When it comes to the hips in the golf swing and getting them to work properly, it can get a little tricky.
You will have to make sure your hips don’t speed up too much and also that they are fast enough.
This can be a difficult concept to handle, and it takes golfers some time to figure it out.
If you are one of those players who feels they need to slow their hips down, there are a few drills you can use to help.
Here are a few ways we use to slow our hips down when the issue presents itself.
How to Slow Hips Down in Golf
Unfortunately, slowing your hips down in your golf swing is not something you will be able to do in just one swing.
Most golfers need to work with a drill in order to get the feeling and the concept down.
Golf drills are the best way to work on your swing and take your game to the next level.
Here are four of the best drills for getting your hips to slow down in golf.
1. Drop the Arms
Many golfers have to make their arms feel more active in their swing so that they can slow the hips down.
When hips start to turn on their own, the golfer’s arms may have a hard time catching up.
Many players will swing to the top of their swing and then practice dropping the club with their arms.
They will get a feeling that the arms have to drop into play first before the rest of the swing can unfold and behind its downward descent.
If you are a player who feels as though your hips just start to spin out right from the top of your golf swing, this is a method which can work.
Of course, you will want to make sure that your hands are dropping down into the proper location.
Also, make sure that you are giving yourself time to make this transition.
Rushing your arms dropping into place is probably going to cause the golf shot to end poorly.
Most of the time, when a player rushes, the club is not dropping down on the proper path.
This is a drill that is used on the PGA Tour, and many of the guys have used it in their pre-shot routine as well.
Keeping this mindset of dropping the golf club is going to be a smart idea for golfers who have trouble with their hips.
2. Impact Preview
Another great drill to help your body learn the proper positioning of the hips is to preview the impact position.
Hold your club in your hands and set your hands and your hips to the way you want them to look at impact.
When you do this, you can give your body an idea of where you are headed.
This helps to make sure you end up in the ending position.
Many players practice their swing continually, but they forget to visualize what the impact position should look like.
Your chest and body will be looking towards the golf ball.
Your hips will be slightly cleared, but they will not be completely spun out.
This is important to consider as the impact preview is the ultimate goal in your golf game.
If you can start to train your brain not to spin your hips out as you enter the impact position, you will end up having much more success with your hips.
The best thing about this drill is that it will teach your hips to work together with the rest of your body.
3. Belt Buckle Drill
Many golf instructors will talk about the belt buckle in the golf swing.
It is quite essential to make sure that your belt buckle is in the right place throughout your golf swing.
The belt buckle provides you with a good reference point as to where your hips should be throughout your swing.
For the most part, you can learn positions of where the belt buckle should be at different points in your swing.
At impact, your belt buckle is going to be over the leading leg.
If the buckle has already turned out towards your target, then you are spinning your hips too fast.
Take some practice swings and see where your belt buckle is pointing at different points in your golf swing.
If you have the buckle in the right positions, you will find that your swing feels more connected, and you will likely have a better tempo.
Getting your body to work together is something that takes quite a bit of time but will be well worth the effort.
Try and take some videos of your golf swing as well.
If you are able to slow the video down and look at the impact position more closely, you will see how your belt buckle is functioning.
This helps players see the hips as well.
As you have probably noticed, many of the drills to slow hips down in golf are going to deal with feel more than anything else.
Unfortunately, there is no way to get this down without learning the proper feel and position of the clubs on your own.
4. Tee in the Ground
If you have ever had an issue with your golf swing that caused your hips to speed up a little too much, you know the path the club travels on.
Most of the time, when the hips spin out too fast, the club path will take a severe turn to the left.
Depending on the angle of the club face, this can cause the ball to fly way out to the right, or it may turn left as well.
Where the golf ball heads will depend on timing and how things end up, but overall, the results are probably not going to be great.
One way to start working on slowing the hips down is to pick a spot in front of the golf ball, straight down the line, that you can swing over the top of.
If you swing over the top of these tees and direct your club out this way, it will slow down your hips.
Your hips will have to come through the ball at a slightly slower speed in order for the golf club to travel down the line the way you need it to.
These drills are going to help you understand what it takes to make your hips move just a bit more slowly and turn at the pace you need them to.
It is easiest to practice the tee in the ground drill with the driver.
The finish and follow through is more extended with the driver, so it is easier for you to see and complete the process.
How Do You Slow Down a Golf Swing?
If you are a player who needs to slow down more than just your hips, it can be a bit difficult.
When golfers try to slow down their swing, the first thing that happens is they start to decelerate into the impact position.
This is potentially the worst thing you can do for your game, and it will likely lead to a very poor shot.
Golfers need always to be accelerating through the golf ball.
However, the concept of accelerating and swinging fast are very often confused.
Players need to swing at a pace they can handle while still accelerating through the ball.
In all the years we have been around the game, this has been accomplished most successfully by using a weighted golf club.
When you can feel the club is heavier in your hands, it will slow things down for you.
Naturally, you won’t be able to spin your hips or arms out quite as fast because the club will be too heavy to allow it.
You will want to take these swings with the weighted club slowly and deliberately.
If you start swinging the heavy golf club fast, it will end up working more like an exercise, and it could potentially cause you to swing even faster.
Overall, heavy golf clubs can help you to establish a much better tempo and get the club traveling on the proper path at the right speed.
Is a Slow Backswing a Good Thing?
A slow backswing is an excellent thing for some golfers.
When you take the club back a bit more slowly, you will find the club tends to stay on the path a bit more, and it will keep your arms and hips working together.
A slower backswing also helps golfers to ensure some more extension in their swing.
If you are extending your arms and hands out and away from the ball, then you are probably starting your swing off a bit slow.
If the club climbs to the top slowly, you can usually have an easier transition into the downswing as well.
Players with a slower backswing will feel the top of their backswing and be able to stop the club in an appropriate spot.
Golfers who swing too fast can’t get the same feel or idea of where the club is in their backswing.
It takes some time to understand the proper speed of a golf swing and how it impacts your game.
You will be forced to speed up at times and slow down at others.
One of the most effective ways to learn the proper tempo and speed for your golf swing is to work on your short game.
The short game is an area where you are forced to slow down and be a bit more deliberate about the shots that you hit.
This is why it is a great area to practice when you are working on the speed of your swing and slowing your hips down.
Sometimes the smaller motion of a chip shot can show players that spinning your hips out very fast just does not work as well as having proper timing throughout your swing.
Remember that, when you want more speed and power, everything has to work together.
You can’t create power by spinning your hips faster than the rest of your swing.
Conclusion
In your golf swing, your hips must work with your arms if you plan on getting long and straight golf shots.
Timing in a golf swing is critical, and it takes a bit of effort to develop perfect timing.
If you are a golfer who struggles to keep your hips in check while out on the course, these drills should help you.
It is extremely important to ensure that you understand what your hips should look like and where they should be at different locations.
Sometimes this basic understanding can be all that is needed to start slowing your hips down throughout your golf swing.
Leave a Reply