Porzak Hip Bump

[caligolfer2103]

Just curious... I've learned a lot from watching Porzak videos. Some of his instruction on basics of the takeaway, back swing, short game have been super helpful. But the thing he talks about most, which ironically, I understand the least is the hip bump concept at setup. Like, conceptually, I can see the rationale, but in practice, how he bumps his hip makes no sense... even after watching multiple vidoes, I still don't understand how to do the hip bump. So I'm curious if anyone has actually tried it and found success and if so, is there one specific video on YouTube or anywhere that walks through it in an easy to understand way.

 

Thanks in advance!

[goobers80]

If left hip , easier to turn back with right hip and shoulder together. Less extra crap going on. 

[Carlito]

6 hours ago, caligolfer2103 said:

But the thing he talks about most, which ironically, I understand the least is the hip bump concept at setup.

Same here.  I think he learned it from his mentor and it was a huge benefit for him. He mentioned latley that one of his legs is shortened and thats the reason why he need it that much.

 

[KD1]

There was a thread on this a few months ago:

 

Have you seen these videos? He explains pretty  clearly how he wants you to do it:

 

 

[KD1]

I saw Monte earlier this year and he got me to do the hip bump without ever saying 'hip bump'. My takeaway was that it was a preset to make it easier to get into a better top of back swing position with pressure in my lead side and re-centered earlier, and with an angled trail leg. The angled trail leg was big sticking point.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxTCZ3rxPMN
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct2gYwDPFYL
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtaPwZEv30W
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsSAlolsyzH
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnlG2ufL-eQ

[me05501]

The biggest point is to keep your hips square to the target line when you bump.  

 

There's also a video on YouTube where he shows how to build your stance. This one was key for me to start getting the results I wanted.

 

You start with your knees pretty much straight and your right elbow tucked against your ribs. Then bend at the waist to get the club down to the ground. Once you're in that position you break your knees only slightly and then bump the hip.

 

It's a more upright posture than what comes naturally to a lot of us. He says to swing more under your chest than around it. 

 

All of this also assumes you're following his instructions on stance width:

• Wedges and short irons: outside of feet matches outside of shoulders and the bump gets your weight about 60% on the front foot
• Mid irons and hybrids: midpoint of feet matches outside of shoulders and you bump while maintaining 50/50 weight distribution
• Woods and driver: inside of feet matches outside of shoulders and bumping puts your weight about 55-60% on the trail foot. 

This video has a good description of the bump and what it accomplishes: 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by me05501

[Frank Newport]

Is Porzak recommending bumping the hips in the setup instead of during the backswing/transition in these videos or is he recommending both bumps?

[CSagan]

41 minutes ago, Frank Newport said:

Is Porzak recommending bumping the hips in the setup instead of during the backswing/transition in these videos or is he recommending both bumps?

Yeah he wants them there at setup so on the downswing all you have to do is rotate. 

[Frank Newport]

3 minutes ago, CSagan said:

Yeah he wants them there at setup so on the downswing all you have to do is rotate. 

That's what I thought. It's weird that he uses Tiger and Hensby as examples in this video considering both of them clearly bump their hips in transition. Not to mention, Porzak's setup with and without a club are very different. His hip bump is more pronounced when he's not holding a club.

 

 

 

 

[Hidraw]

Why bump?  Why pre-transitional bump?
What/Which rotation?  Relative to the body/torso, there are two relevant rotations around C7 bone in the golf swing - transverse and coronal rotations.

 

The hip bump is the rotation in the coronal plane.  So pre-transitional hip bump is to disable this coronal plane rotation during the downswing.  Is this good or bad?  I say that it can be no good!

 

Why hip bump at all? 
The effective impact plane is roughly determined by targer line and the inclination of the club shaft to the ground at address.  The hip bump positions the lumbar spine which is the lower axis of rotation forward of the ball to provide the leverage and downward angle of attack to the ball.

Why pre-transitional hip bump can be bad?
Because coronal-plane rotation also provides significant power to the golf swing.  Imagine the Justin Rose drill where his first down swing move is to bring the hands and club to in front of his right knee.  The proper motion from there, in my reckoning, is a tug of the club shaft, not unlike we tug a rope in the tug-a-war, by employing the power from our lower body to propel the club forward.  That when the hip bump is apparent and how the coronal plane rotation powers the golf swing and feeds the arms and hands and club to the traverse plane rotation.

I apologize for the difficult read but I tried my best.



 

[me05501]

10 hours ago, Hidraw said:

Why bump?  Why pre-transitional bump?
What/Which rotation?  Relative to the body/torso, there are two relevant rotations around C7 bone in the golf swing - transverse and coronal rotations.

 

The hip bump is the rotation in the coronal plane.  So pre-transitional hip bump is to disable this coronal plane rotation during the downswing.  Is this good or bad?  I say that it can be no good!

 

Why hip bump at all? 
The effective impact plane is roughly determined by targer line and the inclination of the club shaft to the ground at address.  The hip bump positions the lumbar spine which is the lower axis of rotation forward of the ball to provide the leverage and downward angle of attack to the ball.

Why pre-transitional hip bump can be bad?
Because coronal-plane rotation also provides significant power to the golf swing.  Imagine the Justin Rose drill where his first down swing move is to bring the hands and club to in front of his right knee.  The proper motion from there, in my reckoning, is a tug of the club shaft, not unlike we tug a rope in the tug-a-war, by employing the power from our lower body to propel the club forward.  That when the hip bump is apparent and how the coronal plane rotation powers the golf swing and feeds the arms and hands and club to the traverse plane rotation.

I apologize for the difficult read but I tried my best.



 

The results his students get suggest that somewhere in all that jargon  you might be missing something important. 

[argee1977]

I actually do this for ease of repetitiveness, and to help me coil rather than turn too flat, biggest issue for me is making sure the head doesn't go ahead of the ball and end up hitting stingers with every club 😂

 

The question i have to ask though, how does this differ from stack and tilt, or others like that, they all seem to be similar in trying to reduce movement, and increase the chance of repetitiveness in the outcome of the swing, is the pre-set hip bump just stack and tile lite?!

[rebel11]

If anyone has read SliceFixer's Encyclopedia Texarkana PDF he essentially describes the same thing.  Bump in set up and use the rear leg as a kick stand/brace then all you do is rotate.  I'm paraphrasing of course. 

[otto6457]

This reminds me a great deal of the "reverse K" set-up that was popular way back in the day.

 

 

[MattC555]

I do this because my right leg is .5" shorter than my left.  Helps me get to my left side easier and avoid releasing with too much pressure on my right side.  An instructor told me to do this, didn't know it had a name. 

[MattC555]

Really helps me with chipping as well.  YMMV.

[Ironzol24]

2 hours ago, argee1977 said:

I actually do this for ease of repetitiveness, and to help me coil rather than turn too flat, biggest issue for me is making sure the head doesn't go ahead of the ball and end up hitting stingers with every club 😂

 

The question i have to ask though, how does this differ from stack and tilt, or others like that, they all seem to be similar in trying to reduce movement, and increase the chance of repetitiveness in the outcome of the swing, is the pre-set hip bump just stack and tile lite?!

My understanding is he explains and still coaches a turn off the ball, it's just easier to re-center and rotate 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Ironzol24

[Frank Newport]

3 hours ago, me05501 said:

The results his students get suggest that somewhere in all that jargon  you might be missing something important. 

 

Do you have any video evidence his students actually employ the hip bump that he is prescribing?

He can't even hold the position he's prescribing when swinging an actual club and the examples he used (Tiger and Hensby) bump their hips in transition not setup. As does his student in this video.

 

 

The reason I'm so interested is because 2 months ago I had a bad ball striking day and I went down the Youtube rabbit hole looking for a quick fix and discovered Porzak's hip bump. I've been trying to do this move ever since but have found that it just doesn't work for me and I'm wondering if it works for anyone. I've never seen a good golfer employ this move.

 

Some of the issues I've experienced employing this move are:

- The club face opens up in the setup and I found myself cheating shaft lean address 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzZBvveR5iX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=ODhhZWM5NmIwOQ==

 

- It's extremely difficult to not sway the hips in the backswing

- It's difficult to not bump the hips even more in transition if you are able to hold the initial hip bump

- Maintaining the hip bump restricts hip turn and puts a lot of stress on your rear adductor, front IT band, lower back and hips in general.

 

I'll accept that I may have been doing it wrong but I need to see a good golfer do it before I'm willing to accept that the hip bump setup as Porzak demonstrates it actually works. I'm not sure he can even do it.

 

By the way, Porzak himself has a setup/stance that very few people could actually make a proper hip turn with. He may have an anatomical anomaly besides just a difference in leg length. His feet and knees appear to be pointed slightly inward.

 

Does anyone have a video of someone actually maintaining hip bump throughout the whole swing?

 

 

 

 

[Zitlow]

17 minutes ago, Frank Newport said:

 

Do you have any video evidence his students actually employ the hip bump that he is prescribing?

He can't even hold the position he's prescribing when swinging an actual club and the examples he used (Tiger and Hensby) bump their hips in transition not setup. As does his student in this video.

 

 

The reason I'm so interested is because 2 months ago I had a bad ball striking day and I went down the Youtube rabbit hole looking for a quick fix and discovered Porzak's hip bump. I've been trying to do this move ever since but have found that it just doesn't work for me and I'm wondering if it works for anyone. I've never seen a good golfer employ this move.

 

Some of the issues I've experienced employing this move are:

- The club face opens up in the setup and I found myself cheating shaft lean address 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzZBvveR5iX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=ODhhZWM5NmIwOQ==

 

- It's extremely difficult to not sway the hips in the backswing

- It's difficult to not bump the hips even more in transition if you are able to hold the initial hip bump

- Maintaining the hip bump restricts hip turn and puts a lot of stress on your rear adductor, front IT band, lower back and hips in general.

 

I'll accept that I may have been doing it wrong but I need to see a good golfer do it before I'm willing to accept that the hip bump setup as Porzak demonstrates it actually works. I'm not sure he can even do it.

 

By the way, Porzak himself has a setup/stance that very few people could actually make a proper hip turn with. He may have an anatomical anomaly besides just a difference in leg length. His feet and knees appear to be pointed slightly inward.

 

Does anyone have a video of someone actually maintaining hip bump throughout the whole swing?

 

 

 

 

 

I agree, there are some good instructors on YouTube but they are very few and very far between. Most people aren't limited by their ability they're limited by following bad advice. 

 

 

[Frank Newport]

13 minutes ago, Zitlow said:

 

I agree, there are some good instructors on YouTube but they are very few and very far between. Most people aren't limited by their ability they're limited by following bad advice. 

 

 

 

I should have listened to Tiger. 

 

 

[GoGoErky]

1 hour ago, Frank Newport said:

 

Do you have any video evidence his students actually employ the hip bump that he is prescribing?

He can't even hold the position he's prescribing when swinging an actual club and the examples he used (Tiger and Hensby) bump their hips in transition not setup. As does his student in this video.

 

 

The reason I'm so interested is because 2 months ago I had a bad ball striking day and I went down the Youtube rabbit hole looking for a quick fix and discovered Porzak's hip bump. I've been trying to do this move ever since but have found that it just doesn't work for me and I'm wondering if it works for anyone. I've never seen a good golfer employ this move.

 

Some of the issues I've experienced employing this move are:

- The club face opens up in the setup and I found myself cheating shaft lean address 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzZBvveR5iX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=ODhhZWM5NmIwOQ==

 

- It's extremely difficult to not sway the hips in the backswing

- It's difficult to not bump the hips even more in transition if you are able to hold the initial hip bump

- Maintaining the hip bump restricts hip turn and puts a lot of stress on your rear adductor, front IT band, lower back and hips in general.

 

I'll accept that I may have been doing it wrong but I need to see a good golfer do it before I'm willing to accept that the hip bump setup as Porzak demonstrates it actually works. I'm not sure he can even do it.

 

By the way, Porzak himself has a setup/stance that very few people could actually make a proper hip turn with. He may have an anatomical anomaly besides just a difference in leg length. His feet and knees appear to be pointed slightly inward.

 

Does anyone have a video of someone actually maintaining hip bump throughout the whole swing?

 

 

 

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched any of his videos but i don’t recall in any of them him talking about maintaining the hip bump throughout the swing and definitely not in the transition or downswing. It’s there to creat the spine angle and a starting point to push off into the backswing. He talks about using the upper body rotation to get pressure into the trail side in the backswing.

 

he has very high level college players and our at least one of them played in the US Open this year and several were in other high level amateurs. I believe he has or at least had pga and lpga pros he has worked with.

 

 

Imo he’s one of the better teachers that posts YouTube content 

[me05501]

2 hours ago, Frank Newport said:

 

Do you have any video evidence his students actually employ the hip bump that he is prescribing?

He can't even hold the position he's prescribing when swinging an actual club and the examples he used (Tiger and Hensby) bump their hips in transition not setup. As does his student in this video.

 

 

The reason I'm so interested is because 2 months ago I had a bad ball striking day and I went down the Youtube rabbit hole looking for a quick fix and discovered Porzak's hip bump. I've been trying to do this move ever since but have found that it just doesn't work for me and I'm wondering if it works for anyone. I've never seen a good golfer employ this move.

 

Some of the issues I've experienced employing this move are:

- The club face opens up in the setup and I found myself cheating shaft lean address 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzZBvveR5iX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=ODhhZWM5NmIwOQ==

 

- It's extremely difficult to not sway the hips in the backswing

- It's difficult to not bump the hips even more in transition if you are able to hold the initial hip bump

- Maintaining the hip bump restricts hip turn and puts a lot of stress on your rear adductor, front IT band, lower back and hips in general.

 

I'll accept that I may have been doing it wrong but I need to see a good golfer do it before I'm willing to accept that the hip bump setup as Porzak demonstrates it actually works. I'm not sure he can even do it.

 

By the way, Porzak himself has a setup/stance that very few people could actually make a proper hip turn with. He may have an anatomical anomaly besides just a difference in leg length. His feet and knees appear to be pointed slightly inward.

 

Does anyone have a video of someone actually maintaining hip bump throughout the whole swing?

 

 

 

 

A couple of points of clarity:

 

- this is a setup cue only…trying to maintain it throughout the swing is more of a feel than a real

 

- it’s part of a bigger system/philosophy and each part is important. At the very least you have to perform the takeaway as Porzak prescribes 

 

- This swing is not totally dissimilar to SnT in that it’s based on lower body stability as a tool for accuracy. It differs because it does involve a weight/pressure shift. However the weight shift is meant to come from turning the torso so the player’s center of mass moves over each leg as a result of turning the torso 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by me05501

[Insidious2]

I like it. Don't use it all the time but if I'm having trouble getting to my left side it seems to help a lot.

[Frank Newport]

1 hour ago, GoGoErky said:

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched any of his videos but i don’t recall in any of them him talking about maintaining the hip bump throughout the swing and definitely not in the transition or downswing. It’s there to creat the spine angle and a starting point to push off into the backswing. He talks about using the upper body rotation to get pressure into the trail side in the backswing.

 

he has very high level college players and our at least one of them played in the US Open this year and several were in other high level amateurs. I believe he has or at least had pga and lpga pros he has worked with.

 

 

Imo he’s one of the better teachers that posts YouTube content 

 

Thank you. That makes much more sense. It's my fault for going to YouTube for a quick fix when I know that most of the videos lack the nuance needed to learn technical aspects of the swing.

 

I don't have an opinion on Porzak's content. A lot of his videos are of him teaching a student not so much the viewer so they're more of an advertisement for his other products (lessons, aids, subscriptions etc.) rather than a training video with a lot of nuance. That's also true of a lot of other free golf instructor content on YouTube and Instagram. If you ever bought any of Monte's videos you can see how much nuance is actually needed to teach a viewer and I appreciate how much work he puts in to make those videos. Youtube and Instagram aren't really built for that format and the nominal fee Monte charges is well worth the quality of content you receive.

 

 

7 minutes ago, me05501 said:

A couple of points of clarity:

 

- this is a setup cue only…trying to maintain it throughout the swing is more of a feel than a real

 

- it’s part of a bigger system/philosophy, and each part is important. At the very least you have to perform the takeaway as Porzak prescribes 

 

- This swing is not today dissimilar to SnT in that it’s based on lower body stability as a tool for accuracy. It differs because it does involve a weight/pressure shift. However the weight shift is meant to come from turning the torso so the player’s center of mass moves over each leg as a result of turning the torso 

 

 

 

That seems much more logical and isn't too different from what other teachers prescribe. Monte is a proponent of secondary tilt in the setup achieved through a slight bump in the hips. Thank you.

[Frank Newport]

5 minutes ago, GoTime said:

I like it. Don't use it all the time but if I'm having trouble getting to my left side it seems to help a lot.

 

Do you maintain the bump through the whole swing?

[umamimami]

I’ve seen Aberg consistently do this hip bump during setup. I’ve also played with another tall Euro pro and he does it too.

 

To continue with the anecdotes I’ve noticed a lot of players do a similar move during their “trigger” when they give their abdomen a “shake”/jiggle. Many tend to “leave” something on the lead side then they start their backswing.

 

For me the hip bump helps me identify how far laterally I can go / how far forward I have to shift. Bigger club roughly = bigger bump

 

 

[Carlito]

22 minutes ago, me05501 said:

it’s part of a bigger system/philosophy and each part is important

Bingo! You may have a couple of videos to study very carefully. 

If you follow the instructions for  "G.A.S.P" you may decrease the room for errors. 

The inital hip bump is part of it.

[Carlito]

21 minutes ago, umamimami said:

„trigger”

Agree. More a trigger to start the correct sequence.

[GoGoErky]

24 minutes ago, Frank Newport said:

don't have an opinion on Porzak's content. A lot of his videos are of him teaching a student not so much the viewer so they're more of an advertisement for his other products (lessons, aids, subscriptions etc.) rather than a training video with a lot of nuance.

While he does post mostly his teaching another student there is content in most of the videos for the viewer to pickup on. He has videos on how to setup, what his thoughts on on the takeaway and backswing. He calls them checkpoint 1&2. He’s not big on using the P system. 
 

But as @me05501mentioned the hip bump and setup are part of a bigger system/philosophy so only picking out this one cue and not watching what he teaches is going to lead to bad results. His philosophy on the takeaway and wrist set isn’t that different from most instructors and same on his checkpoint 2 or what is lead arm parallel

 

28 minutes ago, Frank Newport said:

If you ever bought any of Monte's videos you can see how much nuance is actually needed to teach a viewer and I appreciate how much work he puts in to make those videos.

I have most of Monte’s stuff and there is a difference between what’s in them and what’s on porzaks YouTube but you are also paying for what Monte is offering in those whereas YouTube is free

 

29 minutes ago, Frank Newport said:

Youtube and Instagram aren't really built for that format and the nominal fee Monte charges is well worth the quality of content you receive.

 

I think Chris Ryan has great content for free on YouTube for teaching the swing and giving the viewer the nuanced information. Shauheen does a good job on Instagram with content

[me05501]

As with any online instruction it helps to know what you need. 
 

The Porzak method appeals to me because of my lifelong tendency to mistake sway for turn. Porzak’s keys are the same ones my old pro gave me over and over again so I know it’s a fit for me. 
 

There are plenty of others out there who maybe rotate well but need to feel more of a shift off the ball. You see this with a lot of guys who are muscular and play other sports well…the ole “turn in a barrel at 100mph” look. They probably don’t need what Porzak is emphasizing.