The newsletters for the first four months of 2011 are tracking the 5 components of the pivot and the responsibility of each. January highlighted the head and shoulders. February described the action of the feet and knees. This month I will discuss the hips and their role in the golf swing. Energy transfer and centripetal force will be discussed this month to help describe the role of the hips as power generators.

Centripetal force is defined as an inward pulling force. In golf terminology, this means the big muscles move the small muscles. In other words, the dog wags the tail, not vice versa. Another way to describe this force is the inside moves the outside. Your hips are the key components for power in the golf swing. Therefore, you need to learn to rotate your hips correctly to maximize power in the golf swing! As the old saying in life goes, "Use it or lose it."

The hips play a significant role in the golf swing in that they are the axis that we rotate around in the backswing and in the downswing. When you transfer energy in the backswing, the right hip becomes the axis for rotation and weight shift. The hips will turn, sometimes up to forty degrees, going back. There will also be a lateral slide of up to one inch in the backswing to shift the axis to the right hip from our original address position (See Picture #1-Address and Picture #2 - Weight Shift in Backswing). The right hip, the flexed right knee, and the right ankle all appear to almost line up at the top of the backswing, as seen in Picture #2. There must be lateral movement and a turn of the hips in the backswing!

In the downswing, there will be a lateral shift of up to four inches towards the target which moves the axis for rotation into the left hip. As the hips make their lateral shift, they will rotate in excess of ninety degrees. This is when we can see the effect of 'the dog wagging the tail' (See Picture #3). The lateral movement of the downswing combined with rotation provides the transfer of power in the golf swing so the faster the hip action, the more energy that is transferred to the clubhead and eventually the ball.

Picture 3

The role of the pivot is also accentuated in the chip, pitch and driving portions of my instructional DVD, "From Putt to Drive." Next month, I will put all five components of the pivot together, and in May, I will describe some moving stretches that will get the hips back into your game. Until then, grab a hula hoop and learn to do the hula hula to improve your hip action!

Ted Frick
2005 Carolinas PGA Section Teacher of the Year
Owner / Director of Instruction
Classic Swing Golf School (Located at Legends Resort)
P.O. Box 50955 Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
(843) 903-5560
1-800-827-2656
tfrick@classicswing.com
www.classicswing.com