How to Improve Hip Rotation in the Golf Swing: Actionable Tips & Drills to Unlock Power

You’re not maximizing your power or consistency unless you use your hips correctly.

Too many amateur golfers swing with their arms, and while they may have found some success, they’re not reaching their full potential.

Improving your hip rotation is no walk in the park. It does require practice and dedication, but it’s a small price to pay for more power and consistency.

Use the tips below to learn how the hips should move and why you want to combine that with proper wrist position. Then use the drills to ingrain the information and train your muscles to make the correct movement.

Hip Rotation in the Golf Swing (Key Takeaways)

Improving your hip rotation takes time; if you don’t have much right now, here are key takeaways:

• Adjust your stance at address to allow for more hip movement.
• Combine wrist hinge and release with hip rotation for maximum consistency.
• Use golf-specific exercises to increase flexibility and reaction control.
• Adjust the swing plane to encourage an in-to-out path to allow hips to rotate fully.

What Proper Hip Rotation Looks Like

Proper hip rotation can be identified by how much a golfer’s belt buckle moves. During the backswing, good hip rotation will cause the belt buckle to point away from the target.

When the swing reaches a full follow-through position, the belt buckle should face the target.

Other aspects, such as wrist hinge, weight transfer, and balance, can help contribute to proper hip rotation.

But ultimately, pros and advanced golfers rely on their lower body to produce power with their hips through training and practice.

Actionable Tips to Improve Hip Rotation

Correct hip rotation will take some time to develop, but the advantages, such as more power, better timing, and increased consistency, are what’s waiting for you if you use the tips below.

Unite Wrists and Hips

In many cases, poor hip rotation creates a swing that relies too heavily on the arms, and if a golfer is using their arms for strength, they are probably not utilizing lag and wrist hinge effectively.

It’s easy to track the correct wrist and body connection with Hackmotion Casting Drill or the traditional way using a mirror.

• Always start your swing with your belt buckle and wrist hinge.
• Only go back as far as your hips will let you.
• Use Hackmotion to maintain wrist hinge while hips rotate towards the target.
• Once wrists have been released, hips should be facing the target.
• Focusing on two major aspects of the swing (like wrists and hips) will encourage smaller aspects to act efficiently.

Flare Feet at Address

Flaring your toes out slightly at address will give your hips more range of motion.

This is not a long-term fix, but it will help new golfers who are very stiff start to feel their hips move.

Intermediate players may find this tip useful on their longer clubs, and especially the driver. The longer the club, the more time the hips have to move, so we want to take full advantage when possible.

Using the hips more is the purpose of this tip, so if you lose consistency or hit shots you wouldn’t usually hit, you may have flared your feet too much.

Improve Flexibility

Like any sport, improving your physical well-being will help you play better. Your hips don’t have a wide range of motion to begin with, so any bit of extra power we can create will be advantageous.

Use these exercises to improve your hip and lower back flexibility to increase your range of motion and consistency.

• Step-Overs – Start by standing upright with your feet together. Using one leg lift, bend your knee to the side as high as you can, and then take a step forward. Imagine you are stepping over a hurdle. Repeat on the other side.
• Cart Bends – Use the post or arm rest of a power cart. While holding on, cross one leg over the other so the ankle is resting on the knee. Bend your knee that is still on the ground and slowly lower yourself, allowing your other knee to flare out and flex that hip. Hold this pose while breathing deeply for 25-45 seconds and repeat on the other hip.
• Supine Twists – Start by lying on your back with your arms out to the sides (making a ‘T’). Bend your knees and cross one leg over the other. Let your legs fall to the side of whichever leg is underneath. Feel the stretch through the outside of your hip on the side of the upper leg.

Swing Inside to Out

It’s common for newer golfers to have a slice, which is caused by an out-to-in swing path and an open clubface, primarily driven by the arms and shoulders. To fix this, you must train to swing from the inside out.

All you need is a head cover with this drill to improve your in-to-out swing, hip rotation, and reduce the effects of your slices.

• Video Timestamp – 1:22 – 3:45

Drills to Build Better Rotation

Use these drills on the practice tee only. Adding hip rotation can be a significant change.

Getting used to the new movement of body rotation in the golf swing can cause some bad shots during the transition. However, these drills will help you stay on track and expedite the process.

Weight Forward Drill

This drill focuses on creating an exaggerated feeling of what correct hip rotation should feel like. Keeping your weight forward will help initiate more lower-body rotation and take the pressure off the upper body.

It also allows you to address any wrist issues that are dragging down your consistency. Use Hackmotion to monitor your wrist movement while keeping your weight forward and initiating more hip rotation.

• Video Timestamp – 0:27 – 4:38

Casting Drill

This is another great drill to join the movement of your hips while optimizing wrist hinge.

It’s much easier to monitor your hip movement than your wrist movement, which is why so many golfers use Hackmotion.

• Video Timestamp – 5:45 – 9:25

Alignment Stick Rotation Drill

The Alignment Stick Rotation Drill is great for golfers who want a clear visual representation of how and when their hips rotate.

While other drills combine various aspects of the swing to maintain good swing tempo, this drill isolates your hips and ensures they rotate to their maximum capacity.

• Video Timestamp – 1:29 – 3:18

Hit Hard, Stop Quick Drill

Once you’ve practiced with slower drills, you can move up to this one, which will put your training to the test. Use this drill at the beginning of practice sessions and only occasionally.

• Video Timestamp – 3:11 – 4:58

Final Thoughts

Improving your hip rotation can have positive effects on your game. Using your hips more will help increase consistency and distance with all your clubs. It also gives you a large muscle group to focus on, which is easier than making smaller adjustments.

The only small adjustment you should be concerned with is your wrist hinge and position.

Combining wrist hinge and hip rotation optimizes your movements and allows your natural instinct to react. For even better results, use Hackmotion to get detailed data on how your wrists should be moving and what you can do to improve.