“You’re not clearing your hips”, he said. Chances are good that, if he is dishing out advice, it is because you have been listening to him. You’ve been a thirsty traveler, and he has been filling your glass with sand. I feel bad for you. But, there is hope. Clearing the hips is not your problem.
Clearing the hips is a marker for a swing that is ailing. It is noticeable because the way the golfer moves indicates an illness, and the eyes focus on the center of the body for answers. If I can affect any change in golf at all, I hope it is getting people to understand the causal relationship between set-up and movement.
Extension through impact can be misinterpreted as a problem with the hips. Misdiagnoses inevitably lead to bad advice. We need to be aware that movement is incidental. It expresses intent, no matter how clear or fuzzy. Over time, clear intent may eliminates the ‘doubt that keeps us sane’, but it will also save our golf swing.
“Clearing” the hips is movement employed to maintain acceleration in the clubhead once the clubhead speed overtakes the speed of the hands. The counter-balancing motion in a conscient golfer’s swing will either prolong or arrest the movement preceding it.
If the backswing is quick, for instance, it is short. If it is short, the clubhead launches from the top. An early release requires the brain to send opening signals to the body – just to make contact with a golf ball. The incidental, opening motion actively moves the ball back in the stance, which serves to steepen an otherwise shallow impact.
These things snowball, don’t they? The moral of the story is that we have to be immune to any advice targeting any area of our moving golf swing that is above the knees. You can use any device you want to fix any malady you have. But, your problem will metastasize or return to other areas of your swing if you do not address the underlying cause.
It is almost a metaphor, or similetaphor, to our physiological health. “You are what you eat”. Our diet (Of golf swing advice) will lead to health or illness. The closer we get to consuming what the earth supports, the healthier we become. The earth supports us through the placement of our feet.
John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy