Shoulder and hip rotation are essential components of your golf swing.

An inadequate turn reduces your clubhead speed and impacts your swing path. Rotation is required from takeaway until impact for optimal results.

Your upper body and hips should rotate through impact until they are open to your target line. Failure to reach this position decelerates your clubhead velocity and leaves the clubface open through contact. As a result, you produce fewer yards and more slices.

In this article, I break down how to clear your hips in a golf swing.

What Clearing Your Hips Means in Golf

Clearing your hips means you get your lower body and shoulders open to the target through impact and follow through. This motion gives you the space to accelerate the clubhead into contact and keep it on plane.

The ultimate goal with clearing your hips through impact is to start your ball on the intended line and generate the prerequisite velocity.

The next time you are at the driving range, try and hit a shot where your hips stop rotating when they are square. In other words, when your hips are square to the ball, cease rotating. You will notice how your arms take over and guide the clubface to the golf ball.

This reduces your clubhead speed drastically and restricts your ability to square the face up at contact. As a result, you produce a weak, inaccurate strike. Now hit another shot, clearing your hips on the downswing, and notice the difference in distance and accuracy.

How to Properly Clear Your Hips: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Alignment

I will start with the basics to ensure you employ the correct address position. This sets you up to produce optimal shoulder and hip turn for more powerful golf shots.

Identify your target, and ensure that your front foot is parallel to the intended landing zone. In addition, your clubface should point directly at the target. This setup ensures that your golf ball starts on your target line for improved accuracy.

Step 2: Ball Position

The position of a ball in the stance impacts a golfer’s angle of attack. This is the difference between striking the ball cleanly and topping it a few yards ahead of you. In addition, ball position can hamper your ability to clear your hips.

If the ball is too far back in your stance for a longer club, you are left with minimal time to clear your hips. That causes you to strike the ball when your hips are square, imploding your clubhead speed. Plus, you have limited time to get your clubface on path for an accurate strike.

Those struggling in this department should review our tips on achieving the perfect stance.

Step 3: Shallow the Club at the Top of the Backswing

Shoulder and hip turn on the backswing is a breeze for most amateurs. However, the implosion starts at the top of the backswing. Players tend to prompt the hip turn too early in their downswing, sending the club over the top. An inside path is the only route to the ball from that position.

An inside path typically causes the clubface to stay open to the target at impact, prompting left to right sidespin. The outcome is numerous and lower clubhead speed.

Top Speed Golf provides a simple exercise to overcome this challenge. If you are right-handed, they suggest that your left elbow points directly ahead at the top of the backswing. It is easy to shallow out the golf club shaft from this point to transition to your downswing:

Shallowing out the club from the top of your backswing helps keep the shaft on plane and the clubhead on path. In addition, you accelerate your swing speed with increased wrist hinge achieved from this motion.

Step 4: Shoulders and Hips Rotate In Sync

Clay Ballard explains that your shoulder and hips must work in sync to achieve maximum clubhead speed and square face at contact. However, many amateurs lose their rhythm and tempo on the downswing.

Because we are constantly reminded to clear our hips on the downswing, it is the first motion that springs to mind. This causes golfers to activate their hips immediately from the top, separating the upper and lower body.

Ballard suggests that this brings the hips square early in the downswing and keeps them there through impact. That requires your shoulders and club to try and catch up, leading to a disjointed strike.

The reason for this jerk reaction from your upper body is that the muscles are stretched compared to the lower body. Therefore, it needs to play catch up and obliterates your rhythm,

You overcome this disparity by feeling the rotation of your upper and lower body working in unison.

A trick I use when I feel the disconnect is to stop at the top of my backswing. I don’t suggest doing this on the golf course, as it will impact your clubhead speed. However, this position allows me to feel the transition and flexibility of my body. It makes it easy to determine if one part is separated from the other.

When you reach the top of your backswing, pause, then start turning your hips and shoulders.

Step 5: Open Your Hips to the Target

The previous 4 steps built up to this point. Clearing your hips on the downswing. The momentum you generate from your lower and upper body rotation thrusts the clubface down and towards your ball for a powerful strike.

Since your clubhead lags behind your hips and shoulders, you must continue rotating through the upswing. This provides sufficient momentum to keep your club on plane and accelerating through impact.

When you stop rotating and keep your hips square at contact, you rely on your arms to guide the club into the ball. Naturally, this slows down your swing speed and may cause you to leave your clubface open to the target at impact.

Clay Ballard suggests that the shoulders and rib cage of PGA Tour players are open to the target by 20 degrees through impact. Optimizing their rotation on the downswing helps them swing faster and boost the consistency of their shots:

I have a basic exercise that you can do to help you improve clearing your hips through impact. Address the golf ball with your club in hand, and set up as if you are hitting your shot.

Next, start your takeaway and step back with your trail foot. That is your right foot for right-handers and left for lefties. The movement helps you feel the rotation of your upper and lower body on your backswing. Pause in this position, and take a step forward as you follow through. Do not hit the ball yet.

Repeat this process for five repetitions, and feel how your weight transfers from front to back and back to front. You will feel increased power and control from takeaway to impact.

Finally, employ your standard swing without taking a step back. The motion of clearing your hips through the downswing should be more natural at this point, allowing you to optimize clubhead speed and square face at contact.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years. Current Handicap: 8

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Did you know that three of the greatest golfers of all time use the interlock golf grip? 

Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy all utilize the interlocking grip and it has helped them win a combined 37 major championships. It’s hard to argue with those kinds of results!

Not sure if the interlock golf grip will work for you and your golf game? Here is a look at the interlock golf grip, why it is used, and how to use it correctly. 

This grip may not help you win a major championship, but it could be the hidden key for you to shoot lower scores.

What is an Interlock Golf Grip?

An interlock golf grip is a popular grip and it has been around for quite some time. Lots of amateur and professional golfers swear that the interlocking grip is great for making the hands act as one unit. Here’s how the grip works:

1. Put the shaft of the golf club in both your left hand and right hand.
2. Take your right pinky finger and lock it in between your left index finger and middle finger.
3. Be sure to wrap your right index finger around the handle of the golf club to make sure the left thumb doesn’t slip off the handle.
4. If you’ve performed the grip correctly, your right thumb will be pointing straight down the shaft.

 ThoughtCo

The Benefits of This Golf Grip

Lots of golfers use the interlocking golf grip because of the many benefits that it provides. Keep in mind though that making any type of grip change can take quite a while to get used to. Here is a shortlist of advantages that the interlock golf grip provides.

1. Makes the Hands Act As One Unit

A common problem for golfers is that their dominant hand wants to take over their entire golf swing. When this happens, the golfer’s clubhead speed is reduced, which means he’ll lose lots of yardage with his shots.

Since the interlock golf grip locks the hands together, it becomes almost impossible for one hand to dominate the golf swing. This leads to a more balanced swing that is both powerful and accurate. The two hands working together in unison make it easier for the golfer to square the clubface.

2. Keeps the Hands from Slipping

Have you ever had your hands keep flying off the golf club during your backswing? Needless to say, it is super frustrating. Slippage tends to occur when golfers use the baseball grip (AKA the 10-finger grip) since the hands are not linked together in any way.

The interlocking golf grip makes sure that the hands stay on the golf club throughout the entire golf swing. This gives the golfer peace of mind, knowing that he doesn’t have to worry about his hands slipping down the shaft.

3. Perfect for Golfers with Smaller Hands

The interlock golf grip is an excellent choice for golfers with smaller hands. Jack Nicklaus had small hands and he was adamant that the interlocking grip helped him keep a better grip on the golf club. 

Tiger Woods doesn’t necessarily have small hands, but he also uses the interlocking grip. Nicklaus was Woods’ idol when he was a kid, so that’s why he started using the interlocking grip.

4. Golfers Can Use Less Grip Pressure

Since the interlock golf grip keeps the hands together, the golfer can relax the wrists and hands a bit more than he could with other grips. Applying less grip pressure helps the golfer increase his clubhead speed, which leads to more power off the tee.

So much of playing good golf is counterintuitive. The lighter you grip the golf club, the further the golf ball will go. It may sound crazy but it’s true.

Do Most Pro Golfers Use The Interlock Golf Grip?

Though the interlock grip is considered a proper golf grip, it is not the most popular on the PGA Tour. In fact, nearly 90% of golfers on the PGA Tour use the overlap grip (aka the Vardon grip).

Most golf instructors today teach the overlap golf grip to folks who are just starting to learn the game. This could be the biggest reason why most pro golfers use the overlap grip.

Other Common Golf Grips

Overlap Golf Grip

The overlap grip was made famous by Harry Vardon, a highly successful pro golfer who won 7 major championships from 1896 to 1914. This grip is considered to be the best choice for golfers with large hands. 

Many golfers feel that the overlap golf grip gives them more power since the wrists have more freedom to explode through the golf ball at impact. Here’s how to use the overlap grip:

1. Grip the shaft of the golf club with your left hand (for a right-handed golfer).
2. Set your right hand on the club but set your right pinkie on top of the space between your left index finger and left middle finger
3. This grip is similar to the interlocking grip but keep in mind that the hands are NOT locked together. The right pinkie simply laps over the middle fingers of the left hand

Ten-Finger Grip

This is also known as the baseball grip. This golf grip was the most widely used before the overlap grip burst onto the golf scene back in the late 1800s. The ten-finger golf grip is the simplest way to learn that all ten fingers rest comfortably on the club at the same time.

The 10-finger grip is a popular choice amongst kids and beginners. Some golfers feel that the 10-finger grip is the most comfortable option. This grip is rarely seen on the PGA Tour for a variety of reasons.

Strong vs Weak vs Neutral Grip

In addition to the way a golfer can align their fingers to hold the club, there are also 3 common grips that have to do with the positions of your hands:

Strong Grip

A strong golf grip is often used by golfers who are fighting a slice. With a strong grip, the golfer will be able to see three or more knuckles on his left hand while addressing the golf ball. Many golfers feel that a strong grip gives them more power and control of the clubface.

Weak Grip

A weak golf grip helps players who are struggling with a hook. With a weak grip, the golfer will see two or fewer knuckles on their left hand during their setup. PGA Tour superstars like Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm use a weak grip.

Neutral Grip

With a neutral grip, the golfer will be able to see two or two and a half knuckles on their left hand at the address. Both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods use a neutral grip, which works well with their interlocking grip style choice. Neutral grips are becoming more popular in the game of late. 

When to Use The Interlocking Golf Grip vs Other Grips

Here are some reasons to use the interlocking golf grip instead of either the overlap or the ten-finger grip.

• If you are a golfer with smaller hands or don’t have much forearm strength, go with the interlock golf grip. The Vardon grip and baseball grip are decent choices but they are a better fit for golfers with large hands.
• If your dominant hand tends to take over the golf swing (aka getting too handsy), opt for the interlocking grip since it’ll force you to use both of your hands equally.
• If you hook the golf ball quite a bit, try using the interlocking grip since it promotes more of a power fade type of shot shape.
• If you are using any other grip but having problems with your accuracy, give the interlocking grip a shot. It has helped lots of golfers hit the ball straighter.
• If your hands tend to slip off the golf club, consider using an interlocking grip. The interlocking grip may limit your wrist action a tad bit, but it’ll make it much easier to keep both of your hands on the club.

Mike Noblin

Mike has been involved with sports for over 30 years. He’s been an avid golfer for more than 10 years and is obsessed with watching the Golf Channel and taking notes on a daily basis. He also holds a degree in Sports Psychology.

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