Everyone wants to hit the ball farther.  Most instructors inevitably mention contact, rotation, and speed as the critical elements in increased distance, yet most players incorrectly believe that limiting the rotation of the hips on the backswing will produce more torque and power at impact.  When Jim McLean first introduced the idea of the X-Factor to the public in 1992 it sparked a tidal wave of players trying to increase the difference between the turn of the shoulders and the hips at the top of the swing.  However, while increasing the turn of the shoulders is ideal, limiting the rotation of the hips can have very negative consequences for your swing. 

Most touring professionals turn their hips about 45-degrees by the time the club reaches the top of the swing while their shoulders continue to rotate to 90-degrees or more.  Even players with minimal hip rotation, like Tiger Woods or Nick Price, turn their hips around 45-degrees.  McLean has since gone on to revise his notion of the X-Factor by focusing upon stretch, hip rise, and head swivel-but the key to improving distance isn’t limiting the hips on the backswing, it’s creating a dynamic coil with the proper sequence of motion forward and clearing the hips properly through impact (always with the shoulders trailing far behind).

In the sequence of photos below, the student allows the hips to rotate while his shoulders turn.  He is fully coiled and effectively transfers his weight into the right side.  From the top, the hips rotate through the shot well before the shoulders arrive at parallel to the target line. The result of this rotation is a coiling and springing of the core that releases a tremendous amount of power.  He is able to move back into his left side and his shoulders are nearly square to the target at impact.       

When players have limited hip rotation, whether through injury or forced restriction, the shoulders inevitably turn less through the backswing and the weight and center of gravity stay too much on the left side.  The swing becomes restricted and as the player rotates the shoulders through impact from a very limited turn, they are almost always open to the target (creating a path that is almost invariably outside to in).  So, while players may feel more tension from a limited turning of the hips, they wind up creating less power at the bottom of their swing while fighting a shot that starts well to the left of target.

The proper conclusion from these facts: allow the hips to turn as much as 45-degrees and work on increasing the rotation of the shoulders rather than trying to restrict motion in the lower body.

The most important thing in the golf swing, to me, is the movement of the lower body from the top of the swing. – Ben Hogan