The Pelvic Pistol
THE PELVIC PISTOL
by Dr. T. J. Tomasi
Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
You’ve heard it said many times that in golf “feel vs. real” are often different, but when it comes to proper hip action, so is “see vs. real” – what you think you see the experts doing, and what their hips are actually doing, is different.
Most golfers know they must make a hip turn, but they aren’t sure exactly what that means. In fact, when you ask most golfers to point to their hips, they place their finger on the bony extreme known as the iliac crest, which is anatomically far removed from the hip joint located in the groin area. To avoid this confusion, I’ve found that focusing on the core area just behind the navel is better than trying to keep track of the hips themselves.
There are three types of core movement through the ball.
(1) The core can thrust out toward the golf ball (not good),
(2) The core can swivel directly around, so if your core kept turning, it would end up pointing behind you in the opposite direction it pointed at address (better but not correct), and
(3) The core can fire at the target such that if it were somehow possible to continue along its force path, your pelvis would fly off and hit the target (best).
Thus, your core should not be in the process of turning behind you as you try to pick the ball off the swing arc, a move that would lead to many pulls and pushes because the clubface is on line for only a moment.
Tests using 3D kinematic tracking technology show that tour players use much less forearm rotation than average players, a characteristic that stabilizes the clubface, but they also change the effective loft of the clubface; e.g. de-loft a 30 degree six iron to 26 +/- degrees at impact – all by using correct core action. Since the core is thrusting at the target, the shaft lean toward the target is increased automatically, and the clubface stays looking at the target for a long time, creating the flat spot on the swing arc so characteristic of great ball strikers like Ben Hogan, Moe Norman and Lee Trevino.
Cocking Your Pelvic Pistol
In the correct setup the pelvis is cocked in the loaded position as you tilt the spine by bending from your hip joints. This gives you a neutral spine that preserves its natural curve in the lower back region, thereby unlocking the pelvis in preparation for the thrust. Hyper curves or no curve at all in this region make it difficult to cock and then fire the pelvis through impact.
Teacher Takeaway:
As a result of aging/injury when players can no longer cock then fire their pelvic pistol, a large loss in distance is the result. The player may even become more accurate because loss of clubhead speed is often accompanied by a narrowing dispersion pattern, but this is of little consolation. A teacher must understand what is happening and be careful not to make swing changes that exacerbate the problem because the student can no longer make solid contact. Teachers can produce students who are long and inaccurate or short and accurate, but no students should be short and inaccurate!
See part two of this series here, The Pelvic Pistol Part Two.
If you enjoyed this golf tip, here’s how you can get even more. Contact Keiser University College of Golf about a golf degree.
