste a single inch of this space. If you do waste some of your downswing, you will never be able to reach your potential as a ball striker. One of the great things about using your hips right from the start of the downswing is that you will be able to build speed from the transition all the way into the ball. Once you manage to time your hip turn properly – which is not an easy thing to do – you’ll see that your swing is actually more powerful than you ever imagined.
• Connect your backswing and downswing. Although none of the speed from your backswing is going to carry over into the downswing, you still want to connect these two halves of your swing nicely. There should be a smooth rhythm to your swing as a whole, and that is only going to be present if you are able to make a clean transition. The best way to make such a transition is to use your hips to do the job. Basically, the upper body is going to be responsible for most of the work that is needed in the backswing, while the lower body is going to take over during the downswing. A great hip turn from the start of the downswing will make the transition clean and effortless, and your swing overall will be both more powerful and more accurate.

It’s hard to imagine a player reaching his or her potential in this game without learning how to make an effective hip turn. Simply put, this is one of the most important pieces of the golf puzzle to master. Unfortunately, many golfers never get around to working on this point, either because they don’t understand it, or they choose to focus on other areas. Don’t put yourself in that category. Move this point to the top of your golf priority list and hopefully it will start to pay dividends in the near future.

Timing is Everything

We now know that the hip turn is indeed an important part of the golf swing. But how do you make it work for you? It’s not as simple as just turning your hips randomly during the swing, of course – you have to do it properly if it is going to be effective. There are two conversations to be had here. The first is the actual technique itself. How are you supposed to turn your hips in order to help your golf swing? Once you have that sorted out, you’ll then need to make sure you are using your hip turn at precisely the right time. Let’s work through these two conversations in this section.

First up is the actual technique of the hip turn. The basic idea is to turn your left hip open to the target as the club moves down toward the ball. If you have made it through your backswing in good shape, your hips should be relatively square to the target line at the top. As the swing starts down, you are going to turn your hips open and keep turning them through the downswing and into the finish. When your swing is finished, and you are watching your ball sail off into the distance, your hips should have turned a full 90* (or so) to the left.

The idea of turning your hips to the left on the way down is simple enough, but there are a couple of problems you may run into along the way. For many golfers, it’s hard to stick with the hip turn all the way through the downswing. They may start off turning properly only to give up on it and just let the hands and arms carry the club through the rest of the way. When this happens, you will tend to swing across the ball at impact, hitting either a pull or a slice. You have to believe in your swing enough to keep turning all the way through impact on each and every shot.

The other problem that is commonly found in the amateur game is allowing the legs to straighten while the hips turn. A good golf swing will feature plenty of knee flex at the top of the backswing. From there, you want to keep your knees flexed as you turn through the shot and into the finish. The left leg will straighten eventually, but that should be as a reaction to the swing, rather than as an intentional act. If you find that you are standing up out of your stance during the downswing – even as you are trying to turn your hips – you are sure to run into trouble. Focus on staying down in your swing while you turn aggressively toward the target.

At this point, we have worked through the technical side of the matter. Now, what about timing? For many people, this is where it starts to get tricky. With a little bit of practice and patience, you can probably work out the technical side without too much trouble. As for the timing of it all, that’s going to take more work. Ideally, you would like to start your hips turning toward the target just prior to the club reaching the top of the backswing. That way, there will be a slight overlap, where your lower body is starting the downswing while your upper body is still finishing the backswing. When done correctly, this type of golf swing looks beautiful and is quite effective.

As you might imagine, it’s not easy to perfect this timing. If you wind up starting your hips a bit too early, the backswing will get cut short and it will become difficult to hit your target. Or, if you wait too long, the club is going to be moving down toward the ball before your hips have really been given a chance to get involved. Only players who can manage to hit their timing just right will be able to reap the benefits of this powerful move.

So, how do you master your timing at the top of the swing? Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can say other than the following – you need to practice. Golf is a game which requires a tremendous amount of practice, and practicing your timing is one of the best things you can do on the range.

A Simple Drill

It can be difficult to learn things on your own in this game. Even if you have guidance from something like this article, you will still be on your own at the practice range, trying to get your technique figured out. To get over that hurdle, it’s a great idea to use drills. A good practice drill can help you isolate what it is you are trying to work on for that particular day. In this case, it is the hip turn. The drill we are going to describe in this section is designed to help you get more comfortable with using a proper hip turn in your golf swing.

The great thing about this drill is that you don’t need to be anywhere near a golf course to use it. You can be at home, outside, or just about anywhere you have a little bit of room to move. You aren’t even going to be using a club or ball in this drill, so there is no need to have your golf bag with you, either. Consider getting in the habit of going through this quick drill a few times per day in your spare time.

To get started, please follow the steps below.

• While you aren’t going to be hitting a shot with this drill, or even holding a club, the first step is still to pick out a target. Golf is a target-based game, so you always want to have a target in mind when you do anything to work on your skills. If you are standing in your home, you can pick out something on the wall to use as your target. If you are outside, there should be any number of objects that you can use. Pick something out and keep in in mind as you build your stance.
• With your target selected, you are ready to settle into a stance. Create a stance that would be about right for a middle-iron shot, say a five or six iron. Make sure to maintain good posture, flex your knees, and set up square to the target line that you have established for the drill. Since your hands won’t have a golf club to hold onto, simply connect them be interlocking the pinky of your right hand with the pointer finger of your left.
• You are now ready to make your ‘swing’. Despite the fact that you don’t have a club, start your swing just as you would any other time. Use your shoulders to turn all the way back away from your target and keep your lower body nice and still in the early stages. As mentioned earlier in the article, it is important that you stay down and maintain your knee flex.
• As your arms get near the top of the backswing, it will be time for your hips to spring into action. Focus on turning your left hip open to the target while your arms ‘hang out’ at the top of the swing for a moment. Let the lower body lead the way and your arms are sure to follow in time. Remember, the golf swing is a rotational movement, so you should be turning – not sliding – to the left. Move all the way down through the downswing and into the finish.
• Feel free to repeat this drill as many times as you would like. When you return to the driving range for your next practice session, you may be amazed at how much more comfortable you are with the execution of your hip turn.

The point of this drill is to take away the distraction of the golf club. When you have a club in your hands and you are trying to hit an actual shot, you’ll inevitably be more worried about the results of the shot than the underlying technique. Taking the club away is going to make it easier to focus on what you are trying to improve – your hip turn. With any luck, you’ll get so comfortable with the hip turn while doing this drill that you don’t need to think about it much when hitting actual shots. It will simply become a built-in part of your swing and you will be able to focus on other things.

The Need to Commit

To wrap up this article we would like to talk about the importance of commitment in the golf swing – specifically as it relates to the hip turn. We alluded to this issue earlier but need to cover it again here because it is so important.

When hitting any golf shot, you need to be 100% committed to the shot that you are attempting to play. That means you believe in the target you have picked out, you believe you are holding the right club, and you believe in your ability to make a good swing. If there is any doubt rolling around in your mind – even a small doubt – you are in for a disappointing outcome.

One of the ways doubt is manifested in the golf swing is through a poor hip turn. Usually, the hip turn will start out fine at the top of the swing, but the player will get nervous somewhere on the way down and give up a bit on the action. When that happens, the club is forced a little bit to the outside of the ideal path, since the hips haven’t completely gotten out of the way. The end result will depend on the position of the face at impact. If the face is closed, the ball will be pulled way to the left. If it hangs open, a slice is almost inevitable.

Even if you are facing a tough shot on a difficult course, you simply have to believe in yourself if you want to have success in this game. Golf is hard enough when you do have confidence – if you lack confidence, it’s almost impossible. Draw from the successes you have had in practice and remind yourself that you’ve proven your abilities on the range. Over time, you should get better and better at trusting yourself, and you should have more and more success turning your hips all the way through to a balanced finish.

Without a doubt, a great hip turn can help you hit longer shots. It can also help you to be a better golfer overall, even without considering the distance implications. We hope the content in this article has helped you understand why the hip turn is important and how it is supposed to work. Good luck and play well!

How can my hip turn increase my golf shot distance? Now in the golf swing if you want to break it down into its fundamental points, it comes down to two main turns of the body. In the back swing the shoulders rotate away from the target and during the swing the hips rotate towards the target. Now if you want to break it down into those two simple steps there is obviously lots of things to go around that, but using a proper hip turn on the down swing can really increase your distance simply by increasing club head speed. But first of all you need a full shoulder turn and then you need a full hip turn coming through. Now there's a different kind of ways you can actually use the sequence properly, but if you just take it up to the top of the backswing, rotating those shoulder away from the target and getting in the middle of the back pointing down towards your target, from the top of the backswing it's your hips which start to move first, so your left hip starts to move backwards, your right hip starts to rotate through and at the point of impacts your hips should be slightly open as you rotate through.

Your shoulders and your arms actually just lag behind they are led by the hips. The quicker you turn your hips the quicker you rotate the faster your upper body will move through. It works almost like a sling shot as you turn to the top with the shoulders and you rotate through everything follows and everything works through. I’d like to say the faster you turn your hips, the faster your swing will be. Normally you don’t want to be swinging at full power all the way, just nice and controlled, so it's to the top turning away with the shoulders and then rotating through with the hips. So the hips lead the whole downward motion. Now what a lot of people do which is a mistake they actually try and increase their distance using their hips by turning back with the shoulders, but also turning back with the hips. Now when you turn back with the shoulders and turn back with the hips you lose all; coil between the upper and lower body. So when you are turning back with the shoulders keep the hips nice and still and then just use the hips to rotate through. So if you want to increase you distance use your hips wisely turn them through quicker and then let everything else lag behind.