Put Your Knees and Hips Into Your Swing

Fore!While we all know that our knees and hips can have a disastrous effect on our swing when used improperly, they can actually help you hit a better drive when you use them the right way. Let's focus on each one and work on some exercises that will help you get that swing you've always wanted.

The Hips

Your hips can actually control the direction of the ball, even if you don't realize it. Most us have a tendency to raise our hips with our arms on our up swing. Try it in front of a mirror. Does one leg move slightly up, or do you notice that your heel comes up off the ground when you swing upwards? If it does, this will end up in pulling your shot to the right or the left. To fix this problem, here is an easy exercise. You want to be able to isolate your torso from your hips. Stand straight, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Swing your arms around in front of you, raise them up, bring them back down and swing them in front of you.

The "Windmill" is a great technique that can help with isolation. Stand once again with your feet planted firmly and start spinning your arms around like a windmill. Keep going until you can do it without engaging your hips.

Now, you're ready to put it all together. Keep your feet planted firmly, knees a bit bent, and bring your club up. Do not move your feet! Now, bring the club down and as you do, rotate your hips in the direction of the shot. This will take a little practice, and you'll need to perfectly sync the two halves of your body. With time, this will give you added power that will add yards to your drives.

The Knees

Our knees are another common problem area. If your feet are planted, it's pretty tempting to want to lock those knees too. You need to keep your knees flexed at all times during your swing, but not overly so. Here's an exercise to help you get the feel.

Start with both feet facing forward, and firmly planted. Now, put both arms straight down by your sides. Keep your upper body straight and bend your knees until your fingertips are at about mid-thigh. If you have long or short arms adjust accordingly. Now, hold that position and bend slightly forward, bringing your hands up. You should be in about the same position as you would be if you were holding a club.

Keep trying this one until you get the feel for the position. Your knees should be relaxed, loose and facing forward. If you pull them to either side, it will affect your shot. Experiment a bit to find the right angle for your body. It may take a few tries, but with practice, you'll be able to line up your stance perfectly. If your knees are relaxed, and your hips are engaged properly, you will notice a big difference in the power of your swing.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-22 17:38:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts
  • Improve your swing.Diagnosing Your Swing Problems If you're having trouble with your game, the first place to look for answers is in your swing. Most players struggle to perfect their swings throughout their entire lives and some may never get to the point of having the "perfect swing." You don't need to be perfect, but there......
  • golf gearPicking The Right Gear to Improve Your Game If you are finding that no matter what you try, your golf game is just not getting to the point where you want it, the answer may be in the tools and equipment you are using. Many players go their entire lives without a proper fitting for their clubs. Others......
  • golfballdriverAchieving a Long Distance Hitting your ball over long distances is simply a product of having a good golf technique. It is your reward, simply put, for having paid attention to all of the basic fundamentals for a good golf swing. As the legendary golf teacher John Jacobs has often been caught saying, distance......
  • sliceTips to Fix your Slice There are hundreds if not thousands of tips out there, especially on the internet, that are falsely promising to help you fix your slice, add distance to your swings, and add accuracy to your shots, lowering your scores in the process. Sometimes it is difficult to tell which of these......
  • golf shoesHow to Find the Right Golf Shoes Having the right pair of golf shoes impacts much more than your comfort level. If you’re wearing the wrong shoes or if they do not fit properly, this can effect your swing and as such, your entire game. Most of us don’t pay attention to our feet in golf,......
Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
  • racket4 Tips to Picking a Tennis Racket The racket you pick will have more than an impact on a tennis ball, it will have an impact on the way that you play this game. If you’re not using the right tennis racket, chances are you are not playing the game as well as you could be. It......
  • tenni100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 2 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #12 - When the ball is coming so fast that you are not going to get to it in time......
  • knees5 Ways to Prevent Knee Injuries During Your Workouts Our knees have to handle a lot of stress, and if you’re exercising vigorously or doing weight training, you’re asking a lot out of them. If you already have knee problems, the situation can be a bit tricky at times and it is very easy to reinjure yourself if you......
  • snowboardingSnowboarding Day 1 Snowboarding is a really excellent sport. It requires good physical fitness, but it really pays off in the end when you end up having tons of fun on the slopes all throughout the winter months. Before you ever jump on your snowboard and hit the slopes, however, it is important......
  • tennis3100 Quick Tennis Tips pt 3 Here are 100 quick and easy tennis tips to get your game going. We're going to spread this list out over a couple of posts to keep it interesting. Tip #25 - You are going to want to imitate the incoming ball's trajectory using your backswing. For example, if the......
Online Stores If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.

Categories:

Tips and Tricks



Tags:

, , , , , , , , , , ,


0 comments ↓

There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment

Email Updates

accuracy ball balls birdie birdies bunkers Bushnell callaway cart course history Dress code driver fairway game golf golf club golf course golfers golfing holes laser loft mens pack pga championship pga tour phil mickelson putter rangefinder righthanded ryder cup score shaft shoe soft spikes strokes swing tee time tiger woods tour traditional golf attire Vijay Singh water hazard water hazards worth the trip