Ever heard a golf commentator say a player is clearing their hips beautifully, but honestly had no idea what that really meant? You're not alone. It’s one of those common phrases in golf that can feel like insider jargon, but understanding and applying it is a total game-changer for your power and consistency. This article will show you exactly what it means to clear your hips, why it is so important for a good golf swing, and give you practical, easy-to-follow drills to start doing it correctly.
Let's forget stuffy, technical definitions for a moment. At its core, "clearing the hips" simply means rotating your hips open and out of the way during the downswing so they are pointing at or even left of the target at the moment of impact.
Imagine a revolving door. For someone to walk through, the door has to turn and move out of the way. If it stays shut, you're blocked. In the golf swing, your arms and the club are the person trying to walk through the door. Your hips are the revolving door. By rotating, or "clearing," your hips create the space for your arms and the club to powerfully swing through the impact zone on the proper path.
In the backswing, your hips rotate away from the target. The downswing is a sequence where that rotation reverses. Clearing the hips is this unwinding action. A good way to visualize this is to think about your belt buckle. At the top of your backswing, it might point slightly away from the ball. By the time you make contact with the ball, an efficient swing will have that belt buckle pointing at your target. This is the essence of hip clearance.
So, why all the fuss about this one move? Because what your hips do in the downswing has a massive influence on everything else. When done correctly, it unlocks three huge benefits for your game.
Your body is the engine of your golf swing, not your arms. The initial movement in the downswing creates a sequence of events - often called the kinetic chain - that generates clubhead speed. This sequence starts from the ground up: feet, legs, hips, torso, arms, and, finally, the club. The powerful and timely rotation of the hips is what transfers energy up through your torso and unleashes it down into your arms and the clubhead. Without this hip rotation, you are forced to generate all the speed with just your arms, which is a massive power leak and a recipe for inconsistency.
One of the most common swing faults for amateur golfers is the dreaded "over-the-top" move. This is when the downswing starts with the shoulders and arms throwing the club out and away from the body, leading to a steep, outside-to-in swing path that produces slices and pulled shots. Clearing your hips first actually traps your arms and club on an inside path. When your hips open up, it forces the club to drop into "the slot," attacking the ball from the inside, which is fundamental for solid, straight shots and creating a powerful draw.
When your hips stop rotating and stall through the shot, something has to give. Typically, the hands and arms take over, flipping the club at the ball in an attempt to save the shot. This leads to wildly inconsistent contact - you might hit one shot fat, the next thin, and occasionally you might get lucky. Proper hip clearance keeps the body turning. This constant rotation helps maintain the radius of your swing and stabilizes the clubface through impact, giving you much more predictable and solid ball striking. It's the difference between hoping for good contact and expecting it.
Not sure if this is a problem in your swing? Here are three classic signs that your hips are not clearing effectively.
Feeling how to do this correctly is more important than just thinking about it. Use these steps as a guide, preferably practicing them first in slow motion without even hitting a ball.
Reading about it is one thing, but training your body to do it requires drills. Spend some time on these. They work.
This is the best drill for fixing early extension.
This drill exaggerates the feeling of a full, uninhibited turn through the ball.
This is a great feel-based drill to use on the course before you hit a shot.
At the end of the day, clearing your hips is about getting them open toward the target to power the swing and create space. It’s what connects your motion together, shifting your swing from an arm-sy, disconnected motion to a powerful, body-driven sequence. Mastering this takes practice, but the payoff in terms of power, accuracy, and solid contact is enormous.
Getting a new swing move to feel natural takes reps and the right kind of feedback. That's a big part of why we created Caddie AI. If you're practicing rotating your hips but aren't sure if you're swaying or spinning, you can ask for specific drills or look for a simple explanation of the move. We're here 24/7 to provide that clear, expert guidance on questions big and small so you can stop guessing and feel more confident over every shot.
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