This Hip Rotation Drill Fixed My 20-Year Golf Swing Fault

I’ll bet you didn’t know that 2000s party hit ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ by Shakira was about the golf swing, did you?

OK, maybe that’s not true, but I can’t help but feel the Colombian singer-songwriter was on to something in regards to producing a more efficient movement with golf club in hand when she uttered the words “my hips don’t lie and I’m starting to feel it’s right.”

Johnny Percival’s game fell apart after losing 20 yards with every club, but his recent lesson swiftly got him back on track, while Baz Plummer has been using a series of lessons as part of a golf improvement plan that has helped him to hit 240 yard drives as a 22-handicapper.

Tom’s tuition provided a similarly transformational impact, as one simple hip rotation drill, that any amateur golfer can try (on the course or at the range), instantly improved a fault that has plagued my game for years…

This Hip Rotation Drill Fixed My 20-Year Golf Swing Fault

My colleague Baz saw improvements in his mobility by committing to 5 fitness exercises that have helped to make him a better golfer in just 30 days, but Top 50 Coach Tom Motley assured me that there was also something I could do in the lesson to improve this.

Tips by…Tips by…Tom Motley

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Top 50 Coach And PGA Professional

Tom Motley has been a PGA professional since 2005 and has helped golfers of all levels to play better for more than two decades. He offers a high level of coaching, utilising the best possible coaching technology with pressure plates, TrackMan and a vast array of training aids. Tom continually develops his skills through spending time with some of the best coaches across the globe.

Standing in the middle of an impressive array of golf clubs, equipment and training aids, Tom asked me to hit a few balls with a 7-iron into the screen to see what he was working with.

It took him all of about 30 seconds to diagnose one of the biggest issues, my setup, and he didn’t even need to consult his Trackman launch monitor or the incredible variety of data points it offers.

I had gone to junior lessons for several years when I was very young but was not allowed to go anymore after a small meltdown which lasted several holes in a tournament at my home course around the age of 11. But that’s by the by.

The point I was going to make was that while I had been taught a golfing technique at an impressionable age, I had clearly been taught some very different things to what Tom and his fellow stable of Top 50 coaches might tell students nowadays.

For example, my feet were perfectly square to the target, I had far too much flex in my knees and my golf grip featured a couple of digits almost in the wrong zip code. But other than that, it wasn’t too bad.

Before and after shots of my setup position during my lesson with a Top 50 Coach

(Image credit: Tom Motley/Trackman)

Tom showed me how to perfect my golf swing setup fundamentals and then played a video he’d taken of me from a front-on view which showed me swaying out to my right while bringing the club back more than one of those inflatable car wash mascots you see.

Because I was producing so much lateral movement, my legs and arms had to compensate and the result is often a massively over-the-top swing which invariably leads to a slice.

The fix, as it turns out, is fairly simple. Tom told me to think about twisting my right hip “up and around” and nothing else. Let the arms follow.

In terms of a drill, this is something you can try at home in front of a mirror or at the range. Press a golf club – or something of similar shape – flat along your belt line and assume the correct set up position but stand up slightly straighter.

This simple drill is something amateur golfers can do at home or on the range to improve hip rotation in the golf swing

(Image credit: Tom Motley/Trackman)

Then practice moving your right hip up and around so that the club points 45 degrees behind you before pushing off your right side and finishing with the club (still along your belt line) square to the target out to your left.

Be sure not to sway past the original position that your right pocket began. Effectively, you’re just practicing the movement your hips would make during a full swing out on the course.

Once I put that drill into practice, the results were genuinely quite shocking to me. I’d always dreamed of hitting a lovely tight draw but felt it was quite unrealistic in my current state.

Before and after shots of my position at the top of the backswing, highlighting the improvement seen in just one lesson

(Image credit: Tom Motley/Trackman)

Yet, the first half-swing that we tried produced a 90-yard mild draw. Incredible. The club path had changed from being -6 to +3, simply by tidying my set-up position and thinking only about my right hip.

From there, the results were hit and miss as Tom and I ironed out the kinks of what felt like a mammoth change in my action.

Constant reminders to stand taller and push my hips or shoulders straighter proved that despite embarking on the winning trail, it will take time for these alterations to feel natural.

The next part of my journey towards hitting much straighter (and longer) shots is to practice, practice, practice.

I can now avoid one of the 7 things never to do at the driving range by actually arriving with a plan and sticking to it – which will make a big difference.

I can also complete the aforementioned drill at home, and then it will be about going to the range to check my progress as often as possible.

A GOLF LESSON CAN HELP YOU IMPROVE