Fix a Stalled Hip Turn With This Trail-Foot Downswing Drill
By Staff Writer
2 min read
Key takeaways
- A common lower-body fault is failing to push off the trail foot early in the downswing, forcing the upper body to compensate.
- The fix pairs a trail-foot push at the top of the backswing with a lead foot that stays planted through impact.
- A cupped left wrist at the top opens the clubface; a flatter wrist squares it.
- A "halfway drill" checks the clubface at the midpoint of the backswing before completing the turn.
- A stretch of shanks while making this change is a common, and often positive, side effect.
A common miss for golfers trying to shed strokes traces to the lower body: the trail foot never pushes to clear the hips, so the upper body compensates and the swing loses its sequencing. Morgan Hale, a director of instruction who runs "performance sessions" combining swing coaching with fitness work, breaks the fix into three parts.
What is the fix?
The drill starts with a push off the trail foot at the top of the backswing, almost like jumping off it, to get the hips moving before anything else. The lead foot has to hold its ground at the same time; if it lifts or slides, the player is lunging at the ball rather than clearing the hips around it.
A cupped left wrist at the top leaves the clubface open; a flatter left wrist gets it square to slightly strong. Hale uses a halfway drill, stopping the club at the midpoint of the backswing to check the face before completing the turn to the top.
Get the face right at the halfway point, and it tends to stay right the rest of the way up.
What should players expect while working on it?
A stretch of shanks is a common side effect of this change, and not necessarily a bad sign. A shank usually means the path and face are already close to correct, with something small, a stray hand or an early release, getting in the way in the final foot before impact.
Frequently asked questions
Why should golfers push off their trail foot on the downswing?
The push helps clear the hips early in the downswing so the lower body leads the motion instead of the upper body compensating for a hip that never moved.
Why does a cupped left wrist cause problems at the top of the backswing?
A cupped left wrist leaves the clubface open at the top, while a flatter wrist gets the face square to slightly strong, which is easier to deliver squarely at impact.
What is the halfway drill for checking the clubface?
It involves stopping the backswing at its midpoint to check the clubface position before completing the turn, since a correct face at that point tends to stay correct through the top of the swing.
- golf instruction
- downswing
- hip turn
- swing drills
- backswing
- wrist position
