I received an Email from one of my students:
Do I need to bump the hips to the left before I turn them, or do I just turn them after I have completed my backswing?
Regards
Eddie
Hi Eddie
If you were able to maintain at least 60% of your weight forward, you will be able to just turn with no problem… if you allowed some or a majority of your weight to move to the back foot, or you didn’t setup with more weight on the front foot to begin with, you can not just turn. You will have to bump the hips to the left (as you and many others say an do) ..and what it means is, you will not be very consistent with your ball striking.
If you don’t move the point where a pendulum is anchored, the ball at the end swinging, will return exactly over the spot at the bottom of the arc… but if you move, where it is anchored, even a little, then try to return it to the original position while the ball is swinging… there is almost no way to ever return it over the original starting point. SO… if you allow yourself to sway off the ball even a little (it feels powerful, but is not reliable), you’ll pay the price with miss hits.
What will help! If you feel like your back leg, slightly bent knee, is absolutely rigged and holds the urge for you to slide, you’ll end up with a powerful shoulder turn against a firm lower leg and not sway off the ball. If you setup with your back hip inside your back foot and hold that angle… you’ll feel a braced back foot. You’ll feel pressure on the instep of that foot and all the inside back leg muscles activated and holding. You’ll feel the back knee holding to the inside of the back leg. ALL these help to hold you… and to allow for a very powerful shoulder turn on the backswing. This will keep your weight more forward and remove the need for “the bump” (a bad thing for consistency).
Ross