Hip Clearance
Also known as: clearing the hips, hip rotation through impact
Hip clearance is the rotation of the lead hip out of the way through impact. This creates room for the arms and club to swing freely past the body.
Hip clearance in the golf swing refers to the rotation of the lead hip out of the way through the impact zone. This creates the space for the arms and club to swing through to the target. Without adequate hip clearance, the arms are blocked from following a straight-through path. The golfer must compensate. This means often by throwing the arms across the body (over the top), pushing the shot, or flipping the hands to get the clubface square. Hip clearance is a prerequisite for a free, uninhibited arm swing through the ball.
The mechanics of hip clearance require the lead hip to rotate around and behind the golfer as the downswing progresses. At impact, the lead hip should already be open by a lot to the target. This means tour pro players show lead hip angles of 30–45° open at impact. This rotation creates the room for the hands and club to swing past the body on a straight-through path. Golfers who rotate insufficiently often feel like the arms are "stuck" or that they cannot release the club freely. This means. This is because there is physically not enough space for the arms to swing through.
Hip clearance is distinct from hip slide. Clearing means rotating the hip around and behind the body; sliding means moving it laterally without rotation. A golfer who slides the hips without clearing them will feel blocked in a different way. This means the body is out of position but the rotational space has not been created. Mobility limitations in the lead hip. This means in particular the ability to internally rotate the lead hip. This means are the most common physical cause of insufficient hip clearance, and targeted hip mobility work can directly improve it.
Practice the "bump and clear" feeling. This means at the start of your downswing, first bump the lead hip slightly toward the target (small lateral shift), then immediately rotate the lead hip behind you as fast as you can. This means the combination of bump then rotate is the core of hip clearance.
Test your hip clearance with a wall drill. This means stand with your lead hip about 6 inches from a wall, make a backswing, then initiate the downswing and clear your hips without touching the wall. This means if your lead hip bumps the wall, you are not clearing but sliding. If you can rotate freely without contact, your clearance pattern is correct.
Example
A player whose belt buckle faces well left of target at impact has cleared the hips fully. This means the arms swung freely and the face arrived square.
How it shows up on video
From a face-on camera angle, hip clearance is visible at impact as the lead hip appearing to have rotated away from the camera. This means the lead hip should look like it is "behind" the lead leg, having cleared out of the impact zone. Insufficient clearance shows the lead hip remaining square or pointing toward the ball at impact, giving the hips a "blocked" or "stalled" appearance. From a down-the-line angle, good clearance shows the trail hip driving through toward the target. At the same time, the lead hip has cleared space. This allows the arms to swing past the body on an unobstructed path.
Common mistakes
- Sliding the hips forward without rotating. This means lateral movement without clearance rotates produces a "chicken wing" arm position. This is because there is no room for the arms to swing through. The hips must rotate, not just slide.
- Early extension (standing up through impact) — a golfer who thrusts the hips toward the ball blocks clearance from the other direction. The hips move toward the ball instead of rotating around and behind the body.
- Clearing the hips too early (spinning out). This means excessive hip clearance early in the downswing leaves the arms and club behind. This produces a weak push or block to the right. Timing matters as much as the amount of rotation.
- Ignoring hip mobility as the root cause — many golfers try to "think" their way to better clearance without addressing the physical limitation. If the lead hip cannot internally rotate adequately, no swing thought will create proper clearance.
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
SwingVantage observes hip clearance from face-on video by tracking the lead hip rotation angle relative to the target line through the impact zone. The system can identify stalled or blocked hips at impact and over-rotation (spin-out) patterns, with confidence labels that reflect the clarity of the golfer's hip position in the available video.
Related terms
- Early ExtensionEarly extension is thrusting the hips toward the ball during the downswing. This causes the golfer to stand up out of posture and forces compensations at impact.
- Lateral ShiftA lateral shift is the small move of the hips toward the target at the start of the downswing. It moves the low point forward and sets up the lead-side post, working with hip rotation rather than replacing it.
- BlockingBlocking is when the arms and club fail to fully release through impact. This means the face is held open and the ball flies straight right (for a right-hander) with no draw curve.
- Kinematic SequenceThe kinematic sequence is the order in which body segments accelerate and decelerate during the downswing: pelvis → torso → lead arm → clubhead. Each segment slingshots the next for maximum speed.
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