CJ Wiley - Clearing the Hips

Sep 19, 2013

"Clearing the Hips" is something that comes up in golf, tennis and pool. In golf if you don't clear the hips at the top of the back swing you club won't fall into the correct slot and you'll "hit from the top"....or they call it "casting".....the effect is a slice in most cases. The hips are a great power source, however, because of how our body's are shaped they also get in the way....professional athletes learn ways to alleviate this issue, but it does take time and specific training to achieve....it's not "natural" for sure.
In pool you must have a system to "Clear the Hips" or you can't get into the right position to see the shot properly (so you have to tilt your head to the left and it distorts your natural line of sight). If you use the side of the right hip to match up the line of the shot visually it doesn't work and you have to make unnecessary adjustments....that cause more adjustments...this takes up valuable "mental horsepower" on each shot and although a player may learn to still play well, they will never reach their full potential.
Willie Mosconi is the first one I saw that taught this (in one of his original videos), but left out the crucial part of the movement, the part that's the most difficult to teach. He, like most champion players either learned it, or stumbled on it from playing thousands of hours with other champions......we do learn things unconsciously when competing regularly for money
I completely understand why he made no attempt to teach this, and quite frankly it's the most difficult part to learn (and teach).....I watch to see how players execute this part of the pre shot routine and if they don't do it correctly I immediately know they're limited in how well they can play......it's about the feet (foundation) and it's also about the clearing of the hips at the right moment, in the correct way. 'The Game is the Teacher' www.cjwiley.com