Clearing the Hips

[Lobby]

What does it mean?

 

why is it important?

 

what happens if you don’t clear them?

 

can one make a good swing without clearing them?

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

31 minutes ago, Lobby said:

What does it mean?

 

why is it important?

 

what happens if you don’t clear them?

 

can one make a good swing without clearing them?

 

 

1. Vague, so mostly meaningless

2. What’s important is to move the hips correctly...for you personally.  That can be a long discussion depending on the instance.

3. Poor hip movement makes things much harder.

4.  In the context that’s most often used, which is getting them wide open at impact, yes, you can have a good swing without doing that.

[juststeve]

In my humble nonprofessional opinion clearing the hips ruins more golf swing than it help.  People who emphasize hip clearing often leave the club head behind resulting in a lot of sorrow.  If you permit you body to react naturally to the motion of the club your hips will clear the right amount and at the right time for you.

[golfsticks]

Generally means getting the hell out of the way. 

 

Allows free passage to an incoming kinetic chain.

 

Promotes hitting up instead of a down. 

 

Yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zitlow]

The hips are just one cog in the machine. 

 

[nsxguy]

Another nonprofessional POV.

 

Agree with @MonteScheinblum. Like most things in life extremes seldom work well.

 

The way I view it, if I "clear" too much, as @juststeve alludes to, the clubhead lags way behind and is often open at impact.

 

If I don't "clear" enough, i.e. my hips "stall", my arms take over and the club face tends to be closed at impact, starting the ball left.

 

Golf, eh ? 

[ALIF]

Search Monte's "ballerina 68 move".

[scooterhd2]

my golf swing got worlds better when I stopped trying to clear the hips. That was getting me into all kinds of trouble where I was spinning my body trying to get the hips as open as a pros. And the shoulders would follow and get somewhat open as well. OTT, blocks, 2 way miss. all the fun stuff.

 

Monte's zipper away, Malaska's left hip back, and Padraig Harringtons hip movement videos are really great resources. Seem to get the hips clear without trying. More focused on giving yourself room to hit the ball and pivot properly, and then the hips just clear naturally. just like skipping a stone, swinging an axe, hitting a tennis ball, you dont actively think about trying to clear the hips. it just happens when you put your body in a great position to swing/throw with power. 

[GLF4EVR]

You will not get any concrete answers on this one.  What it can mean to one person will be something totally different to another person.  My own "thinking" on it is just specific to my swing.  For me, it involves turning my hips before the hands have made it past the right hip (right handed golfer).  If I turn the right hip before the hands are there usually results in a Snagglepuss shot...exit, stage right.

[Nard_S]

The idea of increasing the distance between hands and lead hip (P4->P6) is a good one. Other than that I don't "clear".  My thought: Lead hip pulls back, right pec points at ball, then hands & elbows over right knee. Boom!

[bogeypro]

My thought is simply shift weight to your forward heel.  

 

Clearing or turning made me spin spin then open and early extend.  

[coops]

This is the one I like about hip movement - and it's not to try to 'twist' the hips around

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by coops

[freowho]

The body should simply counter balance the strike. Because we are striking the back of the ball with a rotational force we are counter balancing a point ahead of the ball. If you have a forward posture your hips will stay deep like Mickey Wright as she got older. If you have a backwards posture your hips will come out like Ben Hogan. There is no need to clear anything. 

[ebk]

Someday, "clear the hips" will be regarded the same way as "pull the handle," imo.

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, ebk said:

Someday, "clear the hips" will be regarded the same way as "pull the handle," imo.

Someday was last week😜

 

well said

[straightshot7]

 

Every single top player seems to have their hips "open" at impact. If you are looking to maximize your "dynamics" and your distance/accuracy you generally have to have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact.

 

This is the same as asking if you need to open your hips to throw a football a long way. yeah, if you want to throw the football far you will clear/open your hips. 

 

Do they need to be "wide open"? No. But if your hips don't open at all, generally you have to throw/flip/stand up to get the club head to the ball. 

 

In general, the most athletic/efficient swing will involve opening of the hips on the downswing with club/arms/hands trailing. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by straightshot7

[freowho]

33 minutes ago, straightshot7 said:

 

Every single top player seems to have their hips "open" at impact. If you are looking to maximize your "dynamics" and your distance/accuracy you generally have to have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact.

 

This is the same as asking if you need to open your hips to throw a football a long way. yeah, if you want to throw the football far you will clear/open your hips. 

 

Do they need to be "wide open"? No. But if your hips don't open at all, generally you have to throw/flip/stand up to get the club head to the ball. 

 

In general, the most athletic/efficient swing will involve opening of the hips on the downswing with club/arms/hands trailing. 

Mimicking positions is a disaster. Asking someone to "have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact." will lead to "throw/flip/stand up to get the club head to the ball."

 

Good players aren't trying to "have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact."

 

They are trying to whip the clubface into the back of the ball and counter balancing that force.

[Hilts1969]

A minor point but I don’t like terms such as don’t leave the clubhead behind the turn or don’t let the club head lag. 

 

You don’t want your arms to lag/be behind your turn but the club should do so.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Hilts1969

[straightshot7]

10 hours ago, freowho said:

Mimicking positions is a disaster. Asking someone to "have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact." will lead to "throw/flip/stand up to get the club head to the ball."

 

Good players aren't trying to "have the club trailing from the inside and have your hips/shoulders opening through impact."

 

They are trying to whip the clubface into the back of the ball and counter balancing that force.

I never said that is the advice I would give someone.

 

I was describing what physically happens, whether someone consciously knows it or not. 

 

I also never suggested mimicking positions.

 

The question was whether "clearing the hips" is important, necessary, etc...and I am saying yes. You can't physically deliver the club-head well to the ball, with speed and without extreme early extension, unless you open/clear your hips on the downswing to some degree.

 

Now, what people think about when they swing or what you "ask someone to" do is a totally different topic.

[kadey]

So how does one clear the hips without thinking about clearing the hips? At the moment if I don't think about it, my pivot stalls and I flip. 

[11bravoveteran]

Why is it that women are so much better at clearing the hips in general compared to men? Even newer women golfers seem to grasp this opening to target and not as many early extend... in general.

What are they doing right in the beginning that we can learn from?

[coops]

18 minutes ago, kadey said:

So how does one clear the hips without thinking about clearing the hips? At the moment if I don't think about it, my pivot stalls and I flip. 

 

See the Malaska video I put above - it's not about trying to 'twist' the hips, wrenching them around with your core/abs etc.. so realising what moves the hips is useful.

 

and ofr early extension check this other Malaska video - if you can walk backwards you can 'turn your hips' and not early extend...

 

 

[coops]

2 minutes ago, coops said:

 

See the Malaska video I put above - it's not about trying to 'twist' the hips, wrenching them around with your core/abs etc.. so realising what moves the hips is useful.

 

and for early extension check this other Malaska video - if you can walk backwards you can 'turn your hips' and not early extend... (except that you're probably early extending in order to get the clubhead to the ball also... so that cause needs fixing too)

 

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

35 minutes ago, kadey said:

So how does one clear the hips without thinking about clearing the hips? At the moment if I don't think about it, my pivot stalls and I flip. 

You have an undiagnosed issue.

[Zitlow]

36 minutes ago, 11bravoveteran said:

Why is it that women are so much better at clearing the hips in general compared to men? Even newer women golfers seem to grasp this opening to target and not as many early extend... in general.

What are they doing right in the beginning that we can learn from?

 

Just a guess but I'd say because women swing their hips when they walk. 

[MK7Golf21]

1 hour ago, 11bravoveteran said:

Why is it that women are so much better at clearing the hips in general compared to men? Even newer women golfers seem to grasp this opening to target and not as many early extend... in general.

What are they doing right in the beginning that we can learn from?

I haven’t really compared to notice but from a physical standpoint women generally have pretty strong hips and legs, I’ve seen women in my gym squat some decent numbers but they lack the upper body strength that men have. So maybe they don’t try to over power the shot with upper body as much as men? Just a thought 

[GolfTurkey]

There was another thread on this recently and I posted the Harrington video where he said that when people try to clear turn their left hip out of the way, they do it incorrectly and the right hip and knee go out towards the ball. You can feel the wrong way; there will be no tension in your butt cheeks but if you do it correctly with your right hip "tucking under" while your left shoulder retracts and pulls up you will feel your butt cheeks clenching together in the follow through.

 

There are two drills that I can suggest for the correct feel / technique:

 

1. Find a full length mirror and get into a good P6 position. Imagine that you are teeing off in front of your boss / cart girl / new girlfriend etc. Now pretend that at P6 you feel the world's biggest ever shart incoming and imagine that you are going to do everything in your power to resist it. Observe in the mirror how you extend and use the ground, the butt tucks under and your butt cheeks are clenched together like a vise in the follow through - with absolutely no EE or right hip move towards the ball. You get all the good downswing stuff "for free" with this one simple swing thought.

 

2. (Not for beginners, master drill 1 first). Take a strong laxative, wait 30 minutes and perform the above drill for real at the range.

[straightshot7]

51 minutes ago, Redjeep83 said:

I haven’t really compared to notice but from a physical standpoint women generally have pretty strong hips and legs, I’ve seen women in my gym squat some decent numbers but they lack the upper body strength that men have. So maybe they don’t try to over power the shot with upper body as much as men? Just a thought 

I think you're 100% correct. Especially if a man comes to the game a little later (age 25+) when they are already physically developed and strong, the tendency is to want to swing at the ball with the arms/upper body because the club is light. We wouldn't try that with a sledge hammer but with this light club I feel like I can throw my hands and create power. 

 

A woman, especially young woman, with little upper body strength must use her lower body to create speed. 

[LeftDaddy]

As long as you don’t want speed, consistent contact, and good start lines, opening your lead hip prior to impact isn’t terribly important. 
 

But having that hip open is a consequence of a good sequence of weight shift and lower body separation, etc. that leads to compression of the ball and speed through impact and better start lines. 
 

And I should know... I’ve had literally zero hip turn for most of my golfing life, and I’ve stunk for most of it too. I’ve played decent here and there over the years, but have never had any consistency. I’m working to fix all of that, and it is a sloooow process, but I’m encouraged by some recent progress. And I fought the notion of hip turn for so long (because I thought I couldn’t do it), and would agree that focusing on hip turn isn’t the way to fix the root problem. I’m just trying to fight the notion that having your hips open at impact isn’t a good goal to pursue. The “how” of it is what most people have a problem with, not that open hips at impact aren’t somehow important. 

Edited January 6, 2021 by LeftDaddy

[freowho]

How much clearing is Jack doing here? How deep are his hips?

And he is not early extending.