Hip depth

Chair drill

Hips move towards the ball in the downswing

Keep your hips behind you during the downswing, so that your hands keep their room.

Recognise this?

• You rise up through the ball and it feels as though your hands have too little room just before impact.
• Two misses alternate: a ball that starts far right and a ball that dives hard to the left.
• Thin shots, the occasional fat shot, and a greater chance of a shank on short shots.
• You lose length even though you do not feel as though you are swinging softer.

Why it happens

TPI describes early extension as any forward movement of the pelvis towards the ball during the backswing or downswing, and measures it as the most common swing characteristic: of more than 90,000 screened players, 67 per cent show it, against about 1 per cent of the tour players tested. The physical cause TPI points to is that the player cannot hold the forward bend in the hips while rotating; pushing the pelvis towards the ball is then the way out. Limited separation between torso and pelvis plays a part. HackMotion describes the same movement and adds stiff hips, hamstrings or lower back, a poor weight shift, a weak core, a fear of hitting the ground, and an over-the-top path.

What the drill fixes

Gives direct, feelable feedback on whether your hips stay behind you: if you lose contact with the chair back, they have come towards the ball.

What you need

• A sturdy chair without wheels

easy

How to do it

Step 1: Set the chair up correctly

Set up with your backside against the rear face of the backrest. The seat points away from you.

Step 2: Backswing

Turn your right glute along the backrest. Do not lose contact.

Step 3: Into impact

Keep turning until your left glute touches the backrest.

How often

10 slow practice swings, then 10 balls with a half swing, then 10 at normal speed

Only move on to the next step when the contact holds on every repetition, and go back as soon as you lose it. HackMotion prescribes exactly this build-up. The original Caddium card named 3 × 5 gentle practice swings; that has been replaced by the dosage from the source.

Safety

Put the chair outside the path of your club and use something sturdy that does not fall over. Never hit a ball with a chair directly behind you: the first two steps are practice swings.

Sources

• Early Extension | Swing Characteristics | TPI
• Early Extension Swing Characteristic | Article | TPI
• How to Stop Early Extension in Golf — HackMotion

Is this your fault to fix?

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