Golf Swing Sequence - How the Lower Body Works

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Struggle with coming over the top or don't know how to use your lower body in the golf swing? This video explains the golf swing sequence and the sequencing of the lower body while giving you two key drills to teach you exactly how to build a powerful lower body movement.

  • Proper golf swing sequencing is what builds effortless power in the golf swing
  • The hips fire first in the downswing, and simply carry the arms, shoulders & club along at first
  • As the hips decelerate, the shoulders speed up - momentum is passed from hips to shoulders to arms & finally the club
  • We see some of the same movement and weight shift in a baseball throw
  • Golf Swing Drill: Stride & stomp the left leg during the downswing
  • Once you master the stride/stomp, just lift the left heel & stomp it down without taking a step
  • Make the motion smaller and smaller to integrate it into your normal swing
  • The stomping motion activates the left glute & gets you loaded properly onto the left side


So, we're here with Clay Baller, our new RST certified instructor who's taking over down here in Orlando for us and doing a great job in learning all the biomechanics of the swing.

And he's also going to help us today talk about the lower body movement.

And I know for a lot of you golfers, we talk about hip spinners and those types of things that typically are geared more towards a better golfer, but that's obviously not everybody out there.

We know we have a lot of golfers who still come over the top and don't really have a good picture of how the lower body works.

So, that's what we're going to talk about today.

And we built a little 2D model here and it's built kind of like Clay, maybe we'll call him Clay.

Stick figure move here.

So, but basically it's an oversimplified 2D model from a top down perspective.

Like I said, it's oversimplified, but it's going to show the segments of the body in proportion how they work.

And they're color coded for a reason.

So, the one piece that I have here at the bottom is green.

And this is the starting piece and it's the smallest piece.

The green piece represents the hips.

And it's green for a reason.

We're going to talk about that in a second.

The next piece, proportionately bigger than the green piece, is red.

And it's red for a reason.

That's the shoulders or the upper torso.

And then the yellow piece represents the left arm.

And the blue piece represents the golf club.

Now, they're color coded for a reason.

And Clay, you know, we see a lot of golfers moving these segments in the wrong sequence.

And we spend a lot of time talking about sequencing in the golf swing.

And this is where people come over the top and they don't sequence things correctly.

They're color coded like this for a reason.

And what do we typically see the first part moving in the higher handicap golfers? Well, the higher handicap golfers, they tend to go ahead and unwind their shoulders right off the bat.

They throw their arms from the top.

And then that gets the club releasing way too early.

So, they're kind of throwing the club from the top, coming over the top, hitting a big slice, getting too steep on it.

A lot of different problems that are caused with that.

This is why this is red.

Because everybody, especially if you're an over-the-top golfer, your first move is not to move your lower body, but to take your upper body and heave it around.

And then, of course, you get in the club to fire early and your arms to fire early.

So you lose a ton of lag and that's how you cast it.

So, this, we have the hips being green for a very specific reason.

The hips can fire.

And for most of you golfers who are higher handicap golfers, we want that to happen.

We need them to be focused on getting those hips to go first.

Now, obviously, A lot of the videos on the website deal with hip spinners, and that's really geared towards a lower handicap player who hasn't learned how to post up and decelerate the hips.

They just kind of keep rotating through.

But we know through the online groups and the video submissions that many of you out there on the website are still over-the -top guys.

Casting the club and moving the segments in the wrong sequence.

And sequencing is everything in the golf swing.

That's how you build effortless power.

So, let's look at this sequence, how it works in the golf swing.

I'm going to go ahead and move clay here up to the top of the backswing and show you about where everything would be roughly in this sequence.

So, again, this is oversimplified.

We don't have any angles.

We're just trying to make it a really simple picture.

So, you can see in this image, the hips have turned about 45 degrees.

That's fine.

The shoulder's about 90 degrees, maybe even a little bit more.

The arm is loaded up across the chest, so it's across the red part here, and then the club is loaded up.

So, now we have a lot of potential energy.

When we started out, we had nothing.

There's nothing to hit with.

There's no angles.

There's no leverage, right? But, as we rotate back, now we have some rotational force, and then we also have some levers here.

This guy right here is now potential energy.

This guy is potential energy.

So, as those two are working together, we've got to get these guys to work and release.

So, let me tighten that up real quick.

Okay, so now, in this position, we have lots of energy, lots of lever, we have lots of force available to us.

The key is to unwind that force in the right sequence.

That's the whole point of the downswing.

We're loading it up to create potential energy.

Now we've created these levers, and now we need to unwind them in the right way.

So, as Clay mentioned earlier, the first thing we typically see is they take the red part.

Red means stop.

We don't want to defire that red part.

So, we don't need this to just start unwinding early, because then we're taking our trunk, our lower body, out of the swing.

And so, what it's going to do is then start to stabilize to support the upper body to keep us from falling on our face, right? So instead, we need the lower part to fire.

And then, in a minute, the next part of the video is we're going to show you exactly how to move that lower body in the right sequence and some drills to do it.

But let's look at how it works here.

So as I start unwinding the green segment first, it's green because we want it to go.

As it starts to unwind, notice how all of the segments are moving.

Now, what are the arms doing at this point? Very little.

Most people do this right from the top, right? They take these segments, they move them out of the wrong sequence.

But if we move the hips, the arms are being moved by the lower body.

And so we talk about that a lot.

You hear sayings, oh, I feel like my arms are falling from the top, or they're relatively passive from the top.

When we talk about how the arms work in the downswing, again, that's really geared towards a player whose lower body movement is already working correctly.

But that's not everybody.

So we want this stuff, we want to maintain these angles later in the downswing.

And for the average higher handicapped golfer, we need to maintain those angles as long as humanly possible is what it's going to feel like.

Absolutely.

So there's something even called the kinematic sequence of events, which is just the order in which you fire.

If you do this very efficiently, you're going to get maximum power.

So that's something that we see very few amateurs do, and a lot of the professionals do it very well.

So this is very key into getting the maximum amount of power into all your shots.

So that's what we want to do is sequence all of these movements into the right so that everything's delivered at the right point.

So now we're going to move the hip segment.

I'm not moving anything else, but because they're attached via your muscles and tendons and ligaments, the rest of it's getting moved as the hips accelerate and then decelerate, because we don't want the hips to keep spinning.

That's what we talk about with our higher handicapped players, they don't learn to decelerate the hips, and they just keep moving and then the club inevitably releases late.

So if we imagine impact is here, this club is going to release late, there's no release of energy here.

So we want the hips to decelerate, and that's what we're going to talk about a lot on this next part of the video, is getting the hips to move correctly first and then decelerate, because we need to transmit that energy up the chain, up to eventually to the club.

So as the hips begin to decelerate, the shoulders start to move a little bit faster, they accelerate a little bit, but not a ton, and that's not something that you're consciously trying to do, right? We don't want to take our shoulders and move them through, we want our hips, once you stretch these muscles, they're going to get pulled around by your obliques and other muscles in your core, that's what we want.

Then the shoulders also are going to decelerate, the arms going to then accelerate, off the chest here, and then as it decelerates as well, the club edge finally gets a chance to accelerate.

So at impact, our segments roughly look like this, where the hips are 30 to 45 degrees open, shoulders are pretty squared up, the left arm and club are forming a straight line, and so we've taken all of those segments and unwound them, and that's what we're trying to do to get the club edge release.

So in proportionate wise, you can see that the club is quite a bit longer than my arm in this place.

Obviously, the reason for that is the longer the club is, the faster it can be swung.

The problem is when everybody keeps, this is obviously a full release at this point, when everybody keeps unwinding their shoulders, and then their arm is still draped across their chest, and then the club is like this, that doesn't look like we've fully released our Yeah, exactly.

It's still lagging behind, and we usually end up in a very thin or to the right.

Yeah, and this is what we see a lot of our better players do.

They move their lower body really well, but they don't learn to decelerate the body so that the club can finally accelerate.

So when you look at the length of this lever, and you know that at the top you've got your wrist cocked this much, it has a long ways to travel in space.

If I grab the end of this club, it's got a long ways to go.

And so if I just keep spinning my arms and throwing my arms as hard as I can, it's going to end up like this.

And that's what we do with a lot of better players.

So in this next part of the video, We're going to talk about how to get this in alignment and these segments to release at the right angles, at the right times.

So we generate a lot of speed without a lot of effort.

So as we just talked about in the theoretical part of showing you the 2D model of our stick figure Clay going through the swing, now we're going to actually put some drills and put it into practice.

And also, one of the things that's really going to help you is relate golf to other sports.

While it's not identical to the sports that you may think of all the time, like baseball, throwing motions, hitting motions, because they have different requirements, there are enough similarities that it's worth discussing.

And one of those that's really, really simple and we use in the clinics is, you know, and we've seen the video on the website, the throw of the ball drill.

And one of the things that you need to understand is that throw of the ball drill.

Where you feel like you're throwing it from the top is for somebody who's already moving their lower body correctly.

But for those of you that aren't, You can still take the idea of the exact sequencing that you would go through in throwing a ball.

And understand how your lower body works and how those segments work and relate it to the golf swing pretty accurately.

So Clay, if you were going to load up to throw a ball, what would be the first thing that you would do? Just go right from the beginning, so not even just going forward, but what would you do to throw a ball with some power? The first thing I'd do is probably transfer a little bit of weight, you know, to my back leg.

So I'd be transferring my weight back and kind of loading up so I'd be braced to get some leverage and throw the ball.

Okay.

So that's a great, great thing.

We hear that a lot.

You know, what about guys who stack and tilt? You know, they don't, they would throw a ball kind of like this, right? Now, why don't we see any, have you ever seen a baseball player throw a ball like that from the outfield? Can't say that I have.

I haven't seen it yet either, but I would like to actually, but I don't think it would go very far.

The reason is we need to load up the body in different segments.

We need a lot of the keys of sequencing the golf swing correctly is really building momentum.

It's not just building lots of power, but getting things to move with momentum allows you to generate speed in the right sequence.

So, and when we're moving big objects, your pelvis is a very big bone in your body, the biggest bone structure you have.

It takes some effort to move that.

It's pretty heavy.

And so it's going to take some momentum and some grace moving back and forth to help start generating some power.

So as I mentioned, the first thing he's going to do is load up on this right leg.

We do the same thing in the golf swing.

And this is another important concept that I want to briefly touch on because a lot of things that, again, as I mentioned earlier that I discussed on the website is really geared towards the better player who doesn't do, who does a lot of things really accurately and just kind of overdoes them.

We talk a lot about during the takeaway, how the hips don't move.

And that's not really accurate.

That's to help somebody who does this that we see and spins their hips.

There's no power available to your golf swing.

If you're just doing this and you have no separation between your upper and lower body, it's not that your hips don't move.

It's that if you do this a lot, that's not really going to help you.

And so the club's going to go to the inside and things like that.

So, so as Clay mentioned, he's going to load up and what he demonstrated was right is he's actually going to really rotate his hips going back.

Now, again, if you're somebody that just rotates your hips really weakly, it's not going to do any good.

We want to load up onto that right glute, which is why we go back onto our right ankle and we pivot onto that right hip.

Now we've got the ability to generate some momentum.

So what's going to be your next step? Well, the next step, once I've shifted back and now I'm ready to start to move back forward, the first thing I'll do is start to shift my weight back to the left.

And also I'd almost squat down a little bit to help to build up some power.

You know, same thing if you're jumping, obviously I can't jump.

If I'm standing straight up and down, it's impossible to jump from this position.

I'm already fully extended with my muscles.

So, you know, I'd want to kind of squat down and start to shift to the left.

That way I would, I'd have potential energy.

Yeah.

And that squat is really important because what he's doing is he's activating his glutes.

If you don't squat down, your glutes don't get stretched.

If you don't stretch your glutes, you can't fire.

So it's really simple like that.

So as he's loading up into this right side, as he's turned his right foot or as he's pivoted around his right foot and he's loading up to push off that right leg, his body's going to go down a little bit so that he can stretch those glute muscles, which you have to do for power and stability in the swing.

So that's excellent.

So the next thing he says, once I do this, I'm going to start to go the other way.

Simple thing.

You're not going to go like this.

So his left leg is going to externally rotate just a little bit.

So he's going to point his foot at the target, right? So that's just like we talked about in the model, the hips are going to start to unwind a little bit, but I'm going to keep my upper body kind of coiled and back behind my hips.

Exactly.

So this part's not firing yet, right? So this is still red and this is yellow.

It's going to fire, but not till later.

Right? So it's got a caution flag on it, but this has got the go ahead.

So the first move is we would step and we would pivot.

And once we're on this left leg and our knees lined up over our foot, we've got the ability to drive off this glute and post up so that then energy can be transferred as our body receives ground or force from the ground, we can transfer that to the arm.

Now, one of the things that's really critical is that you've never seen a pitcher throw a ball and just kind of keep going down, right? He posts up, right? Yeah, exactly.

Now, when he's doing that, he's actually pushing against the ground.

So Clay, can you demonstrate what that would look like for us? Yeah, so I start to throw and then I'm posting up on my left side and that's kind of bracing.

It's actually decelerating and that way I can transfer the energy as I come on through.

Exactly.

So the reason that you don't just kind of keep going this way is because you would be absorbing that energy.

You're creating force, be thanks to gravity, that gravity is wanting to pull you down and so you have to use the muscles in your body to decelerate your body to keep from falling on your face, right? The harder you push against the ground, the harder the ground pushes against you.

That's a great thing in the golf swing.

It helps you transfer energy as your body stiffens up to get ready to release everything.

That's how you transfer energy.

You can't be soft and languid and transfer any energy from the ground or from your body.

So as you post up, muscles have to fire in order to stiffen everything up so that everything can release with speed.

So that's what Clay just demonstrated.

He pushes against the ground with his left leg and his left glute.

Then everything unwinds but at that point most of the sequencing has already been set in place.

So you don't have to worry so much about this stuff once we get this stuff right.

So we've got a couple of great drills that we're going to have you work through and Clay is going to demonstrate how they're going to work.

Taking that whole concept of how you would throw an object, because that's the fastest way man's figured out how to accelerate any object, is through that kinematic sequencing.

When we were throwing spears chasing elephants or something for food, that's how we figured out how to do it.

Nobody went like this.

It doesn't work that way.

So let's grab a club and the bag.

So we've got an impact bag.

Of course you can get these from the site.

They're very inexpensive.

You can also use small children or animals, either one, whatever you have available.

But these work better because they're reusable.

So go to the top for me, Clay.

So show me loaded up on the top of your backswing.

Let's turn so we're a little bit more squared up to the camera here and I'll move out of the way.

The other way.

Sorry.

Face on.

Okay.

So as Clay goes to the top, the first thing that he's going to do is going to be loaded up on that right side.

So you're just going to feel that right ankle pushing into the ground.

And now we're going to do this drill.

So this is called the stride drill.

So all we're going to do is actually take a step, a physical step forward with that left leg to get you to fire those muscles.

And what I want to do is I want Clay to actually stomp his left foot in the ground to where I can hear it.

Not your toes because then you're only going to use your quads.

I want him to push his heel down and you can hear them.

I really want to make sure you activate the glute and you can feel it in your left glute.

And that's why it's important to stomp because if you stomp it down, whether you want it to or not, your glute is going to fire.

And so what we're trying to do is send a message to your central nervous system that we want that muscle to engage.

And you probably don't think about your golf swing like this right now, but that's exactly how I think about it.

So we want to get that in your brain to get the power from the ground and from your glutes.

So go ahead and do that for us Clay.

So go to the top.

And he's going to take a step and stomp it.

Excellent.

And then as his body would keep coming through as he's posting up, then he would release the club.

So let's go ahead and do that all in sequence.

Step.

Good.

And let's go ahead and, without stopping on this next one, step and then go ahead and whack the bag.

There we go.

So you can see there's a lot of force and a lot of power available from that stomp move.

And that's a great way to hit balls.

It's tough to hit balls like that at first because you're changing where your ball, your divot would bottom out.

But you can do it.

And the most important thing is to learn to come into the impact bag, because the impact bag forces you to decelerate and transfer all your energy into the bag.

So let's do it one more time, Clay, so that you can see it.

The full sequence is going to load up to the right, take a step, boom.

Lots of power there.

And you can see he's really posted up on that left side.

It's excellent.

You can't really take a stride.

We need a lot of accuracy here.

This is to help you to learn to fire the lower body in the correct sequence.

But now what we want to do is we want to tone that down a little bit.

So as you know with RST, everything I've developed is very progressive.

So we do like a big picture thing and then we're going to start putting it back more in the context of the swing.

So now Clay is going to go to the top of his swing.

But rather than taking a step, he's going to lift his left heel off the ground.

And so let me, I'm going to move this bag out of the way.

Just so you can see it for a moment.

So go ahead and lift the left heel.

And then he's going to stomp the left heel down.

And then he's going to be able to come down to the bag.

So this is taking that same motion, the same kinematic sequencing, the same messages that we're trying to send to our brain to fire that glute, to extend the leg, to get the hamstring to fire.

And we're going to take that into a more controlled environment now.

And we're going to hear that left heel stomp down on the ground, just like we did before.

Lift the heel.

Good.

So now, it's the same drill.

And notice how his hips are rotating, but they're also stopping and decelerating.

Once that glute fires, this is really important, as your glute contracts, it keeps the hips from pivoting.

So go ahead and get into that impact position without the bag again.

Lift your left heel and stomp it, so we'll go through the whole thing in sequence.

Put it down hard.

Now, if your glute's fully engaged, how much further can you turn your hips there? Not very much farther.

It's pretty much stopped there.

It's braced.

Pretty much it, right? So now we get back into that impact position again.

Do the same thing.

And now relax your glute.

Let it relax.

And how far can you turn it out? I can really turn as far as I want to.

I can just spin right out of it, I guess.

Exactly.

And that's what happens for our better players.

That's what the hip spinners videos and things are for, is that those glutes aren't engaged.

In order for your hips to continue to rotate, your glute muscles actually have to relax.

And as they relax, then you can pivot all day long.

And this is a really pretty way to swing the golf club.

It's a very weak way to swing the golf club.

So, we want to post up, stop, and then once that glute's engaged, the body can decelerate and transfer energy up the chain into the club.

So, these two drills are really, really critical for learning how to move your lower body without getting into the minutia and the nuts and bolts of, okay, the left leg's got to externally rotate a specific amount and then I've got to transfer my weight.

If you just think about making a little bit more athletic, stepping, That's going to help you learn the basic movements of it, and then also you're going to get some auditory feedback.

Where you hear your foot stomping on the ground.

And if you do these drills and then eventually as you start, once you get comfortable where you can make the lower body movement correct and decelerate, what you can start doing is just slightly lifting your shoe and your heel a little bit, or your heel and your shoe, sorry.

Rather than kind of lifting your foot all the way off the ground, just start making it smaller and smaller and smaller.

Some of you may find that you want to play with it lifting the heel.

It's okay.

The only way that, the only negative side of that is that if you're lifting your heel a lot, you're really freeing up your hips to rotate a lot and it's not building up any power there.

So, but if you lift your heel and you're still loaded up on the right, it's perfectly okay.

So, just start making those heel stomps smaller and smaller and smaller, But still, try and really set into that left side in your regular golf swing, and you'll have a great lower body movement and have a lot more power and a lot more control of your golf swing.

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David
The lower body drill finally makes since to me on how to post up. I can see now the speed and power I will have in my golf swing. It is truly like throwing a baseball but in the golf swing. I can see now if posting up correctly I will not be spinning my hips. One of your best videos RST...Dave/Guntersville, AL
October 7, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello David. Thanks much! Glad you're learning some great info.
October 7, 2019
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Michael
GREAT to see you guys working together!! I am a member of Top Speed Golf too, so it validates your approach to have Clay on your team.
September 2, 2019
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Chuck
Clay is NOT on our team, he worked with us many years ago and does NOT teach RotarySwing at all.
September 3, 2019
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Albert
When I sit into my left side my right hip feels like it moves forward (toward the ball); I'am assuming I don't want that right hip movement? Any ideas on how to keep it back?
April 13, 2019
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Albert. The hips have to rotate in downswing during the shift. Rotation of the hips is different than trail side push. Work on the Maintain the Tush Line - Chair Drill. This will help you decipher if you are pushing the trail hip versus it getting pulled into position.
April 13, 2019
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Donlee
I struggle advancing from weight shift and rotation drills that don’t incorporate the arms (backswing). Any tips on maintaining tension in the appropriate place (core/box) while keeping arms and shoulders (rectangle) tension free while achieving proper position in the backswing?
December 1, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Donlee. I would focus on Step 3 and Winter Golf Training Program - Backswing to help find the proper tension.
December 1, 2017
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Benson
can i just ask, prior to watching this i was trying to do the 'squat to square' before using lead hip rotation to power the downswing. but now by just focusing on this mini stomp move it seems to do all of this for me kind of. would you say that this is all i need to do now? or is this just a next step evolution in a better move into the downswing and release? if so, what would be the next step after this to look into? Which video to progress after grooving in this stomp? thanks so much in advance!
July 15, 2017
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Benson
thanks for this video guys. it really helped clarify for me how to 'post up'. i was definitely spinning out. and i couldnt figure out why sometimes i would get good powerful impact and release and sometimes a weak squirt and couldnt figure out what was different. the stomp or step really reinforced what a solid left side was and so much more power and stability through release! thanks a million!
July 15, 2017
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Glad you enjoyed the video Benson!
July 18, 2017
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Patrick
I bought a Zepp 2 swing analyzer and it is calculating that on the backswing my hips are generally rotating right around 45 degrees but at impact I am at 8 to 12 degrees. I think that I have focused so much on weight shift without rotation and squat to square that I may not be opening my hips enough at impact. Do you have students with that problem after you teach them not to over rotate and then you have to get them to open back up a little? Is there a video you suggest I watch?
July 5, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Patrick. This does happen sometimes. Not all too common, but I have seen it before. You Hit the Golf Ball with Your Legs and Step 2 - Core Rotation to help.
July 5, 2017
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Patrick
I will rewatch and focus on those. Thanks.
July 6, 2017
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Steven
Hi guys, trying to really getting my lower body sequence and loading improved. As I shift my weight to my left should my left glute load on its own or is through a conscious loading? I have only really been able to feel it fully load on my left by contracting it on my own.
February 25, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Steven. You will have to sit into the lead side for it to load. While shifting or pulling you may not feel it too much, but when sitting (Sitting Into the Left Side). You should feel it fire. You should feel contraction after placement.
February 25, 2017
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T David
Love this video and love your site. I especially Ike the performance rating where we can monitor our progress and note the priority points to work on. Very excellent. So, question on the hip position at impact... I am a bit confused here. In this video, it appears that the hips are slightly open at impact, where in the belt buckle drill it appears that the hips should be square. Which is correct? I realize that the shoulders should be square at impact, but I thought the hips should be slightly open. Thanks much for your clarification.
October 3, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Dave. The hips will be 35-45 degrees open at impact. The Belt Buckle Drill helps players that overly use the hips and spin too much. The feeling of the Belt Buckle Drill is to slow the hips. Not, to stop using them once and for all.
October 3, 2016
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T David
Thanks for the clarification, Craig. Yes, I was beginning to think that there should be a braking action as we post up at impact. I know that I tend to over-cook my hips through impact and end up with a big fade/slice.
October 3, 2016
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Lewis
Hi Craig. I have a suggestion that may have been raised already, but I'm not sure. When you guys refer to videos for us to watch, you should reference the videos with a hyperlink so we can click on the link and go straight to the video. Sometimes the words in your reference don't exactly match the actual video title and the video can be a bit hard to find. Just a suggestion. Thanks!
May 3, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Lewis. I understand the complications. We are working on the search tool to make it more advantageous to our members. Is there a particular video you are looking for right now?
May 3, 2016
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Lance
Hi Craig Is it possible to describe the pulling movement that rotates the hips properly on the downswing? I am feeling that I am pulling the muscles just above the left hip to fire everything to the lead side keeping my back to the target as long as I can. I guess I am thinking of a description of muscle movement similar to the shoulder blade glide movement in the takeaway that eliminates unnecessary moves.
March 30, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Lance. You are pulling with the lead oblique. Think of the love handle area (if you have them) you can borrow mine if need be. Take a look at the Increasing Swing Speed by Hip Deceleration Video. The drill can help you feel the muscle I am referring too.
March 30, 2016
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Paul
Hi, I find when I try this I hit a lot of blocks, what do you think might be causing this?
January 18, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Paul. It seems you might be spinning a little too much and not releasing. Take a look at the Rotating Body vs Releasing Video and make sure you get that face squared up (Vijay Release Drill).
January 18, 2016
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Donnie
Hi, I like the concept of using your glute to drive your lead heel into the ground. It keeps me stable and helps me at impact, but the problem is it keeps me from making a complete follow through. I have a lot of lead hip and knee pain after impact. When I use my heel I can't face the target because I can't turn anymore just like they say at 19:00-19:40 in the video. I have experimented with getting lazy and letting my ankle roll over, but then I tend to slide more and don't have the same consistent impact position. I have also experimented using the ball of my foot to push off the ground, this eliminates a lot of the pain but I understand it's not correct and inconsistent. Any advice?
December 8, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Donnie. The momentum with a proper release should allow you to easily finish the swing. Try a few videos for me. Straight Left Leg at Impact, Perfecting Lower Body Stability and Should You Splay Your Feet.
December 8, 2015
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James
Hi so you don't have to sit into the left side if you stomp the left heel James B
October 12, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. The stomp of the left heel will help you shift and sit into the left glute properly.
October 12, 2015
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Robert
sequentially when do the arms get "pulled back in front"? My impression is the arms should always stay in front of the upper body to prevent getting stuck. So after the abduction into the heel, the arms should have already fallen in front yeah? Or, after the abduction (I'd say immediately after considering how quickly the downswing is from beginning to impact), do we pull with the obliques then the lats which brings the arms in front? To make sure the impact and followthrough have the arms in front, we should use the lats and arms to finish the job?
August 26, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Rob. In the downswing, you will want to pull the weight over, pull with the lead oblique, and then use the lead lat to pull the arms back in front of the body. Yes, you will use the lead lat and release of the lead wrist to keep the arms in front as go through the strike.
August 27, 2015
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Aiya
Would you please detail the sequence of the downswing after the transition : Transition, hip bump or heel stomp, I can do it either way right? > spin hip, do I still have to spin hip, now I'm a hip spinner and I know it's wrong because it's the first thing I do on the downswing > pull left arm, or will it auto fire Thanks
August 14, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Aiya. The lead knee will externally rotate over the lead ankle to get stacked. Followed by lead hip abduction to start pulling the weight and planting the heel into the ground. The lead oblique will start to pull the hips open as you pull from the lead lat to get the arms back in front.
August 14, 2015
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Aiya
thanks
August 15, 2015
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WILLIAM
During the sit into the left side move, is there any push at all from the loaded right glute? How does the weight get to the left side without some sort of push from the right? If there is no push from the right, what happens to the loaded right glute?
July 27, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello William. Once you master the lead side work. You can start to add a touch of push from the trail side for power. However, to transfer the weight you don't have to push from the right. You pull yourself over with left hip abduction. If you were standing straight up and down in a golf stance width. 50/50 weight distribution. If you put all your weight on your left leg. Would you have to push from your right? Or, just settle on the weight on the left? It would be the latter. If you pushed from your right you would sway laterally too much and outside NJA. The loaded right glute will help with leverage from the ground, but also helps stabilize the hip so you don't lose the tush line or fire too soon from the top.
July 27, 2015
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WILLIAM
If I were standing straight up and down, I would not be at the top of the backswing with my right glute loaded, would I? Also if I were standing in a golf posture and picked up one of my feet, I would fall in that direction.
July 27, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello William. I was just trying to use a simple analogy as to why you don't have to push from the trail side to shift the weight. Let's use the same premise as you described. Hinge from the hips and put all your weight on your right leg with glute engaged. If you rock into your left side from there. Do you feel like you had to push to get to your left? Or, just rocked into the left side? All we are trying to do is shift the weight. It is a very short move. Only 3 Inches back into the lead side from a proper positioning in the backswing. When you were discussing picking up the foot. You would fall in that direction opposite of the picked up foot. Not push with the picked up foot to lunge your weight over. Take a look at the 5 Minutes to a Perfect Weight Shift in the Weight Transfer Section.
July 27, 2015
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WILLIAM
If I were standing straight up and down, I would not be at the top of the backswing with my right glute loaded, would I?
July 27, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello William. I answered above. I think the system copied the question twice.
July 27, 2015
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Edward
Jack Nicklaus used to say you should hit the ball against a firm left side. Is this what you are trying to say in this video?
July 11, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Edward. Yes, you need to post up into a firm left side to get the kinetic chain working properly.
July 12, 2015
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Michel
Hi guys, This is an very interesting video. Let me suggests to draw the stance line on the white board to more quickly understand the shoulder and hips positions. Michel
June 30, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks for the suggestion Michel.
June 30, 2015
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gerald
I have found that I can hit the ball better with a slowing down or pausing of my hips and shoulders but I thought I was swinging improper because I have never heard of anybody teaching this until I join this site. Very good information and I have improved my golf very much, I do like to push off my right foot though, As long as I keep my right heel down I am ok right?
June 15, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Gerald. The push of the right foot is usually reserved for a player that way under uses their hips. Try not to push off the right foot too much and allow it to get pulled up from proper lead side usage. Glad you are enjoying the site. Appreciate the compliments.
June 15, 2015
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Loran
The stomp effect...which is more forceful and powerful? The squat or the stomp?
May 29, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Loan. Both happen in the golf swing. "Stomp" - weight shift and glute loading. Squat - glute loading. They stomp will seem a little more forced to get the glute to fire. But, both are trying to achieve the same thing. Glute engagement on the downswing.
May 29, 2015
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Rick
Just picking up on what Fred has said below.... I am a bit of a hip spinner. I read Ben Hogan's Five Lessons many times. The image of the elastic band pulling the hips was what got me going down the "hip spinner" blind alley. Like Fred I find that if i have my axis tilt, all I have to do to start my downswing is straighten my left leg first. That automatically, moves my hips to an open position without the risk of "hip spinning". It does not work so well if I do not have the proper axis tilt at address. This idea of straightening the left leg first has also helped me with another aspect of initiating the downswing. I have seen the video where Chuck mentions NEVER to push with the right leg to start the downswing as that will get the left side out of neutral joint alignment. So how do I do that? My left foot isn't anchored to the ground like on a snowboard. One swing thought that has helped me visualize the correct movement is just to straighten the left leg. By doing this, my hips turn automatically, my weight moves from my right foot to my left heel and I get a nice sequencing and release of the club. I have found it is key to straighten the left leg and to be properly balanced so that the pressure is on the left heel. If my weight is towards the ball of my left foot, it leads to inconsistency and loss of power. My two cents. Thanks.
May 28, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Rick. The only time you would need push from the trail side is if you didn't use the hips enough. Discussed in the Throw the Ball Drill Part 2 and How to Use the Hips in the Downswing and Downswing Advanced Section. I understand where you feel is coming from with the lead leg. However, some players do snap it too quickly and spin the hip. Also, leading to some knee issues down the road. I.E. Tiger
May 28, 2015
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Fred
For some reason, this part of the downswing has been the most difficult to coordinate. But practicing it has really helped. One thing I have noticed is that one of my problems has been hitting behind the ball or, usually by overcompensating, topping the ball. When I practice the "firing the left glute", I end of straightening my left leg. This allows me to "give" myself permission to follow through with my left arm with little fear of hitting the ball "fat". In fact, if my left leg is straight, and the left glute tight, I couldn't hit the ball fat if I tried. Therefore, I don't feel the need to pull up my shoulder and subsequently top the ball. I hope that this makes sense and is what you are trying to demonstrate in the video. Thx!
May 21, 2015
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WILLIAM
I am going to try this. I'm guessing that the feeling of straightening the left leg requires that your weight remains on it.
July 27, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Fred. Makes sense. The sequencing with the lead side is crucial to getting impact correct.
May 21, 2015
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Loran
What does the right foot do, compared to the left "stomping foot?" My guess is not to push off the right foot, right?
May 4, 2015
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Loan, correct, you wouldn't want to push off with the right foot because that will cause you to push out past neutral joint alignment in your left leg, which causes injuries, balance issues and changes the point where your swing arc bottoms out in relation to the ball. What you want to do is roll the ankle of the right foot inwards, without lifting the heel off the ground. This will act as a breaking mechanism for the hips to make sure they don't over rotate. Check out the "Role of the Right Foot in the Downswing" video in the downswing section of the site. R.J.
May 5, 2015
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phil
How the lower body works was really great and chuck did a wonderful job explaining the proper sequence, im so happy I found you guys. still trying to find best way to post up on left side I guess after you shift weight to left hell and get a little lower you straighten that left leg in the follow
February 13, 2015
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Phil. I'm happy to hear you are enjoying the videos and the site. Your sequence is correct. If you are struggling with the straightening aspect. Please take a look at the Straight Left Leg at Impact Video in the Advanced Downswing Section.
February 13, 2015
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Remington
Hi. I find the concept of the lower body moving forward while the upper body is still finishing the backswing problematic. It would help to have a clear explanation of exactly which muscles are being used for the two separate motions. Regards. Remington Normanq
December 21, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Remington. The sequence of events will be pushing the lead heel into the ground activating the lead glute. As you perform this move there will be some lead hip abduction to pull the weight over. Take a look at the Starting the Downswing Before Completing the Backswing in the Advanced Weight Shift Section.
December 23, 2014
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Anthony
What about the commonly seen drill of using a pool noodle or something similar to stand on while hitting golf balls? Is this more of a gimmick or does it work in RST philosophy?
October 24, 2014
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R.J. (Certified RST Instructor)
Anthony, I would imagine that it's a gimmick. I cannot see any benefit to standing on top of a pool noodle when it comes to RST fundamentals or any other golf related instruction. We want to be grounded and stabilized in our golf swing. Standing on top of something, especially as thick as a pool noodle, would prevent us from doing that. The RST swing model is about moving your body into the proper positions at the proper times. R.J.
October 24, 2014
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Lowell
Chuck & Clay thanks so much, can't tell you how much this one helped. I diligently started with RST @ six months ago and have been a crazy student of the swing for going on five years. Starting late in life, it was that much more difficult to overcome bad muscle memory (I practice@ 5 days/week & try to play 100+ rounds/year - yup hooked ) this was one thing I didn't consistently get or didn't give it enough importance. My game has always come and gone...mostly gone of late and could not figure out how a science nerd like me (I actually am a Scientist) couldn't figure it out! I did start fixing little bits from your swing reviews & videos, but this one seemed to help the major things fall into place for me. - Cheers Guys...promote this video more & go Science!!
September 11, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Lowell. Love the enthusiasm. Happy to see you enjoyed the video. Everything will take some time, but get that lower body working well through science!
September 11, 2014
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Frank
Slight confusion re sequence. After I shift(a la stomp drill) do I fire obliques or swing arms next. Video suggests swing arms but other videos suggest arms follow I assume after engage left oblique.
August 26, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Frank. The shift will be followed by pulling with the lead oblique and then the lead lat to aid in working the arms back in front of the body.
August 26, 2014
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Frank
Thanks for the clarification.Makes sense to me
August 27, 2014
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sheldon
Do you turn your hips to the left as you are shifting to the left or shift to the left then hips.
July 20, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Sheldon. It will tend to feel more shift then rotation. There is slight turning as you pull the weight over. Just not active turning from the trail side. Think about it like a car. Reverse (Backswing), Neutral (Shift), Drive (Downswing). You can't go from reverse to drive or you will drop the transmission.
July 20, 2014
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Robert
Think about it like a car. Reverse (Backswing), Neutral (Shift), Drive (Downswing). You can't go from reverse to drive or you will drop the transmission. What an amazing and perfect analogy! Love it. Thank you for that Craig.
August 2, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Great. Thanks Robert.
August 3, 2014
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John
This is great for slowing the Hips down. Can you please offer some advice on how to decelerate the shoulders.
July 14, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
The shoulders open as a product of turning the torso efficiently. Take a Look at the 5 Minutes to the Perfect Release in the Downswing Section to learn the proper sequence of the shoulders staying passive and letting the club release. You can also use the 5 Minutes to the Perfect Downswing in the same section to train the order of events and make sure the lead side pulls the shoulders to square at impact.
July 14, 2014
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Gavin
It always looks to me that pros are using their hips much faster then good golfers. I also feel watching my golf on the range the hips are much faster on the course especially with my irons. how much force are you feeling when coming down
June 16, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Many tour pros actively use their hips a lot on the downswing. That doesn't mean its the most efficient though. They have trained and hit millions of balls to coordinate their timing. Driving hard with the hips doesn't always equate efficient speed. Take a look at the Hip and Hand Speed Video in the Downswing Advanced Section. Typically the hips for a Rotary Swinger will feel very passive. More speed in the load and release.
June 16, 2014
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jeff
I'm wondering if Jack Nicklaus raised and stomped his left heel for this very reason? Thanks, Jeff
June 9, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Early on Jack Grout (Nicklaus's Instructor) taught him to roll his left foot inwards and to plant his left foot into the ground on the downswing. He was very concerned about his footwork. Good observation. Now, lets work on this a get you 18 majors too!
June 9, 2014
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jeff
I have my goals, perhaps the senior majors!
June 9, 2014
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Eric
in the previous video you talked about sitting on the left side. Naturally the hips rotate slightly as a result. So, when do we think about rotating the hips? In the previous video you also mention too many high handicappers over rotate their hips. What is the optimal rotation? Thanks
June 2, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
At impact the hips will be between 30 to 40 degrees open. We don't want to actively think about ripping the hips through or opening them too much because the weight shift to the left and continuing pulling of the left side obliques will guide them to the proper position.
June 3, 2014
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ciaran
How far over should you pull your weight when performing the left hip pull with the hip adductor muscles to start the transition? I try to concentrate on pulling my left knee until it can't move over any further to the left (i.e. its over the centre of my left foot). I also concentrate on pulling down with the hip adductor muscles into my left heel. Is this correct?
April 9, 2014
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René (Certified RST Instructor)
You should pull your left hip socket (also your shoulder) above your ankle joint in NJA (Neutral Joint Alignment) See the video Impact Alignments Face On.
April 11, 2014
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Jim
I like the new web site. The video layout is very easy to use and the search video works well.
April 6, 2014

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