Exactly how do the hips work in a high performance swing?

[jpeck]

Start the downswing with the lower body. Bump the left hip. Slide, then turn the hips. Don't slide, turn the left hip back and around. Turn like you are swinging in a barrel. The right hip pushes the left hip out of the way. Did I miss any?

Exactly how do the hips move in a tour quality swing? What happens, and what is the relationship with weight transfer? Does anyone actually know how to describe it? Is it just a matter of falling arse backward into finding it?

And what do we mean when we say 'the hips'? There is a pelvis down there; hip bones, and thigh bones too.

 

[Matt Bryda]

And what do we mean when we say 'the hips'? There is a pelvis down there; hip bones, and thigh bones too.

According to information I have read here on this site and some information from Phil Cheetham's site I like to think of hips as the hip/neck relationship and how the spine bends during the swinging motion.

Matt

 

[MikeD2]

Could you explain that, please?

 

[Matt Bryda]

I think just keeping in mind that the hip end of the hip/neck relationship should be closer to the target than the neck part at impact and this hip location is closer to the target than the hip part was at address. I think Brian used to refer to this as axis tilt.
Also important is when this bend or tilt happens.

Matt

 

[lookingtolearn]

Start the downswing with the lower body. Bump the left hip. Slide, then turn the hips. Don't slide, turn the left hip back and around. Turn like you are swinging in a barrel. The right hip pushes the left hip out of the way. Did I miss any?

Exactly how do the hips move in a tour quality swing? What happens, and what is the relationship with weight transfer? Does anyone actually know how to describe it? Is it just a matter of falling arse backward into finding it?

And what do we mean when we say 'the hips'? There is a pelvis down there; hip bones, and thigh bones too.

Maybe this will help:

The Hips

 

[CanadianAMFTeachPro]

Average tour player numbers on a 6 iron are 17 cm of lateral bump from backswing to impact. Center of Mass moves slightly before unwinding begins and maximal rotation speed occures EARLY in downswing phase and slows down through impact. Vast majority of players fire hips too late causing a lack of transfer from hips to shoulders to arms to clubs. Only way to square club up with late hip firing is to cast, or actively release/roll clubface.

 

[westy]

useful

Use your hips to transfer the power they get delivered from below them to above.... centering and transferring.

 

[Ringer]

All I know is the sooner I push my right knee and hip toward the toes of my left foot, the better I hit the ball. Seems to work when I suggest it to others too.

 

[self-mastery]

Are tour swings really that high performance? Beside maybe 10 guys, no one out there is really hitting true bombs or is capable of bombing it.

A 300 yard drive is not a bomb.

 

[holeout]

All I know is the sooner I push my right knee and hip toward the toes of my left foot, the better I hit the ball. Seems to work when I suggest it to others too.

A certain amount of that does happen, but it's all relative man.

If I feel what you described, especially early in the downwing, it's block/push fade city. My current sensation is that I stay extremely closed with the hips on the downswing, almost like I don't open them at all.

It all depends on what you do now and what you're trying to do.