How to Use the Hips in a Golf Swing

Unlocking real power and consistency in your golf swing isn’t about swinging harder with your arms. It’s about learning to use your body’s true engine - your hips. Mastering the correct hip movement is what separates fluid, powerful swings from jerky, inconsistent ones. This guide will break down exactly how your hips should move, covering the backswing, the all-important downswing, and sharing some simple drills to help you feel the proper rotation on your own.

Your Hips: The True Source of Power

Think of the most powerful athletic movements you’ve seen. A baseball player hitting a home run, a boxer throwing a knockout punch, or a tennis player smashing a forehand. What do they all have in common? They all generate explosive force from their hips. Your golf swing should do the same. The hip movement is where the swing's power originates. If you're struggling to gain power and consistency, it's likely due to an underutilization of your hips.

When you use your arms and shoulders alone, you’re essentially trying to power a car with a lawnmower engine. You might move the golf ball a little bit, but there’s no real power behind your swing. The real power comes from your body's core, primarily your hips.

The Hip Movement in the Backswing: Rotation, Not Sway

One of the most persistent myths in golf is the idea of "restricting" your hip turn. Many have heard the advice to keep the body as quiet as possible, but this creates tension and restricts the swing's power. The correct turn is what generates power in the backswing.

It’s All About the Turn

From your setup, the first move away from the ball should involve your torso - your shoulders and hips - rotating together. Imagine you are standing inside a barrel. As you start your backswing, your goal is to turn your body within the confines of that barrel. Your trail hip (the right hip for a right-handed golfer) should feel like it's rotating back and away from the ball, moving deeper behind you.

What you want to avoid at all costs is the sway. This happens when your hips slide laterally instead of rotating. A pure rotation keeps your pressure on the inside of your trail foot, putting you in a stable position at the top of your swing.

• Good Feeling: Feel your belt buckle slowly turn away from the target, pointing somewhere behind the golf ball at the top of your swing.
• Bad Feeling: Feeling all your weight shift to the outer edge of your trail foot. If you feel this, you are likely swaying, not turning.

The Downswing: The Shift and Unwind

If the backswing is about storing energy, the downswing is about powerfully releasing it. This is where golfers with excellent hip action generate effortless-looking speed. The sequence starts from the ground up.

Step 1: The "Bump" or Lateral Shift

The first movement to initiate the downswing isn’t to swing your arms or spin your shoulders open. It is a small, subtle but incredibly important lateral "bump" of your hips toward the target. Think of shifting your weight from the inside of your trail foot to the inside of your lead foot. This move is crucial for two reasons:

1. It establishes the proper low point for your swing, ensuring you hit the ball first and then the turf for that crisp, compressed iron shot.
2. It drops the club slightly "into the slot," preventing the common "over the top" move that causes slices.

You’ll know you’re doing it right when you feel a slight increase of pressure in your lead foot before your arms have started to accelerate downward.

Step 2: The Unraveling and Rotation

Immediately after that small lateral shift, your hips should powerfully rotate open towards the target. This "unravels" the tension you created in your backswing, leading your torso, shoulders, and finally, your arms and the club through the impact zone.

At the moment of impact, your hips should be more "open" (rotated towards the target) than your shoulders. This separation is often called the "X-Factor," and it is the key ingredient for creating lag and multiplying clubhead speed.

Common Hip Faults to Watch Out For

Understanding the theory is important, but recognizing common mistakes in your own swing is how you improve. Here are three major hip-related faults:

• The Early Extension: This occurs when a player loses their posture by thrusting the hips forward during the downswing. This often results in thin shots as the player must stand up to make contact.
• The Spin-Out: This happens when you rotate the hips aggressively without the initial lateral shift. The hips spin in place, causing the club to be thrown "over the top," leading to pulls or slices.
• The Stall: This occurs when your hips stop rotating through the impact zone. The arms take over, often leading to weak contact.

Drills to Feel the Right Hip Movement

Reading about hip movement is one thing, but feeling it is another. Here are a couple of great drills to try.

1. The Alignment Stick Drill

• Take your normal stance and thread an alignment stick through the front belt loops of your pants. The stick should be parallel with your feet to visually teach you hip rotation.
• In the Backswing: As you rotate back, the stick should point slightly behind you, indicating proper hip turn.
• In the Downswing: The stick should rotate towards the target, showing that your hips are correctly leading the swing.

2. The Step-Through Drill

• Start with your normal address position.
• As you swing back and then forward, take a small step forward with your lead foot as you start the downswing.
• This movement encourages your hips to lead the swing and promotes a forward weight transfer.

Final Thoughts

Mastering a powerful and repeatable golf swing begins with your hips. Incorporating the steps we discussed can help unlock your body's full potential. Correct hip movement starts with rotation in the backswing and powerful unwinding in the downswing.

Even with great drills, identifying issues in your swing isn’t always easy. That's where Caddie AI can help, providing access to a personal golf coach anytime you need. After you've tried these drills, if you're still uncertain, you can get analysis to know for sure. Our goal is to eliminate the guesswork, offering clear, actionable feedback so you can focus on building a swing you trust.