One of the biggest power leaks in the swing is when the hips sway, or move laterally, off the ball on the backswing. This robs you of the hip turn you need to load properly into your trail side and store energy for the downswing.
A simple check to see if you’re turning your hips enough on the backswing is to practice with a full-length mirror directly behind you and observe your legs at the top of the backswing. (You also can have someone stand behind you on the range and provide feedback.) If you get to the top and see a little daylight between your knees (above), then congratulations—you’ve made a nice, deep turn with the trail hip. You should feel a good bit of pressure move to the inside of your trail heel, too, but not to the outside of the foot.
JD Cuban
Conversely, if you see no space at all between your knees (above), it’s a good indication that your lower body is sliding away from the target and you’re not getting a big enough hip turn. Keep working on it until you can consistently see daylight between your knees. A good thought is to feel like your trail hip is moving toward your front heel as you swing back. That should help you turn your trail hip behind you, encouraging the full turn necessary to swing the club down from the inside and generate maximum clubhead speed.
Travis Fulton, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Florida, is the owner of Travis Fulton Golf in Jacksonville.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
