I think that the hip bump is automatic if you get the lead shoulder down enough at the top of the back swing.
one less swing thought. If tilted enough at the top, the hips move forward a bit by default when you start your hip turn. Remember, it’s very difficult to get that lead shoulder too low on the back swing.
@Bill K - Indeed, many golfers struggle with getting that lead shoulder down enough (or pointing at the ball, as Arnold Palmer said), and it definitely can set things on autopilot with regard to properly initiating the downswing.
It all comes down to which of the "feels" conveyed in the various lessons and drills resonate best with each individual golfer, as they are all designed to get us onto the proper track towards achieving consistently crispy ball striking bliss!
I needed this, this is exactly what showed up in the video in my lesson last night. The sad part is my instructor had no good "feel" or way of describing it other than "falling back" or jumping back from the ball.
I essentially was turning and getting on my toes and going towards the ball FIRST rather than bumping/moving the hips laterally. Thanks Saguto Golfers!
As I get to the top I feel very tilted towards the target (I'm not, just stacked). I have so much weight on my lead side at the top that my right foot weight distribution feels around 10%, and the weight on my right foot is clearly on the inside of my right foot.
As such, my right foot position is slightly banked or rolled at the top. This can only be achieved (at least for me) if I get the club moving up with the club head slightly in front of my hands halfway up (Tom's takeaway videos show the movement) which results in a majority of my weight being on my left side. From there I don't have to think about rolling or banking the right foot because the movement is pre-initiated.
I come from the shift & lift era so I have to error on the side of 90/10 weight distribution (feel) to (hopefully) get 80/20, to ensure I steer clear of 50/50 or 40/60 (more about that in my latest posts about sh****king...LOL).
I have been working on this as of late as low and behold all of this time I have not been doing it and I’ve been turning too early. Charlie Wi’s description of “slide the hips along that line in the downswing” now makes sense. The trail foot rolling in now makes sense. This is by far probably the weirdest feeling I have been working with and I’m seeing improvements almost immediately. I didn’t practice on the range but took it straight to the course and played better. Yesterday, we did a 9 hole executive course where the longest club I used was a 7 iron but it was fun shooting for the greens on every tee. And something new is now happening that I have never done in my life. A couple of times I landed on the green the ball mark was beyond the ball. In other words, my balls rolled backwards after landing on the green. I’ve never been able to do that, ever, but it’s happened twice with my PW and Gap wedge. The strikes are just pure. A week ago we played 18 holes and that’s when I took this to the course without practice for the first time. I hit some of the best drives in my life that were straight with a nice, little draw. I’ve been missing a draw all of this time, too, but couldn’t figure out why. Now I’m getting it. Sometimes you don’t know what you are missing until you find it.
This is really something to get used to and it’s gong to take some time. It feels weird!! But, boy, does it work. Wow!! The attached picture is what I’m sure many of you are familiar with but the visualization is helping me. That trail foot has to roll in. What a difference. Anyway, thought I’d share and maybe that’ll help someone else. Kudos to all of you who got his down!! It’s been an elusive one for me. 😊 Golf has been fun!!!
The trail leg must indeed straighten in the downswing, but not too soon. This is a key component of the upward thrusting of the lower body just prior to impact. This pushes the hips to their farthest forward position and provides the classic S&T "tuck the butt" move. It's a tremendous power generator.
Now that I posted the above, I'm starting to see why the straightening of the right leg is super important because that movement would push the left hip down, and push the hips down the rail to the left. So maybe it's not something to think about other than ensure my right leg is straightening such that my left hip is somewhat following my shoulder tilt angle. Maybe that's the closest thing to "automatic"?
@GolfLivesMatter - You are hitting on one of the secret sauces of Hogan! Have a look at this video from the YT channel on Hogan's backswing hip action. I also cover this move in the Tailbone2Target Drill from the Indoor Training Program.
You are absolutely correct - this move goes a long way towards getting those hips where they need to be in the downswing! Great analysis and self-discovery!
Good comments here. I have similar issues with the lateral movement, likely due to my inherent need to drift to the right on the backswing which requires more movement that is hard to accomplish. So I'm looking at various ways, feels, etc, to get the hips more in a position to want to "automatically" slide left.
To that extent, I snapped a couple of pics of Hogan's swing from Tom's video about the right elbow. At address, I put a marker to show a fence post in relation to Hogan's left hip at address. At the top of his backswing, I placed the same locator marker. It's very clear (movement-wise) that Hogan's hips were already traveling left, or down a rail, as he neared the top of this backswing. My point is he didn't wait until he reached the top....and THEN shift his hips. Nicklaus was the same way or his hips started a leftward movement as he reached the top...despite his left heel lift. It's hard to tell, but it looks like Hogan's hips traveled at least 2 inches to the left down the rails before starting his downswing. That "pre-shift" seems to greatly help because the momentum is already traveling down the rails prior to the downswing.
Also, I can see in the pic at the top of his backswing that his hips are aimed down about 30*. It's like his hip angle somewhat followed his shoulder tilt angle.
This is my personal favorite from the Members Only Golf Tips and I just revisited this one to help with my hip bump. https://saguto.golf/courses/867039/lectures/15930622 "Downswing - Lower Body Motion in Intense Details and Feels" As I feel that the swing is coming more and more together I know I haven't been starting the swing correctly. This video just brings it home and doing the motion against a wall I straighten my left leg and my hip hits the wall. In self video with an alignment stick my hip travels toward the target. I also revisited the top of my backswing and had a huge error there. I put bungy cord around my arms to force them to stay straight and it got me to the video of what the trail hand does at the top of the backswing. No wonder I've struggled with straight arms for so long. Now I'm getting the feeling of a straight left arm as a lever and the right arm drives the lever. The two together stop at the top of the backswing automatically. When I do this correctly the swing feels so good. This led to the hip bump video. And my take away was off, too. I would manually start my legs so I would not forget to straighten the back leg but then I started the backswing with my upper body as we are supposed to and the legs do what they are supposed to automatically. Just amazing. I don't know how much I don't know but the more I learn and discover it just keeps coming together. And when the weight stays forward on the lead leg the power has felt amazing into the net and launching off of that leg. Golf Course time will come soon to see what happens out there. Sorry to hijack the thread with other pieces of the swing but more and more things are coming together and one thing keeps leading to another. And if the swing goes off kilter I can usually correct it now much more quickly when in the past I was lost and kept struggling. I don't think the learning will ever stop but will always be a pursuit of improving. Now to just improve that score and have more fun. :)
Fantastic stuff, @Alan Studnicky!! It may seem like a lot of moving parts and mechanical thoughts to the untrained eye, but you used the word "automatically" at least twice in your post, and that is key. This is how the body is designed to swing the club if we can just allow it to do so; unfortunately, the longest distance in golf - those six inches between our ears - always seems to think it knows better. Ingrain the motions and build in the "feels" as you are doing, and you'll soon be on autopilot.
You are well on the way to taking ownership of your swing, and this is going to bring your level of enjoyment to a whole new dimension!
I really struggled with the hip slide/bump as well to start the downswing. Just couldn't get the timing right, but I figured out a way to accomplish it and it feels much better. At the 'top' of the backswing. your weight is now shifted ~70% to your left leg. Notice I said 'to' your left leg and not 'over' it. I was getting a little stuck because I had shifted my body center too far over the left leg. Also, your knee needs to be over your left toe, not angled towards the right. My only downswing transition thought is simply 'standing up' on that left leg and slightly rolling my left heel to the left. Try doing this at home without a club first. What you will see is that your hips automatically shift/bump left - whatever you want to call it. It also is a much smoother transition for me than consciously thinking of my hips moving laterally. I've filmed myself using both swing thoughts - hip bump and left leg extension. On both, the hips do what they are supposed to do, but again, for me, it looks and feels much better focusing on my left leg. Good luck. F&G
@mpandichjr - Great testimonial to the need for each of us to create our own "feels" in order to consistently execute the correct swing motion! And yes - very important - that lead knee must fold in the direction it was pointed at address (slightly flared outward) in order to prevent any unwanted shifting to the trailside, while the upper torso maintains its center and keeps the pre-established low point intact!
There are at least a few places to go in the school for this rather common issue. The bottom line is that your hips must continue their lateral slide through impact, otherwise their rotation will take over and reroute the path. It's just a matter of you finding your "feel" for accomplishing this.
You can also refresh yourself on Chapter 2 and then spend some time working through Lesson 2.8.
There may also be some helpful tips on the YT Channel. HERE is a link to the playlist of downswing-related videos.
Beyond these suggestions, the Stack and Tilt book has plenty of detail on this topic, and I've attached a couple of excerpts of how PGA Tour players Charlie Wi and Aaron Baddeley went about building in their hip slide "feels".
I'll go ahead and pin your post to encourage others to chime in on what they are doing to incorporate this critical component into their swings.
I think that the hip bump is automatic if you get the lead shoulder down enough at the top of the back swing.
one less swing thought. If tilted enough at the top, the hips move forward a bit by default when you start your hip turn. Remember, it’s very difficult to get that lead shoulder too low on the back swing.
This is my experience anyway.
I needed this, this is exactly what showed up in the video in my lesson last night. The sad part is my instructor had no good "feel" or way of describing it other than "falling back" or jumping back from the ball.
I essentially was turning and getting on my toes and going towards the ball FIRST rather than bumping/moving the hips laterally. Thanks Saguto Golfers!
As I get to the top I feel very tilted towards the target (I'm not, just stacked). I have so much weight on my lead side at the top that my right foot weight distribution feels around 10%, and the weight on my right foot is clearly on the inside of my right foot.
As such, my right foot position is slightly banked or rolled at the top. This can only be achieved (at least for me) if I get the club moving up with the club head slightly in front of my hands halfway up (Tom's takeaway videos show the movement) which results in a majority of my weight being on my left side. From there I don't have to think about rolling or banking the right foot because the movement is pre-initiated.
I come from the shift & lift era so I have to error on the side of 90/10 weight distribution (feel) to (hopefully) get 80/20, to ensure I steer clear of 50/50 or 40/60 (more about that in my latest posts about sh****king...LOL).
I have been working on this as of late as low and behold all of this time I have not been doing it and I’ve been turning too early. Charlie Wi’s description of “slide the hips along that line in the downswing” now makes sense. The trail foot rolling in now makes sense. This is by far probably the weirdest feeling I have been working with and I’m seeing improvements almost immediately. I didn’t practice on the range but took it straight to the course and played better. Yesterday, we did a 9 hole executive course where the longest club I used was a 7 iron but it was fun shooting for the greens on every tee. And something new is now happening that I have never done in my life. A couple of times I landed on the green the ball mark was beyond the ball. In other words, my balls rolled backwards after landing on the green. I’ve never been able to do that, ever, but it’s happened twice with my PW and Gap wedge. The strikes are just pure. A week ago we played 18 holes and that’s when I took this to the course without practice for the first time. I hit some of the best drives in my life that were straight with a nice, little draw. I’ve been missing a draw all of this time, too, but couldn’t figure out why. Now I’m getting it. Sometimes you don’t know what you are missing until you find it.
This is really something to get used to and it’s gong to take some time. It feels weird!! But, boy, does it work. Wow!! The attached picture is what I’m sure many of you are familiar with but the visualization is helping me. That trail foot has to roll in. What a difference. Anyway, thought I’d share and maybe that’ll help someone else. Kudos to all of you who got his down!! It’s been an elusive one for me. 😊 Golf has been fun!!!
The trail leg must indeed straighten in the downswing, but not too soon. This is a key component of the upward thrusting of the lower body just prior to impact. This pushes the hips to their farthest forward position and provides the classic S&T "tuck the butt" move. It's a tremendous power generator.
Straightening of the right leg is crucial in that it helps fire the hips and it gives you a nice automatic turn as well.
Now that I posted the above, I'm starting to see why the straightening of the right leg is super important because that movement would push the left hip down, and push the hips down the rail to the left. So maybe it's not something to think about other than ensure my right leg is straightening such that my left hip is somewhat following my shoulder tilt angle. Maybe that's the closest thing to "automatic"?
Good comments here. I have similar issues with the lateral movement, likely due to my inherent need to drift to the right on the backswing which requires more movement that is hard to accomplish. So I'm looking at various ways, feels, etc, to get the hips more in a position to want to "automatically" slide left.
To that extent, I snapped a couple of pics of Hogan's swing from Tom's video about the right elbow. At address, I put a marker to show a fence post in relation to Hogan's left hip at address. At the top of his backswing, I placed the same locator marker. It's very clear (movement-wise) that Hogan's hips were already traveling left, or down a rail, as he neared the top of this backswing. My point is he didn't wait until he reached the top....and THEN shift his hips. Nicklaus was the same way or his hips started a leftward movement as he reached the top...despite his left heel lift. It's hard to tell, but it looks like Hogan's hips traveled at least 2 inches to the left down the rails before starting his downswing. That "pre-shift" seems to greatly help because the momentum is already traveling down the rails prior to the downswing.
Also, I can see in the pic at the top of his backswing that his hips are aimed down about 30*. It's like his hip angle somewhat followed his shoulder tilt angle.
This is my personal favorite from the Members Only Golf Tips and I just revisited this one to help with my hip bump. https://saguto.golf/courses/867039/lectures/15930622 "Downswing - Lower Body Motion in Intense Details and Feels" As I feel that the swing is coming more and more together I know I haven't been starting the swing correctly. This video just brings it home and doing the motion against a wall I straighten my left leg and my hip hits the wall. In self video with an alignment stick my hip travels toward the target. I also revisited the top of my backswing and had a huge error there. I put bungy cord around my arms to force them to stay straight and it got me to the video of what the trail hand does at the top of the backswing. No wonder I've struggled with straight arms for so long. Now I'm getting the feeling of a straight left arm as a lever and the right arm drives the lever. The two together stop at the top of the backswing automatically. When I do this correctly the swing feels so good. This led to the hip bump video. And my take away was off, too. I would manually start my legs so I would not forget to straighten the back leg but then I started the backswing with my upper body as we are supposed to and the legs do what they are supposed to automatically. Just amazing. I don't know how much I don't know but the more I learn and discover it just keeps coming together. And when the weight stays forward on the lead leg the power has felt amazing into the net and launching off of that leg. Golf Course time will come soon to see what happens out there. Sorry to hijack the thread with other pieces of the swing but more and more things are coming together and one thing keeps leading to another. And if the swing goes off kilter I can usually correct it now much more quickly when in the past I was lost and kept struggling. I don't think the learning will ever stop but will always be a pursuit of improving. Now to just improve that score and have more fun. :)
Hi Paul,
I really struggled with the hip slide/bump as well to start the downswing. Just couldn't get the timing right, but I figured out a way to accomplish it and it feels much better. At the 'top' of the backswing. your weight is now shifted ~70% to your left leg. Notice I said 'to' your left leg and not 'over' it. I was getting a little stuck because I had shifted my body center too far over the left leg. Also, your knee needs to be over your left toe, not angled towards the right. My only downswing transition thought is simply 'standing up' on that left leg and slightly rolling my left heel to the left. Try doing this at home without a club first. What you will see is that your hips automatically shift/bump left - whatever you want to call it. It also is a much smoother transition for me than consciously thinking of my hips moving laterally. I've filmed myself using both swing thoughts - hip bump and left leg extension. On both, the hips do what they are supposed to do, but again, for me, it looks and feels much better focusing on my left leg. Good luck. F&G
Hi Paul,
There are at least a few places to go in the school for this rather common issue. The bottom line is that your hips must continue their lateral slide through impact, otherwise their rotation will take over and reroute the path. It's just a matter of you finding your "feel" for accomplishing this.
Here are a few suggestions:
- You Need More Lateral Hip Motion Drill from the Fixing Common Swing Problems section of the school.
- 90% Weight Forward/Arms Straight Drill from Ball Flight Fixes.
- Tailbone2Target Drill from the Indoor Training Program.
You can also refresh yourself on Chapter 2 and then spend some time working through Lesson 2.8.
There may also be some helpful tips on the YT Channel. HERE is a link to the playlist of downswing-related videos.
Beyond these suggestions, the Stack and Tilt book has plenty of detail on this topic, and I've attached a couple of excerpts of how PGA Tour players Charlie Wi and Aaron Baddeley went about building in their hip slide "feels".
I'll go ahead and pin your post to encourage others to chime in on what they are doing to incorporate this critical component into their swings.
Tom