Is your “pelvic thrust” adequate in your golf swing?

Lately, when I am trying to get my students to understand how important the legs and hips are during the downswing’s pivot I talk about the pelvic “pistol”, and the “Fosbury” flop. Mr. Fosbury was the creator of the modern way to successfully execute a high jump. Here is a quote from the book “Stack and Tilt” that addresses the issue of “pushing hips through” during impact! If you understand this statement, you are on the way to creating power in your golf swing!

“→ Champion golfers use the ground for power by straightening their legs and tucking the butt under the torso, which allows the spine to extend.”

Look at these pictures and see how the “pelvic pistol” is fired to produce power!

Email me at jkhpro@pga.com to improve your “pelvic pistol” and create more power in your golf swing!

Excerpt From: Michael Bennett & Andy Plummer. “The Stack and Tilt Swing.” PENGUIN group, 2010-03-15. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-stack-and-tilt-swing/id362445414?mt=11

 

Pelvic Thrust, an important key to starting your downswing correctly!

Here is something for all you players out there to think about. The “pelvic thrust” is a huge dynamic factor in the efficiency of your swing whether you are a scratch player or a high handicap beginner. It is without a doubt one of the most important elements of the swing that produces power and accuracy when executed correctly.

The following article is from Golf Magazine. The topic is “the pelvic thrust”. Read it. It may be the most important information about your golf swing you will receive this year!

“When amateurs release their pelvis on their downswing, if at all, they tend to thrust straight out toward the ball or simply turn in place. These moves are big time no nos. Good players release their pelvis on their downswings by firing to the right of the target, approximately 15 yards to the right of the flag on a 150 yard shot, and then halting this action until momentum drags the pelvis to the left of the target. When seen in regular action, this movement gives the impression that good players only “turn” from the top.”

When using V1 video analysis with my students, they become aware that the downswing does not include a continuous rotation of the hips on the downswing as deceiving as this might be. When students become aware of the correct motion, their ability to strike the ball really improves. If you are consistently topping shots and slicing the ball, you may not understand how to begin your downswing correctly.

Please think about a visit to the Golf Center at Sports Ohio in Dublin for a quick video review to start the season right. Call me, Keith Haley, PGA teaching professional, at 614-738-1851 for more info.

Always remember to practice any new positions or movements in your golf swing slowly and deliberately.

 

A great lesson last night

I had a great lesson last night with one of my regular students! It started out with my student explaining that he had experienced a bad practice session the night before. He had evidently lost control of his ball flight and was unable to create a good solid ball strike at impact.

Many times as I have written in prior posts, a student will have a bad practice session when they start hitting balls, (practicing), improperly. Yes, there is an art to real, effective practice. You must focus if you are going to have a successful session!

I wish I had the proverbial, “nickel”, each time I see someone start their practice, “gorilla swinging”, with their driver. I would be a rich man even with the deflated value of today’s nickel.

There was a happy ending to the lesson, and my student was very happy to reinvigorate his commitment to “slow and deliberate” practice. It was very easy to see in just a few swings why his practice had turned into a train wreck. When my student first came to me we discovered that he was what I call an “arm swinger”. We have put in many hours trying to start the backswing with chest and shoulders. We are very close to habituation of this important movement. The lesson, however is that for some unknown reason he did not start the practice session focusing on this important detail. Who knows why, but we all get distracted at times. In this case, one whole practice session was destroyed.

The problem was easy for me to diagnose, and in just a few minutes progress was achieved. It proved to be one of his best lesson sessions, and I am quite sure that with a little “deliberate practice”, this digression will not reoccur.

The moral of this story is, “have a plan for your precious practice time”, and conduct it with “intention”, including some “slow and deliberate” motions to begin. This little bit of pre practice focus will pay huge dividends.

 

Rory’s Power

Check out this video of Rory McIlroy’s swing with commentary by Dave Phillips.  His bump and pelvic thrust are the key parts that give him so much power.  Developing a big shoulder turn, a bump to the left and strong pelvic thrust can add power…and distance…to your golf swing and no one does it better than McIlroy these days.

golf swing, sustaining lag, long drive, distance