The Trick To Clearing The Hips In The Downswing 

Thinking “hands last” is a simple reminder for me. Hips first, torso second, chest third, arms fourth and hands last. Perfectly demonstrated. Thank you.

I used these tips and had the biggest improvement in a single range session in my life. I’ve never felt strikes so pure and I’ve been playing golf for over 10 years. Thank you so much!

You are so right about not doing the drills enough with most of us amateurs. I need to get a recording of your voice saying "you're not doing it enough" after every range session where I actually do the drill. That way I'll double my efforts to put in the work! It's so easy to resort to old ball hitting habits. I need to hear it over and over and over again "DO THE DRILLS!" Thank you!

I so appreciate you sharing about your CP - your golf swing is amazing and I've been watching your vids for a while but now that I understand a bit more about your story, I'm even more intrigued to listen and learn from you! Good on you, mate!

Bro, when you hit the ball with the correct swing that the water exploded off the face, I smiled out of joy and hope that my game is gonna improve from this. My swing is exactly the one on the left. Shaft is shallow and everything else is great, just not the hips. Im motivated, Im excited. Thanks mate 😊

The Duvall "No Look" shot. Good video.

You are such a good coach!!! How are you not better known!! You have a gift for coaching! Thanks for the video!

A million likes! Such a vital concept and such a brilliant way to explain it using yourself side-by-side. I have to say this game really exposes all of our issues, good and bad. For example, i say this not in a braggadocious manner at all, im terrible at lots of stuff, but im very athletic, coordinated, and flexible so i spent years "functionally" getting around the course. But i always knew there was something completely inefficient about my backswing, but i couldnt quite figure it out until i think i read in one of Ben Hogan's books to be careful Not to rotate the hips so much on way back, and instead focus more on shoulder rotation. This was my first major break thru, bc i can literally rotate my hips 90 degrees so that my rear is completely facing target. Progress, but then as i focused way more on shoulders i felt like i was getting too vertical and losing the all-important depth as you brilliantly explain here! Anyway, it's such an amusing game!

One of the best explanations of this topic!

there are a few good youtube golfers i watch....but i find myself watching you the most though, thank you

This is a good video. You had some great stuff in there. Be careful of the myths about change because 1) the correct change WILL cause immediate improvements. 2) change is much harder if you don’t disconnect the memory of the old pattern. The skills that you have plus understanding change is the ticket. Keep up the good work and maybe consider this comment. Alan

Great drill with the stick in the belt loop - Im FINALLY improving my rotation (with the help of iPhone's slo-mo ofc)! Thanks very much - sharing this among friends with the same problem..

What helped me so much was to turn the hips and make them go downward first before the downswing!

I just tried this drill. It is probably the best drill I've ever tried. Not only did the alignment rod through my belt loops tell me my hips were too closed at address, but it really helped with proper rotation in my take away and down swing. Great tip! Thank you!

Ive watched a lot of your videos. All making sense but not quite getting there. This move seemed to put it all together. Shot a 39 in the first event with an OB. At 74 I am hitting my driver 250 and nutting irons. I have never been able to do this before. You do a great service to golfers everywhere and I promote your videos. Thanks for everything you do.

I'm AS positive and mobility is restricted. This is a great help cheers. I have to exercise or seize up and this is good for me

This piece of information is a GEM! Ty my good sir

How active are your arms in the downswing? Are they just along for the ride initially then activating as you get closer to striking the ball? I want to better understand the feeling.

That is me! Thanks for this. I’m off to the range.

You are absolutely correct.

My exact problem. Never knew someone had similar problems

I paused at 4:57. Not much visual difference, but it looks key for improvement ! Thank you!

This is an excellent video. 👏🏿

Does not clearing the hips and steep shaft cause high, weak and left shots?

Can not clearing your hips lead to the dreaded shanks? Great video and makes a lot of sense to me on what I need to improve on.

The hand depth between the two models is minimal, maybe 4 inches or less. What is more noticeable is the angle of the shaft at top. On the left it's more shallow. On the right it is more steep. Depth may have a role to play, but so too does the angle of the shaft at the top.

Thanks, bought the Swing Plate Dual Pro using your discount code. Are you able to do more tutorials using the Swing Plate as a guide? The videos on the Swing Plate website do not load properly and have significant buffering issues.

I have been working on this for the last year and I have come to the conclusion I simply can’t rotate my hips through the golf shot. My issue is, I can’t for the life of me disassociate my arms and my hip rotation. If I try to speed my hips up my arms automatically speed up on the downswing meaning I end up in the same impact position which is hips square to ball. I also have trouble transferring weight from back foot to front through the golf swing resulting in the occasional chunk shot. My workaround has been to keep my weight forward through swing and drive off front foot at impact, this has worked for me and helped me get down to 10hcp but feel I am going to need to solve the hip issue if I want to keep improving.

I have decent depth and still struggle with hip turn on the downswing. My videos look like you in the left video, very square to the ball at impact

EXCELLENT VIDEO

A couple of things here that people misinterpret to catastrophic outcomes - 1. Depth. People forcing depth by pushing the arms back in place of body rotation. 2. Clearing the hips too early, dragging the shoulders way open at impact. It would be great to get more specific checkpoint information in these type of lessons. For those of us looking, we can see your hips and chest open to target at impact, but crucially your shoulders are square so your shot is straight. So many amateurs forcing depth then forcing open hips equals this huge spinning swing over the top.

fantastic video

Can u talk about exiting club on your left side after impact? U r the best.

Does anyone know the cage set up he has? Is it homemade? Or is it a package type thing to purchase. Would love that in my backyard!!!

hi, do you key on a pulling action of the left hip area or something else on the down swing? thnx.

How do you git draws like this? Whenever I do this I get majestic tour quality fades but can't move it the other way

That's great

Very good video. It almost feels like you are hitting the ball on the side of your body

So on your backswing the club inside your hands on your take away. Is it okay to take it that far inside?

Hey mate, is your golf cage 3m x 3m x 3m ? Love the set up!

If you were a doctor....you would be very good, Doctor . If you were a master....I see you are .... most of your videos are education. Thank you, Jonathan .

What is "clearing the hips" anyway and what does it mean? Can it mean getting hips out of the way in the back swing (closed hips) so one can attain enough depth with the hands at the top of the backswing? i.e.hands nearer heels of trail foot rather than toes? Or does it mean getting the hips out of the way (open hips) in the down swing so one can swing arms down in front of the hips without the hips getting in the way? You seem to be talking about both versions of clearing the hips in the video. So the question is really how do open or closed hips affect rotation in the backswing and down swing? There does not seem to be any trick to any of this to me anyway.

The upright two-plane swing does work for some players.

Wow ok I am 100% me on the left. I also come up a little on my backswing.

I clear my hips well, but I’m hitting everything off toe. I filmed myself and noticed head is staying over ball, but it moves back in down swing. To correct I feel like I have to throw my right hip forwards 😫

Is getting hands over the heel the ideal? Mine already seem well past.

Does the Explaner piece of equipment help this ?

I’m 65 when I clear my hips I snap hook. When I close my stance and have hips slightly closed at impact I hit either straight or a slight draw. Open hips not for everyone.

RU-vid could not have made a worse add break… you said “time, nothing is instant in the golf swing” cut straight to Hank Haney commercial “all it takes is 1 one swing with this device and you’ve got it” 😂

Weird question but what kind of pants are those?

Would you please use an orange stick for your waist? The dark one is too hard to see.

Danny Maude, deals with. ❤

Hi Jonathan. Did you make that video for me!😂

damn. you described exactly my swing! scary... Luckily I've been working on those for a while... Backswing is definitely the issue all along.. Way too upright and shallow backswing.

You can be in the first position, at the top, then shallow your arms like Sergio.

how old were you when you started golf

Your swing is two plane I need to understand how to clear the lef hip for my one plane swing

Can I send you a video of my swing?

Really brilliant way to bring clarity to an issue. Good job!

Front on view?

Your vids are awesome. But i have to say it's not "that" easy. I try right side swing hard, but look more like left side all the time. Haha. Still able to hit good and play 70s. I'll try out your drills asap.

😁👍

I don’t think it’s the same golfer. His hat and shoes are different 😂

Keep your butt back and keep your hands in front of your body. Once your hands lag too far behind, you will have trouble

I appreciate a normal golf swing for the amateur swing that doesn't clear the hips. Too often do instructors so overly exaggerate the mistakes that people are making that it's actually foreign and hard to relate to. I rather see a more normal amateur swing that has subtle mistakes then this ridiculous swing that no one would ever make lol.

Fast forward and still didn't get to the point lol

Big fan of your videos, but this one misses the mark. There's no doubt that a steep backswing will require more timing and compensations. I also agree that a steep swing is prone to early extension. However, lots of recreational golfers do get to the top of the swing on plane with reasonable depth and yet most of them still early extend and do not clear their hips. In other words, a steep backswing is a hindrance to clearing the hips, but it's not the primary cause. The primary cause is a lack of understanding/feeling for what the hips actually do in the transition and early downswing. They simply dont get it and the movements feel so different from what the are used to they dont stumble upon it. Speaking for myself as somebody that figured it out, the way a correct downswing feels is NOTHING like what I had in my head for the first 10 or so years of playing. I wouldnt have believed it if i had accidentally done it while experimenting. Three different teaching pros were unable to do anything but describe positions and draw lines on video. To your point about practice, I took it into my own hands and spent years with an old camcorder and swing sequences from golf magazines. Repititions hitting the ball terribly but learning to associate what i felt with what I saw on tape. The real secret? Most people simply don't 'naturally' conceptualize and/or feel the golf swing in a way that produces ideal movements, it's real hard to explain, and even harder to learn, especially at older ages.

Good stuff but sometimes the videos are too long. Could explain this much shorter like a Danny Maude, Jake Hutt. You know people only watch a certain amount of time. Good stuff. Thanks

Great content as per usual Johnathan 👏🏻👏🏻 miss my lessons with you🏌🏻‍♂️☹️

It’s really more leg work than it is "hip" work. Legs bending, turning and pushing off the ground. 😮

Do u drop the club in a slot or let hip rotates and force u to drop?

This insight of yours has made a huge difference for me. I am finding that, with a deeper position at the top, my hip turn kicks in more easily, creating a somewhat longer lag, and it feels more natural. With my hip getting out of the way better, my swing path is consistently inside-out and the club face is usually square at impact. I used to pull the ball badly with my irons and now I know why - steep downswing and a lazy (resistant) hip turn. Following your advice, I’m mainly straight and more consistent. I’m so thrilled. Thank you so much!