The importance of hip bend in the golf swing! By Joe Assell President, PGA Member, MTT Contributing Writer At GolfTEC we use the latest advances in technology to assist our staff of PGA teaching professionals to aid our students in improving their golf swings. We utilize motion analysis sensors to monitor the body's motions throughout the golf swing. The information compiled is then compared to a database of over 100 touring professionals who have also used the same equipment. One of the measurements that we take is called hip bending. Hip bend is the amount that the hips bend either forward or backward during the golf swing. Touring professionals on average have 14 degrees of forward hip bend at the address position. Most students we see have significantly less hip bend at address. This is most commonly seen as poor posture at address with a pronounced slouching of the shoulders. From this position most students can not reach the proper position at the top of the swing where touring professionals have 9 degrees of forward hip bend. Instead we typically see students changing their posture by standing up at the top of the swing. This is different from touring professionals who maintain their posture to the top of the swing. By maintaining posture, consistency and repeatability can be achieved on the golf course. An easy way to check your hip bend is to start by standing up straight before getting into your address position. Now take your belt buckle and start bending at the hips until your belt buckle points towards the ground and you reach your normal address position. If your back is still straight you are doing great because you are bending at the hips to get into your posture. If you have to slouch your shoulders forward to get the club to the ground, you need more hip bend at address. Once in the correct position try to maintain that bend in the hips to the top of your swing. If you can do that, congratulations you are bending your hips just like a touring professional! By adding this element to your swing you can improve your consistency and shoot lower scores. If you have any questions please call either of our Denver locations - Tech Center 303-770-5951 or Westminster 303-426-6600. You can also find us on the web at www.golftec.com.