Level Hips
 

A first class div 1 college golfer, is taking lessons from
an instructor in Atlanta, Not Ted Forte. His instructor
will not work on the backswing until issues are worked out
on the pivot. His instuctor would like level hips on the
backswing and a straighting left leg into impact. Does the
Hula Hula favor slanted hip or level hips. I alwalys felt
that slanted hips was the program. I asked a friend who is
and instuctor at Ledbetter, and she said, always level hips.
I don't buy that. What are your thoughts.

I believe hip slant depends on the selected knee action (10-16). If you use standard knee action, your back knee will be straightening and your hips slanting. If you use right anchor, then the hip turn will be flat. Since right anchor seems to be the popular knee action on TOUR, it's no surprise the instructor is wanting to see level hips.

BamBam,

Would it be correct to believe we are learning "Right Anchor" with the MacDonald Drills?

Thank You,
Kevin

I think the MacDonald drills are more about weight shift and coordinating that wonderful, natural right/left cadence with the swinging arms, but if I'm remembering the MacDonald illustrations correctly, the right leg is straightening, meaning it would be standard leg action. I imagine you could do the drills with right anchor, but standard feels a little more natural and flowing.

EDIT: found the illustrations here http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...ad.php?p=39845

I think the last one shows it pretty well, and those hips look slanted to me.

Thanks Ben, and I agree, the drills are WONDERFUL! :salut:

Kevin

More difficult to turn the hips level and maintain a steady head . . . a question for the instructor would be WHEN does the left leg get straight? The knee action pretty much controls the hip slant and also has implications on the slant of the shoulder turn which have implications on the hand path . . . . so basically all that stuff has far reaching implications on components and plane angles . . . .

Feet
 

Thanks fellows for your response. The instructor is foucusing
more on foot action than knee action. My sense is that the
focus should be more about knees than feet to get the pivot
correct?

If memory serves me, in Lynn's first telephone conversation with Homer Kelley he inquired about the relative merits of a straightening left leg vs a saggy left knee.

Homer, not being one to recommend a particular way, wouldnt give him a straight answer. He kept saying things like "well thats up to you", "if you want a more level hip turn through the ball then dont straighten it up". Im paraphrasing here.

Me, Im thinking that there should be no active knee action, motion. So no leg or knee drive taking the weight outside the left foot. Everything below the waist should be a Hip Motion or the result of it. With the possible exception being the feet lifting and lowering.

Knudson came to the conclusion that Hogans perfectly flat balanced left foot at Finish was his greatest asset. And so he began a quest that took him 18 months to finally attain a flat left foot at Finish. In the end, the solution he said was simple. The left foot must be set outside the left shoulder at Address. Hogan as you will remember had a pretty wide stance too and Knudson believed that was the reason. With the left foot directly below the left shoulder you cant get left without rolling it over. Knudson had a bunch of practical insights like this in regard to the pivot.

Sorry Im rambling again. Id guess level ish hips on backswing , slant on through swing, given right anchor and axis tilt. I dunno. Final answer. Survey says.......

Informative post OB, thanks! I am currently working on keeping my left foot flat...it rolls a bit.It took me a while to figure out that what the hips do (or actually fail to do) is key. However I never considered Knudson's idea on the relationship of the left foot to low point. In fact I have worked diligently to match my left shoulder to the inside of my left foot, so that I can reference ball position in relation to low point using my stance. So Knudson beleived that the left foot should be positioned target-side of low point? Interesting wrinkle, thanks for sharing.

Look at the difference in the amount the knees go forward and the hips as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIBHnO6nSq4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJJQ5Z2be8w


In some swings the left knee does get outside of the left ankle . . . In all swings generally there is some straightening of the right knee and flexing of the left even when the knee action is double anchor. So the question becomes what knee action is best for my pattern? Knee action is a big piece in controlling the tilt of the hips and in turn controling the plane of the shoulder turn . . . in both directions.

You note the different knee action of Snead and Hogan thru the ball. Sneads left knee gets straighter faster and thus his hips don't go as far forward with the hips as Hogan. The amount of rotation in the hips and shoulders are going to differ as well and thus they have different hand paths as a result.