Thanks Paul. On the course today I noticed that later in the round I get a bit lazy I think and tend to chunk the ball. What do you think the primary reason would be for me later in the round? Do I need to put more focus on the starting balances and notice better all directions of balance are in sink and I feel very centered? I was thinking that this loss of wt in the club and allowing it to fall like that comes from the balance being wrong and my wt falls forward as I swing. I need to sit back on my heels a second to feel the exact middle over my feet both front back, and side to side. Is that a good focus or do you have another place for me to put more awareness before I hit. Obviously it has to be in the setup.
I feeling a great sense of torque lately by really winding my upper body and allowing the club to go limp for a second which allows a true and rather easy sense of getting the lower body getting it all going. Its like I throw the club back with my left shoulder and the club comes to rest on its own. As it approaches the stop point I make an effort to say the Letter A nice and slow and this is my throw point. Its just like a throwing motion, you know. I was a center fielder and loved the big throw to home from deep center with one bounce to the catcher. This is very similar to that motion.
Thanks buddy………….. Hitting some nice straight and long drives now…… Had to seriously loosen those arms especially in the last stages of the backswing. Once I accepted my idea of throwing the club so I can feel a let go feeling at the end of the throw and then release the spring from the ground up. Its a neat feeling. And the key thing that has been clear that my ball almost always seems to head directly for the middle of the fairway or right at the flag as we approach a green. My ball is straightest when i just relax and allow my arms to come around with a rather simple letting go, once I allow the torque to do its work.
Fine tip to easily memorize the hip turn!Thanks Paul .
A question :should you always take divot with your irons (As you do in this video )or preferably ” pick” the ball off the turf?
What about the hybrids ?
With the fairway woods ,I leave a”path ” with the clubhead where the ball was lying.
Is it correct ?
Do pros take a divot? Yes. Should you take a divot? Yes. They ave the right fundamentals. If you have the right fundamentals you would be taking a divot too. With fairway woods you will be brushing the grass.
Hi, I was able to do the lower body move the first time I ever tried it on the course, the very first shot. Having just had a frustrating lesson with just arms, on the second hole for the first fairway shot, I moved my hips laterally to the left, paused and then forgot my arms completely. I assume they just fell. What a great shot, flush, straight, and high. It worked so well I played 27 holes that day, I was so excited. In a video I see that this lateral movement causes me to be totally turned to the target though I make what feels like a slide ways move to the left, to the target. I did not know Paul Wilson then but I think his method of teaching with the legs or as above accomplishes the same thing and is surely better.
Everyone out there, just try it, forget your arms… it is so easy,the secret is to forget the arms after you bring them back, the key thing. I totally changed my swing in one afternoon and so can you. Good luck. Michelle
I like it. I’ve changed my attention from thinking about the right side of my hip firing at the down swing, to now thinking about the left side. I try to think that someONE or someTHING is tugging at my left hip belt loop at “that moment in time”. Seems to be working a little better for me. I’m gonna take a ball with me to my morning swingtime sessions and put it out there like this video. Being new, I obviously have many flaws in my swing, but squaring my clubface is my biggest at the moment. Gotta keep rolling those wrists over as well as “forget about my arms”.
This is totally fine. It’s why I give people a choice. This will be a good drill for you.
Yes, just keep rolling them. If you have to do it slowly. The more you roll the less you are coming through open. Never come through open and guess what? You never slice it!
Re my sentence above there is a spelling mistake, it is not a “slide” but a push with the right hip to the left, towards the target, and that makes the lower body turn to the target. Try any of Paul’s triggers, the legs, , or this, it all works so well. Michelle
For the first time, thanks Paul and all the team for those great tips. In fact, there’s just too much I need to be working on following your swing phylosophy. If I try turning my hip as requested, however, I tend to have sockets with the irons. That isn’t really funny during a tournament and causes a lot of frustration and decreases trust in that swing. During my drills, everything seems to be alright, until I hit a ball …
Greatful for any advice or hint on how to further proceed. Your latest tip on how to better concentrate on the hip turning is well received.
Hartmut
Glad you like the tips. I appreciate the feedback.
Right now you should be working on grip, setup and follow through. You can find all of this under SWING TIPS > FULL SWING in the red nav bar. You can also be loosening the arms at the same time. Once you are confident you are doing this, work on moving your head back and coiling the shoulders then finally the wrist hinge at the top of the backswing. You can also work on the takeaway after that if you need to.
Paul,
thanks for the quick response! Looks like a won’t have boring time on the range …
As I joined the community only a couple of weeks ago, I’m so thrilled with the first convincing results of the swing. So, I’m keen in following your advice. Having too little time for training and drills isn’t my biggest problem anymore 🙂
Hi Paul, Do you have students finding difficulty finishing their swing by touching the back of their head. It seems crazy how difficult it is to do on consistent basis…Is this because of poor habits over many years, or I am I “brain-dead” to some degree? As a former teacher asked me many years ago, “Why do yo keep doing that”? Of course if I knew the answer, I would have been able to fix the problem. I ultimately decided to move on to someone who had better thoughts about my swing. Any tricks to consistently helping those to completely making a full swing to the finish,,,touching the head as well as finishing completely up on the back toe? ….or is it just time and repetitions?
Danny
I do have a problem with some people being able to hit this position. These are the people who do not listen or think so much about the ball they forget the position.
This is not difficult at all. You need to be thinking about it to do it. You know where your head is. You are holding onto the club. As you set up to the ball you look down at the shaft of the club. As you swing you take this shaft and touch to to your head. Hold it there and check it. If it is not splitting the ears fix it. Now, keep doing this every night in practice swings until you don’t know any other way to do it. Remember, the club splitting your ears is telling you that your wrists are loose and you are allowing the club to swing freely. The harder you hit, the tighter the wrists the less it will split the ears.
What you should be doing are practice swings towards a mirror. This way there is not ball so you are not trying to hit anything. Then work on these positions backwards. Get the touching of the head first. In doing so, the right leg will have come around to some degree and will be very close to touching the other leg. Once you do this for a while just tidy up the legs and you have both positions. You can do this or you can do the touch the legs first. I get the feeling you ma have to do it backswards. So, get a mirror and find a place you can so these swings. Once you have this setup do it every night. If you want it you will get it. If you get it you will never want to stop doing it because this will make you hit it better than you ever have.
Of all the great tips you have given us, I think that is the best because it simplifies the thought process at the critical moment: the start of the downswing! I have struggled for all of my 60+ years of playing golf with “over-thinking” the swing and I think — at long last — you may have eliminated that problem with a simple visual swing thought. THANK YOU!!
Yes, this is a great thought. Why would you slide if you were thinking about the ball off your hip. Glad it worked for you. Keep at it. This will stop any pushes and push fades.
Paul ,This is one of my favorite drills ,it did a lot to improve my rotation effectiveness and speed.To get the sense of speed ,you should also do it the other way around ,that is with the right hip being pulled through .What we lack – most of us- is the TRUE SENSE OF WHAT SPEED FEELS and this last drill makes you feel it .
I also have a more intricate device ,developed by Pro’s SIMON HOLMES and DENIS PUGH called the “POWER HIP ROTATOR “which has a belt attached to your waist and rubber tubings going from the belt to the bottom of the door (or the window )or a picket in the ground :it works also both ways and has the advantage of enabling you to use it while really swinging the club .
A tough training aid for the hips is the SOMAX POWER HIP TRAINER but the “inventor “BOB PRICHARD never wanted to sell it to me on account of my “too advanced age””It won’t benefit you at all ” he told me .It’s basically a platform with a steel spring you have to turn as fast as possible .
You can do without !
Since my 3-14 reply to this drill, I took it to the golf course I play most often (Oak Creek Golf Club, Irvine, CA) and using just the image of a ball directly opposite my front hip to trigger my turn to that imaginary ball, I had my best ball striking round in recent years. I hit all 14 fairways reasonably near the center with drives that averaged 240 yards (good for me, a 71 year old!) and hit 8 greens in regulation plus 3 of the 4 par 3’s on this difficult 6500 yard course (also good for me!). Unfortunately I had 40 putts so my score was disappointing but I was so pleased with my ball striking and the effortlessness of my full swings that I was not bummed out by the 90 I shot.
I think the drill worked for me because (1) it replaced often conflicting back, transition swing and arm swing thoughts with a simple visual image. (2) Your drill got me to turn my hips until my belt buckle faced parallel left of my actual target in stead of stopping my hip turn when my buckle faced the flag (or other target) which avoided deceleration and enabled me to reach my full finish positions. (3) Your drill also took my mind off my arms during the downswing so effectively that I had no conscious knowledge (or concern) about what they were doing, another first for me! (4) Swinging the club by turning my belt buckle to the imaginary ball also made the swing so effortless that I wished I could play another 18 holes — a feeling I have not had in many years. Plus (5) I tried this drill in my family room on my 5 and 8 year old grandsons — without a ball, of course — and, to my surprise, it morphed the tortured, corkscrew-like swing of my 5 year old into a good looking swing and motivated him to want to get back out on the golf course SOON. Amazing!
In short, this tip “spoke to me” in ways very few do. I guess YOU can actually “teach an old dog new tricks!”
If you slide it is tricky to get out of it. Glad you latched onto this way to start the downswing. Pretty simple and gets you rotating not sliding. Keep at it.
When I practice with a tee, I am able to make solid contact, but once I practice with the ball down, especially on relatively hard turf, I do not make solid contact as consistently (when I actually play with the ball down, I am sometimes ok, but mostly I am not – the hard or more bare turf [tight lie] is definitely a problem). I am sure I need to just trust the body swing and keep working on it, but do you have a specific suggestion?
So when it is not on the tee you are trying to hit it. Keep it on the tee and gradually lower it until you can do it without. Also, do the same swing with the tee as without and swing easier on the ground so you aren’t looking early to see the result. Hit it then look for it. If your positions were perfect I wouldn’t be answering this question right now so keep working on them too daily in practice swings. Hold them and check them so you know they are perfect.
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26 Responses to “DRILL – Ball Off Hip”
August 2, 2013
RalphWilkinsonThanks Paul. On the course today I noticed that later in the round I get a bit lazy I think and tend to chunk the ball. What do you think the primary reason would be for me later in the round? Do I need to put more focus on the starting balances and notice better all directions of balance are in sink and I feel very centered? I was thinking that this loss of wt in the club and allowing it to fall like that comes from the balance being wrong and my wt falls forward as I swing. I need to sit back on my heels a second to feel the exact middle over my feet both front back, and side to side. Is that a good focus or do you have another place for me to put more awareness before I hit. Obviously it has to be in the setup.
I feeling a great sense of torque lately by really winding my upper body and allowing the club to go limp for a second which allows a true and rather easy sense of getting the lower body getting it all going. Its like I throw the club back with my left shoulder and the club comes to rest on its own. As it approaches the stop point I make an effort to say the Letter A nice and slow and this is my throw point. Its just like a throwing motion, you know. I was a center fielder and loved the big throw to home from deep center with one bounce to the catcher. This is very similar to that motion.
Thanks buddy………….. Hitting some nice straight and long drives now…… Had to seriously loosen those arms especially in the last stages of the backswing. Once I accepted my idea of throwing the club so I can feel a let go feeling at the end of the throw and then release the spring from the ground up. Its a neat feeling. And the key thing that has been clear that my ball almost always seems to head directly for the middle of the fairway or right at the flag as we approach a green. My ball is straightest when i just relax and allow my arms to come around with a rather simple letting go, once I allow the torque to do its work.
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonRalph,
This happens to us all. Your just tired or not focused. I did a tip on it here:
Coming Down The Stretch: https://ignitiongolf.com/how-to-finish
This is the right feeling. This is the ultimate goal. Coil > Uncoil > Arms go along for the ride. Keep doing this if you can.
August 2, 2013
Raoul BintnerThat’s clever ! I love it when it’s simple.
Raoul
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonRaoul,
Simple yet effective!
August 2, 2013
RaymondCHASTELFine tip to easily memorize the hip turn!Thanks Paul .
A question :should you always take divot with your irons (As you do in this video )or preferably ” pick” the ball off the turf?
What about the hybrids ?
With the fairway woods ,I leave a”path ” with the clubhead where the ball was lying.
Is it correct ?
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonRaymond,
Do pros take a divot? Yes. Should you take a divot? Yes. They ave the right fundamentals. If you have the right fundamentals you would be taking a divot too. With fairway woods you will be brushing the grass.
August 2, 2013
MichelleRichardsonHi, I was able to do the lower body move the first time I ever tried it on the course, the very first shot. Having just had a frustrating lesson with just arms, on the second hole for the first fairway shot, I moved my hips laterally to the left, paused and then forgot my arms completely. I assume they just fell. What a great shot, flush, straight, and high. It worked so well I played 27 holes that day, I was so excited. In a video I see that this lateral movement causes me to be totally turned to the target though I make what feels like a slide ways move to the left, to the target. I did not know Paul Wilson then but I think his method of teaching with the legs or as above accomplishes the same thing and is surely better.
Everyone out there, just try it, forget your arms… it is so easy,the secret is to forget the arms after you bring them back, the key thing. I totally changed my swing in one afternoon and so can you. Good luck. Michelle
August 2, 2013
LANCEI like it. I’ve changed my attention from thinking about the right side of my hip firing at the down swing, to now thinking about the left side. I try to think that someONE or someTHING is tugging at my left hip belt loop at “that moment in time”. Seems to be working a little better for me. I’m gonna take a ball with me to my morning swingtime sessions and put it out there like this video. Being new, I obviously have many flaws in my swing, but squaring my clubface is my biggest at the moment. Gotta keep rolling those wrists over as well as “forget about my arms”.
Still Swingin’,
Lance
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonLance,
This is totally fine. It’s why I give people a choice. This will be a good drill for you.
Yes, just keep rolling them. If you have to do it slowly. The more you roll the less you are coming through open. Never come through open and guess what? You never slice it!
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonMichelle,
This is an exciting feeling when you do it for the first time. Glad you are experiencing it and I hope you keep doing it. So much less effort.
August 2, 2013
MichelleRichardsonRe my sentence above there is a spelling mistake, it is not a “slide” but a push with the right hip to the left, towards the target, and that makes the lower body turn to the target. Try any of Paul’s triggers, the legs, , or this, it all works so well. Michelle
August 2, 2013
HartmutBeilmannFor the first time, thanks Paul and all the team for those great tips. In fact, there’s just too much I need to be working on following your swing phylosophy. If I try turning my hip as requested, however, I tend to have sockets with the irons. That isn’t really funny during a tournament and causes a lot of frustration and decreases trust in that swing. During my drills, everything seems to be alright, until I hit a ball …
Greatful for any advice or hint on how to further proceed. Your latest tip on how to better concentrate on the hip turning is well received.
Hartmut
August 3, 2013
Paul WilsonHartmut,
Glad you like the tips. I appreciate the feedback.
Right now you should be working on grip, setup and follow through. You can find all of this under SWING TIPS > FULL SWING in the red nav bar. You can also be loosening the arms at the same time. Once you are confident you are doing this, work on moving your head back and coiling the shoulders then finally the wrist hinge at the top of the backswing. You can also work on the takeaway after that if you need to.
Immediately start doing this drill:
DRILL: This Is The Best Drill You Should Be Doing Right Now: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-three-quarter-distance/
Follow through
DRILL: Touch Legs Touch Head: https://ignitiongolf.com/follow-through-sequence-drill/
Hit, Hold and Check: https://ignitiongolf.com/hold-check-follow-through/
When Is Your Swing Over?: https://ignitiongolf.com/swing-club-touching-head/
August 3, 2013
HartmutBeilmannPaul,
thanks for the quick response! Looks like a won’t have boring time on the range …
As I joined the community only a couple of weeks ago, I’m so thrilled with the first convincing results of the swing. So, I’m keen in following your advice. Having too little time for training and drills isn’t my biggest problem anymore 🙂
August 4, 2013
Paul WilsonHartmut,
Glad you are seeing results. Just take it one step at a time and your swing will get better and better.
August 4, 2013
DannyBenjaminHi Paul, Do you have students finding difficulty finishing their swing by touching the back of their head. It seems crazy how difficult it is to do on consistent basis…Is this because of poor habits over many years, or I am I “brain-dead” to some degree? As a former teacher asked me many years ago, “Why do yo keep doing that”? Of course if I knew the answer, I would have been able to fix the problem. I ultimately decided to move on to someone who had better thoughts about my swing. Any tricks to consistently helping those to completely making a full swing to the finish,,,touching the head as well as finishing completely up on the back toe? ….or is it just time and repetitions?
Danny
August 4, 2013
Paul WilsonDanny,
I do have a problem with some people being able to hit this position. These are the people who do not listen or think so much about the ball they forget the position.
This is not difficult at all. You need to be thinking about it to do it. You know where your head is. You are holding onto the club. As you set up to the ball you look down at the shaft of the club. As you swing you take this shaft and touch to to your head. Hold it there and check it. If it is not splitting the ears fix it. Now, keep doing this every night in practice swings until you don’t know any other way to do it. Remember, the club splitting your ears is telling you that your wrists are loose and you are allowing the club to swing freely. The harder you hit, the tighter the wrists the less it will split the ears.
What you should be doing are practice swings towards a mirror. This way there is not ball so you are not trying to hit anything. Then work on these positions backwards. Get the touching of the head first. In doing so, the right leg will have come around to some degree and will be very close to touching the other leg. Once you do this for a while just tidy up the legs and you have both positions. You can do this or you can do the touch the legs first. I get the feeling you ma have to do it backswards. So, get a mirror and find a place you can so these swings. Once you have this setup do it every night. If you want it you will get it. If you get it you will never want to stop doing it because this will make you hit it better than you ever have.
March 14, 2015
johnhoyleTHANKS COACH Im getting there
March 14, 2015
JimMerwinHi, Paul.
Of all the great tips you have given us, I think that is the best because it simplifies the thought process at the critical moment: the start of the downswing! I have struggled for all of my 60+ years of playing golf with “over-thinking” the swing and I think — at long last — you may have eliminated that problem with a simple visual swing thought. THANK YOU!!
March 15, 2015
Paul WilsonJim,
Yes, this is a great thought. Why would you slide if you were thinking about the ball off your hip. Glad it worked for you. Keep at it. This will stop any pushes and push fades.
March 14, 2015
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,This is one of my favorite drills ,it did a lot to improve my rotation effectiveness and speed.To get the sense of speed ,you should also do it the other way around ,that is with the right hip being pulled through .What we lack – most of us- is the TRUE SENSE OF WHAT SPEED FEELS and this last drill makes you feel it .
I also have a more intricate device ,developed by Pro’s SIMON HOLMES and DENIS PUGH called the “POWER HIP ROTATOR “which has a belt attached to your waist and rubber tubings going from the belt to the bottom of the door (or the window )or a picket in the ground :it works also both ways and has the advantage of enabling you to use it while really swinging the club .
A tough training aid for the hips is the SOMAX POWER HIP TRAINER but the “inventor “BOB PRICHARD never wanted to sell it to me on account of my “too advanced age””It won’t benefit you at all ” he told me .It’s basically a platform with a steel spring you have to turn as fast as possible .
You can do without !
March 15, 2015
Paul WilsonRaymond,
I think you mentioned the PHR before. Not sure it is secured to the ground tight enough.
Somax seems interesting. Little pricing though. Bob’s stuff is totally in line with what I teach though.
March 20, 2015
JimMerwin3-19-15
Hi again, Paul
Since my 3-14 reply to this drill, I took it to the golf course I play most often (Oak Creek Golf Club, Irvine, CA) and using just the image of a ball directly opposite my front hip to trigger my turn to that imaginary ball, I had my best ball striking round in recent years. I hit all 14 fairways reasonably near the center with drives that averaged 240 yards (good for me, a 71 year old!) and hit 8 greens in regulation plus 3 of the 4 par 3’s on this difficult 6500 yard course (also good for me!). Unfortunately I had 40 putts so my score was disappointing but I was so pleased with my ball striking and the effortlessness of my full swings that I was not bummed out by the 90 I shot.
I think the drill worked for me because (1) it replaced often conflicting back, transition swing and arm swing thoughts with a simple visual image. (2) Your drill got me to turn my hips until my belt buckle faced parallel left of my actual target in stead of stopping my hip turn when my buckle faced the flag (or other target) which avoided deceleration and enabled me to reach my full finish positions. (3) Your drill also took my mind off my arms during the downswing so effectively that I had no conscious knowledge (or concern) about what they were doing, another first for me! (4) Swinging the club by turning my belt buckle to the imaginary ball also made the swing so effortless that I wished I could play another 18 holes — a feeling I have not had in many years. Plus (5) I tried this drill in my family room on my 5 and 8 year old grandsons — without a ball, of course — and, to my surprise, it morphed the tortured, corkscrew-like swing of my 5 year old into a good looking swing and motivated him to want to get back out on the golf course SOON. Amazing!
In short, this tip “spoke to me” in ways very few do. I guess YOU can actually “teach an old dog new tricks!”
Thanks, Paul!
Jim Merwin
March 20, 2015
Paul WilsonJim,
That’s great news. I love hearing it.
If you slide it is tricky to get out of it. Glad you latched onto this way to start the downswing. Pretty simple and gets you rotating not sliding. Keep at it.
June 29, 2018
Stephen L.JohnsonPaul,
When I practice with a tee, I am able to make solid contact, but once I practice with the ball down, especially on relatively hard turf, I do not make solid contact as consistently (when I actually play with the ball down, I am sometimes ok, but mostly I am not – the hard or more bare turf [tight lie] is definitely a problem). I am sure I need to just trust the body swing and keep working on it, but do you have a specific suggestion?
I am enjoying the process.
Thank you.
Steve
July 1, 2018
Paul WilsonSteve,
So when it is not on the tee you are trying to hit it. Keep it on the tee and gradually lower it until you can do it without. Also, do the same swing with the tee as without and swing easier on the ground so you aren’t looking early to see the result. Hit it then look for it. If your positions were perfect I wouldn’t be answering this question right now so keep working on them too daily in practice swings. Hold them and check them so you know they are perfect.