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A Powerful Two-Step Hip Drill for Your Backswing

By Greg Brown

One often overlooked yet crucial aspect of a powerful and precise golf swing is the role of the hips. 

To help you improve your game, let’s delve into a game-changing golf drill that focuses on harnessing the power of your hips. And who better to guide us through this journey than the legendary golf professional Tiger Woods.

Woods has frequently emphasized the importance of proper hip movement in achieving a consistent and powerful swing. Indeed, understanding and optimizing hip rotation can significantly impact the distance and accuracy of your shots.

Here’s a simple yet effective hip drill that promises to elevate your swing game by focusing on your hips.

Step One: Set Your Stance

Begin by setting up in your normal golf stance, ensuring your feet are shoulder-width apart. Position the golf ball centrally in your stance, and ensure your weight is evenly distributed between both feet.

As you initiate your backswing, focus on allowing your hips to turn naturally with your upper body. Resist the temptation to overuse your arms or shoulders during this phase. The goal is to create a seamless connection between your upper body and hips, enabling a controlled and efficient wind-up.

Step Two: Transitioning

Now comes the crucial moment – the downswing. As you transition from the top of your backswing to the downswing, pay close attention to your hips. 

The key is to initiate the movement from your lower body, allowing your hips to lead the way. 

Turn your hips and shift your weight into your right heel but without swaying outside your trailing foot. This sequential movement not only adds power to your swing but also ensures a more accurate and controlled release of the clubhead.

Developing the hip turn helps you to turn into your trailing hip on the backswing. Doing this correctly keeps your hips deep through the downswing, avoiding early extension.

Think of how a baseball player swings a bat. The body leads the movement of the bat. Same thing happens here. The ratchet movement creates power that ends up expressed in the club face speed and, eventually, the ball.

Why It Works

Why does this hip-centric drill work wonders for your golf game? Firstly, it promotes a more coordinated and connected swing, eradicating the common issue of disjointed movements between the upper and lower body. 

Secondly, by prioritizing hip rotation, the drill aids in generating optimal torque, resulting in increased clubhead speed and consequently longer, more controlled shots.

Woods’ emphasis on the role of the hips highlights the transformative power of proper technique. 

“A lot of times when I’m getting tight [in my back, I struggle to get deep enough into that back hip. I stand up in my downswing, and that puts a lot of stress on my back,” Woods told GolfTV in 2019.

“But if I don’t feel like I can turn I can’t get back into my hip, so it’s all about how I train, how I feel, getting everything switched on…when I do it.”

By incorporating this hip drill into your practice routine, you’re not just honing a specific skill – you’re unlocking the potential for a more powerful, accurate, and consistent golf swing.

Hit Straighter, Farther Using This Easy Trick

By Greg Brown

For many players, hitting the ball farther and straighter is the ultimate goal, but achieving this can often feel elusive. However, with the right technique and practice, it’s entirely achievable. 

One effective method to improve both distance and accuracy in your shots is by incorporating a swinging drill into your training regimen.

Understanding the Mechanics

Before delving into the swinging drill, it’s crucial to grasp the fundamental mechanics of a golf swing. A proper swing involves a sequence of coordinated movements that generate power and control. 

Sometimes, that means just slowing down and feeling the shot, say the pros.

“I have a drill that I do often on the range and you’ll often see me before I hit a ball in a tournament, I’m often sort of rehearsing a feel. It looks like I’m putting the club way behind me,” says British PGA pro Justin Rose.

“And the reason I’m doing that is I’m trying to create the sensation and feel in my body that I need to hit the goal shot.”

These include the backswing, downswing, impact, and follow-through. Each phase requires precise timing, balance, and coordination to optimize clubhead speed and accuracy.

Swinging Drill: Step by Step

The following swinging drill is a valuable technique designed to refine your swing mechanics and promote consistency. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you incorporate this drill into your practice routine:

Grip and stance: Begin by ensuring a proper grip and stance. Your grip should be firm yet relaxed, with your hands positioned neutrally on the club. Maintain a shoulder-width stance, with your feet parallel to the target line.

Backswing focus: Initiate the swing by smoothly bringing the club back, focusing on a full shoulder turn while maintaining a stable lower body. Avoid excessive tension in your arms and wrists, allowing for fluid motion.

Pause at the top: Once you reach the top of your backswing, pause briefly to check your positioning. Ensure that your club is parallel to the ground and pointing towards your target. This pause helps reinforce proper alignment and sequencing.

Downswing transition: Transition into the downswing by shifting your weight from your back foot to your front foot while maintaining a controlled tempo. Rotate your hips and torso towards the target, unleashing the stored energy from your backswing.

Impact zone: Focus on striking the ball with a square clubface, aiming for a crisp impact at the center of the clubface. Maintain a slight forward lean with your hands ahead of the ball to compress it efficiently.

Extension and follow-through: After impact, extend your arms fully, allowing the club to swing through the ball and towards your target. Complete the swing with a balanced and relaxed follow-through, with your body facing the target and your weight transferred onto your front foot.

Mastering the Drill

To maximize the effectiveness of the swinging drill and enhance your performance on the course, consider the following tips:

  • Repetition is key to ingraining proper swing mechanics. Dedicate regular practice sessions to incorporate the swinging drill into your routine.
  • Record and analyze your swing, perhaps using a cellphone on a simple tripod. Identify any flaws or inconsistencies and work on correcting them systematically.
  • Improving your golf swing takes time and patience. Be prepared to endure setbacks and stay committed to continuous improvement.
  • Consider seeking advice from a certified golf instructor who can provide personalized feedback and guidance tailored to your specific needs.

Incorporating a swinging drill into your practice regimen can be a game-changer in your quest to hit the golf ball farther and straighter. By focusing on the fundamental mechanics of the swing and dedicating yourself to consistent practice, you can unlock your true potential on the course.

Try This Golf Drill To Be More Consistent With Your Shots

By N. Incoll

The lament about wanting to play more consistent golf is heard at every club, every week. At post-round interviews, the pros will talk about “just trying to put it all together for the next few days” or sometimes weeks. How often do we have a few great rounds and play to handicap, soaring like an eagle, only to crash and burn and end up as the feather-duster for the next few weeks? [Read more…]

Are You Over-Swinging?

By Joseph Mills

Many golfers have problems with over-swinging or taking too long on a backswing. It’s true that there are a few golfers out there that have an over-swing and still perform at the highest level, like pro John Daly. But in general, over-swinging is something you should try to avoid, as it can lead to many different wayward shots and inconsistencies. [Read more…]

Should You Putt Or Chip When Just Off The Green?

By Andrew O’Malley

When it comes to amateur players, this is one of the age-old questions out there. When you are on the short grass around the green, you have the choice to either chip it or putt it. This is a debate that many players struggle with. They tend to go back in forth between the two options, depending on how they are feeling at that moment in time. [Read more…]

4 Drills To Do EVERY Time At The Range

By Joseph Mills

As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect,” and this applies to many things — including golf. A great place to put in quality practice time is at the driving range, but if you’re like most golfers, your typical range practice may not be as effective as you think. Does your usual range routine consist of working through your clubs from wedge to driver one by one, not moving on to the next club until you’ve grooved your swing? Or even worse, you quickly thrash through your bucket of balls by seeing how far you can hit them with your driver?

If this is the case, and you’re serious about improving your golf swing, then you need a more productive way to spend your time while out on the driving range. One great way to add focus to your practice time is to incorporate some simple drills into your practice routine.

Drills can help your golf swing in many ways, so we’ve put together a list of four drills to do every time you’re at the range.

1. Practice like you’re on the course

Never spend all of your time on the range just bashing away at one club. If you want your driving range practice to transfer to the golf course, then you need to simulate real course conditions. When you’re playing a round, you’ll rarely use a certain club twice in a row (unless it’s your putter), so you shouldn’t be doing this on the driving range.

Alternate between clubs such as 7-iron, driver, wedge, another driver, fairway wood and so on. Or even go one step further and imagine you’re playing a specific course you know. Tee it up on the first hole with the club you usually use and then continue “playing” the whole course, excluding putting. You could even find yardage books for famous courses like St. Andrews or Pebble Beach, so you can simulate a round on one of these to really test yourself.

2. Work on your pre-shot routine

Professional players on tour spend huge amounts of time practicing. But if you have ever watched a pro at the range, either on television or if you’re lucky enough at a tournament, you’ll notice that every shot they take has their full focus. They won’t just walk up and hit a few golf balls, they make sure before every swing that they go through a pre-shot routine. You’ll see them line up behind the golf ball, pick a target and visualize the shot. Then they’ll move into the ball, aligning their feet and body with the target, then use a movement — such as a waggle — to release any stress or tension in the body so they can start their backswing smoothly.

If you don’t have a pre-shot routine, then making one and practicing it should be your top priority on the range. The most important part of your pre-shot routine needs to be consistency. It can be personal to you, but you need to be able to repeat it time and time again on the range or on the course, especially when you’re under pressure.

3. Do a 9 to 3 golf drill

This is one of my personal favorite drills and it’s my go-to as soon as I get on the range. It’s the perfect way to warm up and really groove your swing, either before a practice session or a round.

The 9 to 3 drill is basically a shorter version of your golf swing. You take the club back to 9 o’clock (looking as if your body was a clock face on), waist height parallel to the ground on the backswing, then you swing to 3 o’clock the other side, so waist height parallel on the follow-through. You can use any club ranging from a wedge to a 6-iron. This is a great way to check if you’re swinging on plane and your clubface is staying square. Once you can hit clean straight shots like this, your swing will improve drastically, as this is basically 90 percent of the golf swing. Once the 9 to 3 swing feels grooved and you start hitting crisp shots, move onto your full swing.

4. Do target practice

However frustrating and difficult golf can be, remember that it’s also a sport — so try to enjoy it. Making up challenges or games on the range can be fun and help you practice with a purpose. If you are with a friend or playing partner, why not try picking targets on the range and challenge them to see who can hit each spot first? This is a great way to practice your alignment and aim, and also to help you deal with competition and pressure on the course. If you’re practicing alone you can still try this; pick some targets and give different points to each target depending on the difficulty of hitting them, then set a number to beat or try to beat your last high score.

Were any of these drills useful to you? Let us know in the comments. Also share if you have any other drills you do every time you’re at the range. Now get out there and get practicing!

— Joseph Mills