The Left Hip In The Golf Backswing (Video) - by Pete Styles
The Left Hip In The Golf Backswing (Video) - by Pete Styles

So what does the left hip or the front hip do in the golfer’s backswing? Well, the left hip movement doesn’t really make a golf backswing, it certainly doesn’t make an entire swing by what it does. But it can ruin a swing in that very first little bit of a swing. So for golfer to setup to the golf ball, right handed golfers, as I am, you should find your hips relatively level that’s not a great deal going on with the hips. You certainly wouldn’t want to see your hips one side or another, or even very open, or very close to target. Everything is pretty much squared down your target line, nice and level with the hips at the setup. Now, during the backswing; the shoulders are the main driving force of the golf backswing.

So the front shoulder is turning nice and aggressively underneath the chin. The bodyweight might move slightly towards the right side. And for me, it’s going to be limited front hip movements. So as we turn to the top, the front hip can get slightly involved, the hips are going to close a little bit to target. So then now I’m aiming effectively for me, right off target. The knee is going to come in a little bit, but the hip is still relatively level. What we wouldn’t want to see at this point is either no hip rotation. So for the hips, they’re perfectly planted, and still we're probably going to see a very limited backswing. Golfer would have to be extremely flexible to have no hip rotation in the backswing. And even that is probably going to limit how it’s powered there, creating – they’re going to lose power by not rotating at all. But likewise, if we have too much hip rotation on the backswing, so during the shoulder turn, if the hips turn, and collapse here, the left knee dips in too much, the left hip drops too much, we’re probably going to find out the front leg is off the ground a little bit, the rear leg has got too much weight, and potentially collapsing on to the outside, and really, too much leg action, too much hip action in backswing, that’s where I say, can potentially run the downswing phase because from this position, there is so much unwinding that needs to go on down here. The golfer is going to be very limited in how they can be consistent, and how they can be powerful in the downswing. So in answer to what the left hip goes in the backswing, it’s a limited amount of motion, but there is some motion there. So locking the hips out won’t work too well for you, dropping your left hip in too much won’t work for you, so a limited amount of left hip turning forwards towards target, but still remaining relatively level, would be a really good position. And the best way of checking that is either video yourself from the front on, or just get a mirror, so where the camera is, a mirror or a patio door so you can see yourself in the reflection, and just make a little backswing to the top. Focus on how the hips have done a limited amount, and the shoulders did a lot. So here, we’ve got 90 degrees shoulder rotation, less than 45 hip turn, without too much knee, without too much hip dropping, and that would be a good movement for the left hip during the backswing phase. 2016-10-13

So what does the left hip or the front hip do in the golfer’s backswing? Well, the left hip movement doesn’t really make a golf backswing, it certainly doesn’t make an entire swing by what it does. But it can ruin a swing in that very first little bit of a swing. So for golfer to setup to the golf ball, right handed golfers, as I am, you should find your hips relatively level that’s not a great deal going on with the hips. You certainly wouldn’t want to see your hips one side or another, or even very open, or very close to target. Everything is pretty much squared down your target line, nice and level with the hips at the setup. Now, during the backswing; the shoulders are the main driving force of the golf backswing.

So the front shoulder is turning nice and aggressively underneath the chin. The bodyweight might move slightly towards the right side. And for me, it’s going to be limited front hip movements. So as we turn to the top, the front hip can get slightly involved, the hips are going to close a little bit to target. So then now I’m aiming effectively for me, right off target. The knee is going to come in a little bit, but the hip is still relatively level. What we wouldn’t want to see at this point is either no hip rotation. So for the hips, they’re perfectly planted, and still we're probably going to see a very limited backswing. Golfer would have to be extremely flexible to have no hip rotation in the backswing.

And even that is probably going to limit how it’s powered there, creating – they’re going to lose power by not rotating at all. But likewise, if we have too much hip rotation on the backswing, so during the shoulder turn, if the hips turn, and collapse here, the left knee dips in too much, the left hip drops too much, we’re probably going to find out the front leg is off the ground a little bit, the rear leg has got too much weight, and potentially collapsing on to the outside, and really, too much leg action, too much hip action in backswing, that’s where I say, can potentially run the downswing phase because from this position, there is so much unwinding that needs to go on down here. The golfer is going to be very limited in how they can be consistent, and how they can be powerful in the downswing.

So in answer to what the left hip goes in the backswing, it’s a limited amount of motion, but there is some motion there. So locking the hips out won’t work too well for you, dropping your left hip in too much won’t work for you, so a limited amount of left hip turning forwards towards target, but still remaining relatively level, would be a really good position. And the best way of checking that is either video yourself from the front on, or just get a mirror, so where the camera is, a mirror or a patio door so you can see yourself in the reflection, and just make a little backswing to the top.

Focus on how the hips have done a limited amount, and the shoulders did a lot. So here, we’ve got 90 degrees shoulder rotation, less than 45 hip turn, without too much knee, without too much hip dropping, and that would be a good movement for the left hip during the backswing phase.