How Important Are The Hips In The Golf Swing?

The hips are the initiators of the forward swing in golf, and therefore an extremely important component of any long shot that requires power. Understanding the contribution of the hips to a golf swing, and the timing of opening them, will help you add more distance to your shots.

Getting Power

To hit the golf ball far, you need to get your club traveling fast. The faster your clubhead is traveling when it hits the ball, the farther your ball will fly. You generate club speed by coordinating your lower body, core, shoulders and arms in that order, allowing your club to move forward without interruption.

Kinetic Chain of Events

Sport movements use a kinetic chain of events that transfer energy created in one body part to the next. If you break this chain, you decrease the power you can generate. For example, tennis players who lead with their hips create a push-through motion and generate more power than those who jerk their hips backward, creating a pull-through motion, according to sport biomechanist Dr. Ben Kibler of the Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center. Opening your trunk too early or too late during golf, baseball or tennis swings can create a lag between the time you open and the time your arm or arms come through, decreasing power.

Contribution to Power

German tennis researchers found that it takes approximately 4,000 watts of power to create a professional-level swing. You can generate 100 to 150 watts of power per kilo of body weight. You therefore generate more power with larger parts of your body, such as the hips, than you do with small parts of the body, such as the arms or wrists.

Timing

During a golf swing, you take the club back, slow down or pause slightly at the top of the swing, then begin your forward swing. The forward swing should start in the lower body, not the arms, if you want to generate the most power. You do this by moving your hips forward, driving your weight onto your front leg. Doing this pulls your shoulders and arm forward, accelerating them at a faster rate than if you stood still and started your forward swing with your arms pushing your shoulders, then shoulders, trunk, hips and legs.

Feeling

When you hit a golf ball, you should feel as if your shoulders are pulling your arms and club forward, rather than as if your arms are pushing your shoulders. If you open your hips before you start moving your arms forward, you'll feel this correct arm-pulling motion with your shoulders. "Throw" your hip at the ball to start your forward swing, and your shoulders, arm and club will follow naturally and with less effort.