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Swing the club from bottom to the top

Jman said:
I swear you're talking directly to me.
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yep..this OTT thing has been the number one epidemic for all of us. When I first started playing in mid 80's...coming OTT with that old equipment was brutal. You don't see a lot of "boomerang slices" like I used to do or used to see back in the day. A lot of toe shots and shanks as well.. I just cringe thinking about some of those shots.. Uck...

good do thread here
 
I've been really working on my hip move for about a year and it has proven to be about the most frustrating thing I have ever undertaken in this game. It took months just to even begin to feel it, and that feeling will disappear in a heartbeat over some pressure shots. Also, in order for me to start the downswing with the hips, I actually have to think about starting the down swing by swinging my knees towards the target. I also had to shorten up my back swing considerably to give myself "overhead" in my back muscles to leave my shoulders behind while starting with the lower body. If I take the club back too far, I have to release the shoulders before I can even begin to turn the lower body.

This move definitely requires increased flexibility. I am working on this by standing next to a shoulder high dresser to my right (RH golfer), taking my set up position with a club, then (while not coming out of the set up position) I turn and set the butt of the club on top of the dresser with the shaft "on plane" and the left arm straight. I then gently roll my knees to the left while slightly squatting down. All the while maintaining my spine angles. I will then slowly move the club further behind me and repeat the knee roll and gentle squat.

Warning: The first time I did this there were a whole lot of popping noise from my hips and back.

I have seen some improvement in my sequencing, but even after all of the stretching and hitting thousands of balls, my hips still have the tendency to move in towards the ball at the start of the swing. Like I said, this has been one of the most frustrating corrections I have ever tried to make. But I know it is something that I have to do if I ever hope to get consistent. Turning 50 next year isn't helping the process either. :)
 
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BradMorris said:
I've been really working on my hip move for about a year and it has proven to be about the most frustrating thing I have ever undertaken in this game. It took months just to even begin to feel it, and that feeling will disappear in a heartbeat over some pressure shots. Also, in order for me to start the downswing with the hips, I actually have to think about starting the down swing by swinging my knees towards the target. I also had to shorten up my back swing considerably to give myself "overhead" in my back muscles to leave my shoulders back while starting with the lower body. If I take the club back too far, I have to release the shoulders before I can even begin to turn the lower body.

This move definitely requires increased flexibility. I am working on this by standing next to a shoulder high dresser to my right (RH golfer), taking my set up position with a club, then (while not coming out of the set up position) I turn and set the butt of the club on top of the dresser with the shaft "on plane" and the left arm straight. I then gently roll my knees to the left while slightly squatting down. All the while maintaining my spine angles. I will then slowly move the club further behind me and repeat the knee roll and gentle squat.

Warning: The first time I did this there were a whole lot of popping noise from my hips and back.

I have seen some improvement in my sequencing, but even after all of the stretching and hitting thousands of balls, my hips still have the tendency to move in towards the ball at the start of the swing. Like I said, this has been one of the most frustrating corrections I have ever tried to make. But I know it is something that I have to do if I ever hope to get consistent. Turning 50 next year isn't helping the process either. :)
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I know the feeling. I just turned fifty last year and the older I get the harder it becomes to get the seperation between the upper body and the lower body. I have been working on starting with the right knee trying to do this several times in slow motion each night.
 
ROliver said:
I know the feeling. I just turned fifty last year and the older I get the harder it becomes to get the seperation between the upper body and the lower body. I have been working on starting with the right knee trying to do this several times in slow motion each night.
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That's how I started. Just turning the club back to waist high (with the shoulders) while maintaining my posture, then rolling my knees towards the target to start. Sounds easy. It isn't. You are right about the decreased separation between hips and shoulders. Just need to make sure we stretch out before we play, well, actually, before every shot at this point.
 
Love this thread and I fought this demon for quite some time.

I literally went to the backyard and I would get to the top of my swing, stop and then do a hip bump with my left bump. I remember doing it 100 times to try and cement it in my brain!

My miss to this day is a pull and it happens when I dont bump those hips.
 
After watching some pro's moves, I've noticed that many of them actually start their knee/hip/butt move towards the target not *after* they reach the top of their swing, but while the shoulders/arms/club are still going back!
 
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I struggled with this move my entire golfing life until this past September. As a matter of fact, I was doing the exact opposite and reverse pivoting at times. My instructor had me work on little parts of this move each week, and before I knew it I was doing this without ever thinking about it. The first thing we did was shift my weight a bit forward at setup to keep my right hip from swaying.

The big break through came while doing L to Y drills. I would take the club back in one piece, pause at the "L" position near the top of my swing and then use my lower half to generate the power for the down swing. If you use all arms in this drill you will hit hosel rockets or pulls off the inside. The picture that I have for my avatar is me doing this drill with my driver, and you can see the amount of force generated by just my legs from a stopped position by seeing how loaded the shaft is.

This is another exercise I do to work on that "bump".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkddJ3lTyz0
 
Freddie. How much bump is too much? I bump so far left that I can't clear my left side.

Again how much is too much?
 
Thanks for bumping this thread Blugold. I feel like I just discovered a treasure chest full of swing gold. Sorry...can't help myself.

Hi Freddie,
This is a quote from your thread with TeeJay. Is the thumb to thumb drill similar to the move that you are describing in this thread? I was doing the thumb to thumb drill today, and I kinda feel like that may help me stay in my spine angle better. The release feel much less labored than my normal swing.

I'd like you to work on a drill I call thumb to thumb. Take your normal grip and set up. Once you have gripped the club raise the thumb on your right hand. Like you are hitchhiking for a ride.

As you take the club away, you thumb should be pointed to the sky when it reaches you right hip. Work on this motion, get a feel for it.

From the the right hip I'd like you to swing through to the left hip. The thumb on your right hand should be pointed toward the sky. This should put the back of your right hand facing away from you. Work on this at a speed that allows you to feel what I am talking about.

From the right to the left hip is where all the action takes place. Once the club reaches the top of the sing and your down swing is started by the left hip, the club will naturally drop from the top. Once the club drops the arm swing is activated through impact and to the finish. This is basically the left hip, inertia keep the club moving to the finish.


 
This is something I struggle with a lot, specifically with driver. I have a hard time feeling the bump dropping the club in the slot. I know I just try to do too much and mess things all up. I need to work on this more.
 
There is no bump, its a turn away from the ball. You flip because your bump puts you out in front the ball. If that left hip pulled back away from the ball, you would see a different deliver and would not need to swing so hard.
blugold said:
Freddie. How much bump is too much? I bump so far left that I can't clear my left side.

Again how much is too much?
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Tadashi70 said:
There is no bump, its a turn away from the ball. You flip because your bump puts you out in front the ball. If that left hip pulled back away from the ball, you would see a different deliver and would not need to swing so hard.
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So no bump? There should be no lateral weight shift? Just turn left hip back away from the ball? Will that put me on my heels?
 
I am so damned confused. Hip bump. It is bottling my mind. Everything I have read states that there should be a weight shift into the front leg then a hip rotation. I played last night and thought "work left hip away from the ball" and had my worst 9 of the year. I don't think I took a divot or finished on my left leg on a single swing.
 
I think or the bump as the beginning of my swing and then away from the ball. If I don't then I can easily sway and my head gets in front of the ball. If I try to move away first, I end up on my heals and back foot. Well, that's my thought anyway who knows what I'm doing, ha
 
J4U said:
If I try to move away first, I end up on my heals and back foot. Well, that's my thought anyway who knows what I'm doing, ha
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That is what I felt last night as I was not bumping my hips
 
Tadashi70 said:
so fold your arms across your chest and turn the shoulder 90*. Keep the flex in the lower body (knees). Once you've made that coil pull your right hip off the line ( since you golf from the wrong side of the ball) tell me what happens to your shoulders.

This is the move that pulls you through the hitting area. The upper body still swing and you still have to stay on top of the ball with your chest but that bump eliminates trying to drop in the slot.
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I will have to keep this in mind on my next range session. My iron striking is improving thanks to your tips and my lessons, but I am now seeing a bad left hook. My pro said it was mostly due to me dropping my left hip causing some downswing issues. I will give this a go tomorrow and hope to see some results.
 
So from what I have read in this thread there are 2 dominant feels people have gone with in "move the right knee towards the ball" or "create space between the knees my moving left knee out." Correct me if I am wrong that these both do the same thing?
 
blugold said:
What's interesting, I don't think that is what Freddie is saying...


I don't know. my brain is close to critical capacity.
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Just guessing here at this point, but from some other tips Freddie has given me, my initial thought was a combination of turning the left hip away, or right hip toward the ball, along with pushing off the inside of your right foot would create the proper weight shift to the left side.
 
Alright pandaman. I have developed that extreme hip bump/slide that gets me super in front. Looking at video, my left hip gets way in front of my left knee. I don't like that position.

The move I spoke about earlier and have seen Faldo talk about is the "swinging" of the left knee down the line. Will that move help clear the hips without a massive slide?
 
blugold said:
Alright pandaman. I have developed that extreme hip bump/slide that gets me super in front. Looking at video, my left hip gets way in front of my left knee. I don't like that position.

The move I spoke about earlier and have seen Faldo talk about is the "swinging" of the left knee down the line. Will that move help clear the hips without a massive slide?
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The goal is to swing into a firm left side. And allow the right side to follow. You can either drive the right knee down into the ball which will drive the left hip back. Or you can get on that left heel on the down swing and spin out as you drive through the shot.
 
Tadashi70 said:
The goal is to swing into a firm left side. And allow the right side to follow. You can either drive the right knee down into the ball which will drive the left hip back. Or you can get on that left heel on the down swing and spin out as you drive through the shot.
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I know that "posting up" is important. As stiff and straight a right leg as possible?
 
blugold said:
I know that "posting up" is important. As stiff and straight a right leg as possible?
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What? The right leg remains flexed and you pivot on the toe.
 
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