Keep Your Hips Within the Phone Box to Improve Your Ball Striking

One of the common issues I see when coaching golfers is too much sideways movement in the hips during the backswing. While it might not seem like a major problem, this movement can make it much more difficult to transfer your weight properly through the golf ball and achieve consistent ball striking.

The good news is that there's a simple concept I like to use to help golfers improve this movement: keep your hips within the phone box.

1. Understand the Problem With Too Much Hip Sway

During the backswing, it's important to turn your body rather than allowing your hips to move too far sideways away from the target.

When your hips sway too much to the right during the backswing (for a right-handed golfer), this can make it difficult to transfer your weight onto your left foot during the downswing.

Another common issue I see is that as the hips move sideways, the leading shoulder can move forward, potentially creating what we call a reverse pivot. This can make it difficult to get your weight moving towards the target and can result in you staying too much on your back foot through impact.

When this happens, you may struggle with consistent contact, particularly when hitting the ground behind the ball or making thin contact.

2. Keep Your Hips Within the Phone Box (Confined Space)

So, how do we correct this?

The first thing I want you to focus on is your setup. For a right-handed golfer, make sure your left shoulder is in line with your left hip. For left-handed golfers, the opposite applies.

From there, imagine you're standing inside a phone box. Your goal is to keep your hips within that space as you turn your body during the backswing.

Rather than allowing your hips to slide sideways to the right, focus on rotating your body while keeping your hip movement controlled.

This doesn't mean your hips should remain completely stationary. Your hips still need to rotate during the backswing, but the key is to avoid excessive sideways movement.

By focusing on rotation rather than sway, you can develop a more consistent position at the top of your backswing and make it easier to move your weight towards the target during the downswing.

3. Improve Your Weight Transfer and Ball Striking

The benefit of keeping your hips within the phone box is that it can make transferring your weight onto your front foot much easier.

For right-handed golfers, the goal is to move your weight towards your left foot as you swing through the ball, finishing in a balanced position with your chest, hips and back foot facing towards the target.

When you control your hip movement during the backswing, you're giving yourself a better opportunity to transfer your weight effectively and rotate through impact.

Of course, keeping your hips within the phone box won't automatically fix every ball-striking issue. However, it's a simple concept that can help you improve your body movement and develop more consistent contact.

My recommendation is simple: focus on rotating your body rather than swaying your hips sideways during the backswing. Keep your hips within the phone box, transfer your weight towards your front foot and work towards a balanced finish.

If you're struggling with your ball striking and would like help improving your fundamentals and developing a more consistent golf swing, contact me at David Waters Golf Coaching, located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre in Carrara.