Hips moving off the line in backswing

[GOLF IS THERAPY]

my hips move toward the ball on my backswing. No tour pros do this. I have tried multiple drills and feelings. Does anyone know a drill or reason/cause for this? I try to turn as deep as possible but am not sure why this happens and has always happened. Thanks!

 

http://youtu.be/Hyr6ti41uw0

[Reasonability]

Golf absolutely IS therapy - LOL - Couldn't agree more with the meaning behind that screen name!

So for openers I always encourage others to find that teaching professional who can help devise a specific and clear plan with the golfer....right there live and in person. Its just so much easier and actually more fun that way. Online lessons are getting better since the early days of folks saying "Where'd you get that swing - on the internet?" And the third best option is looking on you-tube and blogs since there are as many wild and wonderful swing thoughts out there as there are imaginable right and wrong approaches.

But in as much as I love to look at swings and share what I would do personally if it were me -- I'll be happy to sort of kick the tires with you here. Just wanted to offer that the only best advice I can muster that almost no one would ever challenge is that face-to-face work with a good pro is unquestionably the fastest/best route to success.

I see your drill to get the shoulders turning WITH your address spine angle (well done) - and I hear you about trying to avoid the forward advance of the hips in the downswing. So here is what I would do if it were me personally. Hopefully at least SOMETHING in here will serve you up a little boost. OK enough anti-troll disclaimers and lets kick tires here.

The pros you mention are trying to stay in their address posture. So they are very meticulous about what that posture is at setup and then they work on keeping the distance from the chest down to the ball rotating in a way that the arms (which don't shrink or grow in length - and the club which also doesn't shrink or grow - all working in a way that returns that club on the through swing moving right about where it all was as setup.

Now technically - things have changed by the time we reach impact - the lower body have turned more toward the target, the right elbow is passing in front of the right hip - but must assuredly IF that chest turns right around back through the same area without wandering all around the map - those arms and club will bring that club back down and through the shot for a solid strike.

Your drill with the shoulders is one of what I consider a four part attack to conquering this whole "stay in posture" mentality. If the other parts are lacking a little the shoulder turn will help - BUT will tend to go right back where it was before you started doing that one drill. So in my mind that drill is great! It just needs a few things you work back and fourth through WITH that drill to make sure it becomes part of your swing - and part of staying in posture until that ball is long gone.

The other things that would go with it are:

1. Getting setup in the right starting posture so that all this can happen. That would mean how it looks and feels in every regard both face-on and down-the-line. That would include the right alignment of knees shoulders hips, arches of the feet - the whole smash.
2. Getting a little secondary spine tilt (or reverse K) involved in that setup. That key.
3. Doing exactly what you are doing with the shoulders - namely getting them to turn like the top of a "T" at right angles to that address spine as seen down-the-line.
4. Making sure there is a little depth of hip turn going back and a similar depth of turning that starts very quietly at the top and in transition and deliberately continues until the ball is gone and your starting back up the follow-through plane.

For me what it takes to get all four working requires a little work in front of a cheap little closet mirror with the club in my hands - working both on what I see face on AND what I see happening down the line. If that chest is lifting above the horizon - getting to the top then that signals the posture is changing. Something then MUST have broken down in the other three issues on the list. Maybe those hips aren't actually turning (say one hip or the other is basically freezing up during the swing) - if I started off in a goofy posture - that would do it - If from face on I see that I swayed the hips and right knee over the back foot - well that one would destroy that whole notion of swing around a secondary spine tilt (#2 above).

Here is a link that will help with #1 above. I wouldn't get too bogged down at this point with ever little bit of minutiae in it technically. What I would do is get the general posture and idea of this added spine tilt built right into my setup and use those mirrors to see it and feel for immediate feedback rather than trying drills and watching video (which takes a lot of time with feedback occurring to your eyes when you stop and view tape.)

[url="http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/AddressSetup.htm"]http://perfectgolfsw...ddressSetup.htm[/url]

Next - I would just focus on HOW that secondary tilt works for you. IF you allow the right hip to drift actually a touch behind your right heel as you finish the backswing - you will find that the shoulders CAN turn the way you are working to turn them a little easier as seen from DTL. THEN from face one you will notice that your upper spine is actually a fraction farther from the target at the top than your lower back and hips are -- WHY? Because you built that right into your set with that added little bit of tilt.

Once you get to the top you can watch in that face-on mirror and see if your right knee wandered over your right foot going back which would mean you didn't allow the right hip to drift back behind you a touch. (In effect you drift the right knee laterally over the foot OR you deepen the hip turn - and its important to pick one or the other so that you can stay in posture all the way to the too. Picking a little deeper hip turn to finish the backswing is the one that will keep you in posture and help keep the shoulders from turning level with the horizon a little better. ]

Then at the top you should feel like there is all this extra room down in front of your belly and right hip for the right elbow to sort of lead the hands and handle into the bottom of the swing. That will allow you to just unhinge the hands rather than throw them at the back of the ball. Lots of feels and things fall into place like how the weight goes more into the right heel at the top and how your TURN will drive the downswing more than your hands and arms.

So these are the approaches I would take personally if it were me. There is some instructor somewhere out there for you who could help you with every bit of this and more -- get you setup really well in minutes - walk you through all this with any and all drills needed. I do hope this gets you going a little better and that a pro and you are or soon will be comparing notes on all this stuff.

Best to you out there and have yourself some fun!