The Turn: Hip Turn and Straighten Front Leg

The turn is often misunderstood by most golfers and they end up losing power rather than gaining it. Too many golfers start the hips turning as soon as they start the downswing and that is not correct. The golfer must complete the squat and bump first. After these first 2 steps have been completed the golfer can start to rotate their hips. If the golfer doesn’t squat and bump before initiating the hip turn, they will have an increased chance of over rotating their hips through the shot. This is commonly known as spinning the hips. As you can see from the images below (Figures 1-4), one of the longest drivers in the world has only moved his hips a little bit from the start of the downswing until impact. It’s not how fast you can move your hips but rather doing it in the proper sequence. The best way to achieve a proper hip rotation is to straighten the front leg after you have completed the Squat and Bump (Figures 3a-4a)

Note how the hips have completely rotated and the front leg is perfectly straight at impact (Figure 4a).