Hip Depth: Watch Tour Players Deepen in the Backswing and Stay Deep in the Forward Swing

[@sevenunder29]

Yep... Rt ass cheek to the wall (back swing)... left ass cheek to the wall (forward swing) and 'lowering'. Ive Been working on exactly this for 18 mos. Its HARD to change 46 yrs of habit. BUT... its helping, a lot my early extension issue. GREAT VID.

[@SammySnead]

The flex in right knee decreases significantly after in the backswing.

[@mitchy7051]

hi Wayne - i have learned so much from your videos and membership site. it still amazes how your older videos are still relevant today and how closely correlated they are to 3D analysis in gears

[@wdefrancesco]

Thanks for the comment. All of the measuring going on now has reinforced the ideas that I put into practice when I was playing well and for all the almost 40 years I've been teaching.

[@ComoGolfFoundation]

Awesome Wayne D. Now, can you show us a couple of drills to accomplish this? Thanks!

[@wdefrancesco]

My favorite drill is to put a short shaft (it needs to be shorter than the height of the butt of the club at address) and position it between the feet and about an inch or two in front of the knee line. It won't affect the backswing, but in the forward swing if the right knee pushes to far outward it will hit the shaft. Having it there will remind the player to make sure the right hip stays deep as it moves left and around. This does not keep the head from backing away from the ball so keeping the forehead line out over the ball should be a constant thought.

[@A-FrameWedge]

My question if to maintain hip depth someone has to pull back his head on downswing does that still have a benefit or would it be better to keep head from backing out and losing some hip death? I was watching a guy that works with Max Homa, and he was saying that he had Max do a physical test of raising both his arms while his back is against a wall while his knees are bent, he was unable to keep his lower back against the wall when he raised his arms. So he said Max had 2 solutions he could do stretches and work to increase flexibility or they could work with what he had. Max chose the latter. Max had relatively upright arm position at the top of his backswing and was unable to keep his pelvic tilt to maintain or increase hip depth. His club was also across the plane. So they had Max flatten his left arm at the top, but keep the steep shoulder turn, and he was able to increase and maintain hip depth in both backswing and downswing.

[@wdefrancesco]

Keeping the head out over the ball (forehead line stays put but lowers) helps maintain hip depth because standing up is both the pelvis leveling and the upper trunk pulling away. It's a chicken and egg situation, but I would say that maintaining hip depth by backing up is not a good idea and that it would be better to maintain the upper body tilt and do your best to keep the pelvis tilted. That will create more room for the right arm and give the shaft a better chance to not get stuck coming from behind you.

[@A-FrameWedge]

@@wdefrancesco Thanks, seems like it would be easier to make to make consistent solid contact without the head backing out.

[@mntlblok]

Sam Bennett next! 🙂

[@lorimeyers3839]

That’s so weird. I just had an epiphany today at the simulator. I realized I was straightening my entire leg, no flex in my knee, once I started my backswing. I straightened my entire leg and put my weight on my right hip as I rotated around my right hip socket, which was giving me problems. At setup, I actually put a little flex in my right knee and amassed the majority of my weight on the inside of the ball of my right foot. It helps me turn easier without having to compensate in other ways and keeps me balanced throughout my swing. It’s crazy how you brought that up. I had tried just about everything else.

[@AndrewDCDrummond]

There was a video by Padraig Harrington pointing out how the hips are turning into the trail side hip socket, as oppossed to the hips rotating in the backswing. This is internally rotating the trail leg in its hip socket, as shown by the fact that the trail leg is predominantly still facing forward. The trail leg is then externally rotating back out in the transition, which when combined with the moving back of the trail hip in the backswing, means that the hip depth increase is maintained or increased. Milo Lines also has some older videos on this internal/external rotation of the trail leg, but your videos are the ones pointing out the hip depth increase, which is so important.

[@A-FrameWedge]

Dustin Johnson really does have a long left thumb which does help in creating more lag angle, which is more difficult with a bowed left wrist. When the left leg knee is less out of the box on the backswing, that helps to limit the hip turn.

[@bjohnson515]

The trail knee cap....rotate? You say the weight is on the balls of the feet.....at address.....but the push away would require that changes....yes?

[@wdefrancesco]

Yes. Pressure would move gradually toward the inside of the right heel as soon as the swing starts. The trail kneecap would attempt to twist if it had stayed in place in the backswing. If it moved to a deeper position it has room to move both forward and inward.

[@rao4sos]

Wayne ..At 5:09...you claim, "I can't do that". I know you can.

[@wdefrancesco]

After 5 back surgeries and 4 fused discs I really can't do that anymore. But I try to get as close as I can, which is what I think anyone should be interested in. Just be careful when you practice this. If you knock yourself out of action you can't get any better. You have to sneak up on it and find your limits.

[@lukejackson1933]

I'm seeing a lot of players lowering on the downswing these days.

[@wdefrancesco]

Yes, you'll see it pretty much all the time.

[@jefftaylor8644]

It’s hard to get that deep when your out of shape. I’m a perfect example

[@wdefrancesco]

The golf swing is a difficult athletic movement and is always going to be harder when you are out of shape. Some players who appear to be "out of shape" body wise have a "golf shape" where they are strong without looking muscular and have great awareness of what their body is doing. There are many examples of great players changing their bodies to something that people would consider to be more "in shape" and not being able to play as well. That said, these days trainers have a much better idea of how to get players to achieve their physical potential, one of the reasons for 180 mph ball speed becoming normal.

[@stephenmiddleton8158]

I'm finding it very difficult to stop early extending ( hips moving forward and head moving back) , turning hips back seems difficult to do, going to try using the twisting pressure in my feet to see if that helps.

[@wdefrancesco]

It's ok to let the right leg straighten a bit (just don't lock it) and for the left heel to come off the ground. That can help get the hips deeper in the backswing and then you can concentrate on the ground torque under the feet.

[@stephenmiddleton8158]

Sorry Wayne, my last comment was worded badly. When I wrote "turning hips back," what I meant was clearing the hips in the downswing. My hip depth looks fine, it's keeping that depth in the downswing is the problem. Really interesting watching you're analysis of all the golf swings, from the old players to the modern players.

[@slytown]

Do you find the old timers did a worse job staying in the box generally or is that misnomer?

[@larrybud]

that's what my wife says.

[@wdefrancesco]

Not really. The best ball strikers from all eras had nice hip depth.