Firing The Hips Ruins Your Downswing Sequence

One common cause is an overly aggressive lower body move early in the downswing. While it may feel strong, firing your lower body too soon can actually destroy your swing sequence and rob you of consistency and power. In this post, we’ll break down how to correct early lower body rotation and introduce a practical drill using a Tour Aim alignment rod to help you stay in sync and strike the ball more solidly.

The Problem with Overactive Lower Body Movement

Many golfers—especially those trying to add power—fall into the trap of spinning their lower body too aggressively from the top of the swing. This move often feels dynamic, but it causes your upper and lower body to fall out of sequence. The result? A “spinning out” motion where your back foot and leg rotate too far toward the target, leading to poor contact, weak flight, and directional inconsistency.

To counteract this, you need to feel more patience in the transition and better coordination between your legs and core.

Understanding the Proper Lower Body Sequencing

Let’s get clear on what should happen instead:

Feel Patient at the Top: Rather than rushing into the downswing with your hips, feel like your body is staying closed to the target a little longer.

Keep Your Legs Working Together: As you start down, your trail knee (right leg for right-handed golfers) should move toward your lead knee, not spin outward toward the ball or target.

Avoid Over-Rotation: By reducing the urge to spin the hips open too early, you help maintain pressure and stability, which leads to a more controlled, efficient release.

The Tour Aim Stick Drill to Fix Spinning Out

To train proper sequencing, you’ll use a Tour Aim base plate and alignment rod:

Setup:

Insert an alignment rod into the base plate using the driver reference angle, so it sits at roughly a 45° angle behind you. Position the rod just in front of your trail leg (right leg for right-handers) at address. At setup, your trail leg should be near the rod, but not touching it.

Execution:

Backswing: As you swing back, feel your trail leg move slightly away from the rod.

Downswing: From the top, feel a moment of pause. Focus on your trail knee moving toward your lead knee—not spinning outward toward the rod.

Avoid Contact: If you spin out, your trail leg will bump the alignment rod. The goal is to avoid this by keeping both legs working together in sync.

Build Up:

Start with small, slow swings to get the feel. As you get more comfortable, build up to full-speed shots, always keeping that connected lower body feel.

Why This Drill Works

This alignment stick drill gives you immediate feedback. If you’re spinning out, you’ll hit the stick. If you’re staying connected and synchronized, your swing will be clean and stable. The feeling of your trail knee moving toward your lead knee helps reduce excessive rotation and improves your impact position.

 

Conclusion

If you’re dealing with inconsistent strikes and feel like your swing is too fast or out of control, the problem may not be speed—it’s sequencing. By using the Tour Aim base plate and this 45° rod setup, you can retrain your body to work in sync from the top. Practice the drill slowly at first, stay aware of your trail leg, and focus on the feeling of staying closed just a little longer.

Small changes in sequencing can lead to big improvements in ball striking. Give this drill a try, and you might be surprised how much more consistent and solid your golf shots become.