Pivot: Clear the Hips

We hear this instructional catch phrase often: clear the hips. You also hear rotate the hips and bump your left hip toward the target and then turn. What should one really be doing? If you study professional golfers carefully from multiple angles in slow motion, you will notice that all of the above are true to one degree or another. What you might not pick up on is that more space is created for the arms to fall in front of the body than appeared to be there at address. How is that possible?

I briefly touched on this in a previous post on Shawn Clement's Braced Tilt. Good golfers keep their posteriors in a protruded position through impact, while high-handicap golfers (like me) tend to lose that protrusion established at address (in other words, the belt buckle starts looking up too soon). When golfers make this error, they may indeed shift to the left leg and rotate around the left hip, but the right hip gets thrown out over the target line and the shoulders arms and club soon follow (over the top).

This improper move is often called standing up through the shot and golfers are often incorrectly told that you didn't keep your head down or you looked up too soon. Doing this creates little room for the right elbow to fall back down in front of the right hip, and thus it's harder to approach the ball from the inside. I believe golfers like me develop this habit in a few ways: 1) the illusion that this is what pros are doing when you witness a swing from the front-on view; 2) the fear of striking the ground behind the ball or taking deep, painful divots, when ironically staying in the shot and covering the ball in the proper manner will shallow out the swing.

The correct move (as Clement eloquently describes) is that the right hip moves backwards, towards the target, and slightly upwards on the backswing pivot, with the weight on the inside of the right leg and right instep. This creates a "tush line" that is parallel to the target line with only the right hip is touching it. Now the key point. On the downswing, the left hip ALSO moves backwards to join the "tush line," while also shifting left and turning, such that the posterior remains protruded through impact; this protrusion is not lost until late in the followthrough. The right knee will kick in more behind the left knee instead of moving out too much toward the target line.

Moving the hips this way makes it easier to stay in the right posture through the shot; the chest will cover the ball and you will have more room for the arms to swing down and out. You will also notice that you finish your swing still in the correct posture and spine angle, as if laying one's head on a pillow. Done properly, there's no way to come over the top.

Shawn Clement, the Canadian golf instructor, starts off by demonstrating how one should perform a backswing hip pivot movement - by wiping the right buttock against the glass window in the direction of the target. That's a good swing thought for a beginner golfer who has difficulty performing a "correct" backswing hip pivot movement.

Note what he states about starting the downswing's lower body movements. He recommends that one keep the right buttock back where it was at the end of the backswing (at the tush line), and he recommends that one should think of pulling the left buttock back against the glass window and wiping away from the target (pivoting the left hemi-pelvis back and to the right, so that it is against the tush line). In other words, he is recommending that one should focus one's attention on the left hemi-pelvis, and he recommends that one should think of pulling the left hip back in a left hip clearing action - without allowing the right buttocks to move away from the tush line in the direction of the ball-target line.

In other words, a good "downswing initiating" mental image for a beginner golfer is to think of getting one's weight over onto the left foot followed by an immediate sensation of actively pulling the left hemi-pelvis back (away from the ball-target line) towards the tush line.

Backswing

Another major area we've worked on is my hip action. Like my shoulders, my hips now turn on a steeper angle to the ground in the backswing. It feels as if I'm sticking out the right side of my rear end as I turn to the top. This move counterbalances my left shoulder turning down: If I didn't stick my rear end out, that steep shoulder turn would put me out on my toes. On the downswing, it's all about my left hip—actually, the left knee, thigh and hip. I want to feel them clearing out, or turning to my left, so my right side can drive hard. From the top, my hips used to thrust toward the ball, which dropped the club too far to the inside and led to pushes and hooks. Now I think about pushing my left hip out to left field and then turning it behind me (above). That keeps the club coming in steep so I can really pinch the ball off the ground.

How To Make Your Swing Repeat: Matt Kuchar: Golf Digest

 

Shawn Clement's Braced Tilt

I'm a huge fan of Shawn's teachings; plus, he's very generous in that he gives away tons of free instruction via YouTube. Due to his generosity, I send him a PayPal tip each month. You can find his web site here; he also offers very reasonable online video analysis and a DVD instructional series.

Shawn has a lot of great ideas and methods that are highly effective. His drills should be mandatory for every golfer, regardless of whether you agree with his instruction or even try his swing method. The drills include his classic perpetual motion drill, feet-together drill, and one-leg drill. You can use these to ingrain the fundamentals of the Clement swing, which in my opinion is focused on helping the novice golfer learn to stay centered, the opposite of which (swaying) may very well be the biggest error a beginning golfer makes. I've written about the pivot in several other posts, but Shawn's method may be the one to develop a consistent pivot and swing, resulting in fantastic compression and contact with relative ease. In a sense, most of the effort is spent in the setup fundamentals and the rest left to physics.

Shawn teaches "bracing against a firm left side" with the body tilting away from the target starting at address and all the way through the swing. This involves presetting some secondary axis tilt, such that more weight is on the left leg at address, the head is behind the ball (until well after impact), and the weight in the right leg is concentrated on the right instep (he describes the address weight distribution as 60% left - 40% right). The backswing pivot is more a turning of the posterior than anything else, and the slight backwards weight shift is concentrated on the inside of the right leg and inside of the right foot; there should be a feeling of pressure ONLY on the inside of the right leg and right instep, and the right knee and right hip should feel "locked" in place briefly at the top, before the transition of weight back to the left leg. Another description is that it feels like sitting back on the right leg, so you should really feel it in the right hip.

Before you start thinking this is Stack-&-Tilt, it isn't, because Shawn teaches a backward and forward weight shift during the backswing and downswing, respectively. It's just that the weight shift he describes is very minute; he states that it is "about an inch long." I would describe it as: address, 60-40; backswing, 50-50 (or maybe 45-55) onto the inside of the right leg due to the weight of the arms and club; downswing, 60-40; and finish, 95-5 (again due to the weight of the arms and club). By contrast, S&T has the golfer starting 55-45 and leaning left at address, with no weight shift on the backswing (the upper body continues leaning left throughout); the weight favors the left side at address and progresses more and more left until the finish.

Shawn's swinging motion is passive and he describes it as "assisting momentum towards a target." In other words, one tosses the "arm-club unit" to the right on the backswing (the club feels somewhat weightless at the top) and then one allows it to fall on the downswing, with one's posterior providing a counterweight to the swing. In a sense, the golfer is setting up as a crane or catapult, and the butt acts as the means to propel the club. Shawn even says that the downswing weight shift "happens behind you," such that the butt moves left ("about an inch long") to shift the weight back into the left leg before the club comes through. The right butt cheek moves backwards on the backswing, and then the left butt check turns back to join it in a line on the downswing.

The result of this swing method is a tighter, circular motion that doesn't waste as much energy, and a stable low point. This results in increased consistency, compression, power, and divots in front of the ball.

Characteristics of Shawn's swing method include hips that turn nearly as much as the shoulders (don't go looking for McClean's X-Factor here), head staying behind the ball, arms and hands staying in front of the body, left foot prevented from spinning out, right foot staying planted longer, left knee ticking in towards the right leg on the backswing (even at address), allowable head movement, left heel unconsciously coming up on the backswing, passive arms (i.e., tossing the arms to the top and letting them fall), wrists that hinge naturally up-and-down due to the club's weight (i.e., float loading), and a takeaway that begins with a slight leftward move, as if one is already in motion at address (hence the perpetual motion drill). Shawn feels that a slight move that mimicks a throughswing as a starting motion (catching the next backswing) is best for keeping the swing relaxed and effortless.

My personal experience with this method is that it really adds distance and makes the golf swing "easy." However, I start coming off the rails with this swing by producing fat and thin shots, and the reason is two-fold: 1) there MUST be a move into the right leg on the backswing (even if it is very slight), and the correct feeling is one of pressure on the inside of the right leg with the right knee and right hip locked in place (i.e., I can occasionlly get too frozen over that left leg in the backswing); 2) the head--it must start behind the ball at address and remain there until post-impact (this one goes along with the first error--keeping the weight too left on the backswing can have the tendency to cause the head to be too far left).

Passive arms: It's important to simply get to the top and leave the hands and arms there, especially with the driver. Toss the arms to the top and then let them fall and/or move in response to the lower body's movement. Don't do anything else--pull or push. Allow the arms to simply drop and whip through in response to the lower body motion. Any attempt to consciously or unconsciously steer, pull, push, or guide the club will contribute to errors. Picking up on this in oneself is difficult because the difference between steering and just letting it happen is very subtle.

I have so many videos that explain what you are asking here; they all start with "Braced Tilt", "Braced Tilt Part 2", "Tilted Spiral" part 1, 2 and 3 and my latest, "Feel the Braced Tilt" which will explain so much for you; it all comes down to 60% on the lead leg; Use the trail leg as a support post to keep you against the led leg which is your leaning post.

One Leg Drill Amazing Power Compression; #1 Most Popular Golf Teacher on You Tube Shawn Clement - YouTube

 

Compression: Role of the Right Arm

Hang around online long enough and you'll discover a plethora of golf teachers with varied opinions on the role of the right arm in the golf swing. Some teach that the left arm should be dominant (players sometimes called "swingers" who pull with the left arm), some argue the right arm (players called "hitters"), and some both ("switters" or "swing-hitters"). Some say that both arms should be passive, neither pulling or pushing, and merely responding to gravity and body movement.

And you'll find examples of successful touring pros who use each one. In The Golfing Machine (TGM) parlance, the active straightening of the right arm (primarily driven by the right tricep) is described as using Power Accumulator (PA) #1 and is heavily associated with the "hitter" swing style.

Regardless of what is taught, used, or believed, there seems to be one universal truth, at least visually, with regard to the right arm in the full golf swing when we examine the swings of great players: The right arm folds in two places--the elbow and wrist--in the backswing, and the right arm gradually unfolds in the downswing, reaching it's fully extended, released position (right wrist and elbow straight) a foot or so past impact. The left wrist never breaks down or bends backwards (i.e., flips). The right arm straightening can be passive for swingers or active for hitters.

The first element of properly using PA #1 involves keeping the elbow and wrist of the right arm bent for as long as possible coming down. Ernie Els describes this as "keeping the box." The right elbow should still be slightly bent at impact, reaching a fully extended, released position only a foot or so past impact, with the right wrist still bent backwards (even just after impact). Doing both automatically extends the left arm fully and keeps the left wrist flat through impact. Pressure should be felt in the first phalanx or base knuckle of the right index finger from the top and through impact. In a sense, that phalanx or inside base knuckle of the right index finger can and should serve as a guide to the club face position throughout the swing. The right hand thumb and index finger should be completely loose around the club handle; you can even take them off! Only that phalanx or base knuckle is important.

If the right wrist straightens in a way that causes the left wrist to bend backward at impact, this creates a "flipping" motion and the club head will pass the hands (lag is lost and the effective loft of the club is increased). Instead of "flipping" or swatting at the ball with the right wrist (behaving as if it was merely a door closing along its vertical axis), the right wrist should only straighten WELL AFTER impact with the right palm rotated slightly downward through impact.

This reflects the TGM description of hitting down on the ball with the right palm and actively straightening the right elbow, feeling pressure in the base joint of the first finger of the right hand (Pressure Point #3) and pressure on top of the left thumb (Pressure Point #1) due to pushing on the left hand with the right. This creates a feeling of pushing down and out on the shaft with the right palm, and results in a flexed shaft due to the compression against the ground; a divot is taken well in front of the ball. The ball is often described as being powerfully "pinched" off the ground or "compressed against the ground."

Use this one swing thought: Aim to fully, dynamically straighten the right elbow a foot or so past the ball with your irons. Straighten it down, forward, and out. You can use this method to hit the driver; simply use less downward extension. Instead, extend so that the right forearm is more level with the ground coming into the ball. Straighten it out to the right slightly for a draw and out to the left slightly for a fade.

The best way to describe [Kenny Perry's] right arm on the downswing is that it is "pushing down and out." Pushing down allows the right arm to actively straighten while maintaining the bend in the right wrist. This feeling is no different than if you were to try to push something into the ground with your right arm.

Maintaining the bend in the right wrist is a fundamental you see in a good swing. It allows the clubshaft to return forward at impact, resulting in a clubhead that is descending and accelerating through the impact zone.

PGATOUR.COM - Instruction blog: Right arm the key to Perry's swing

"In essence, bending and straightening the Right Elbow will raise and lower the left arm and/or cock and uncock the left wrist without bending, flattening, or cocking the right wrist. Right elbow action either powers and/or controls all three elements of the Three Dimensional Impact, (downward, outward, and forward)." ~ Homer Kelley

www.chuckevansgolf.com

In a golf swing (whether one is a hitter or a swinger), the right wrist is always bent back and the right wrist never bends forward (palmar flexes) at any time point during the downswing - because it would cause the left wrist to bend forward (flip).

Whether one is a hitter or a swinger, the clubhead should never flip past the hands while the clubhead is moving through the pre-impact zone. The clubhead should always be lagging behind the hands during the entire downswing, which means that the right wrist is always bent back.

[A] hitter applies an active push-force at pressure point #3 by actively extending the right elbow during the downswing - as the right elbow actively straightens it applies an active push-force via the bent right wrist to pressure point #3.

PA#1 is only actively released in a hitter's swing action - when the right triceps muscle actively contracts with a large amount of isotonic force, thereby straightening the right arm in a straight line thrust action that thrusts the right forearm downplane and drives PP#1 [the left thumb]/PP#3 towards the ball (or towards a desired aiming point in the vicinity of the ball).

The release of PA#1 is due to a very active triceps muscle contraction that actively straightens the right elbow in a forceful thrust action that pushes the right forearm and bent right wrist towards their impact fix position.

How to Power the Golf Swing

Throw the club through the ball with your right hand. As Jack Nicklaus said, you can hit as hard as you want with the right hand as long as the lower body is leading.

Tom Watson: My power key never gets old: Golf Digest

That right hand does not stay as loose as it does on your backswing. You take it back loose, your hands are nice and flexible. But when you hit that ball, you’re adding power to it and you’re increasing your pressure all the way through impact.

Tom Watson Interview