Hip alignment

[ph_kingston]

I read a tip from Stuart Appleby recently about alignment. As the final part of the set up he recommended a little pop of the left hip to make it a fraction higher than the right by a slight kick of the right knee towards the left (I hope that makes sense).

I gave it a try and it seemed to improve by ball striking and accuracy. I was just wondering why it worked. Any thoughts?

[Mizunoman]

Re: Hip alignment

Sounds like a needless complication to me. Unless of course it adds 10 yards a club.......


Remember tour pros work at a different level than us poor schmos, they can work at little things like that for hours at a time. The rest of us need practice so we remember what end of the club to use....

Glad it works for you tho....

D.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Hip alignment

Simple, really.

By 'popping' the left hip it sets your left side a little higher than the right. This position discourages a reverse pivot, sets your spine angle more away from the target and your torso a little further behind the ball. It also encourages more weight to go onto your right side.

From this position you can turn behind the ball nicely and if you keep everything in good shape, at impact you're hitting up from a good 'leaning' position behind the ball and not on top of it.

Make sense to you now?

A lot of professionals use this tip (I think it was originally a David Leadbetter tip) as a swing trigger.

[Mr_Change]

Re: Hip alignment

I use this myself. It has helped me to stop hitting pulls.

[ph_kingston]

Re: Hip alignment

Yup, that all makes perfect sense now. I didn't notice much of a difference in the backswing but the impact position felt very good.

Mizunoman, I was thinking the same as you when I first read the tip. The tip was all about the fundamentals of stance and alignment so it did seem a bit strange having this little additional movement added in. I guess it works for Stuart so that's why he included it.

[kiwi]

Re: Hip alignment

I do a similar thing, I pull my right hip back a touch before I start my backswing as I tended to hit a few pull shots with my irons, seems to work.

Surprising how many movements go into propelling a silly little white ball
Yet when I take mates out for a bash I tell them Look just stand there and hit it the bloody thing, it isnt even moving, start with your club behind the ball now put it back there without stopping. Get a lot of good laughs (and alot of abuse).
One I play with occasionally if theres water I go first then head down to the pond and play catcher, my scores pretty rough at the end of the day but what a hoot.Can only con him into coming once every two years but it's really worth the wait