When it comes to building a powerful, repeatable golf swing, most players start with the club. Grip, shaft, stance — all important. But if your body isn’t set up the right way, none of that matters. The truth is, your swing lives or dies on three simple moves: knee flex, hip hinge, and turn. Nail these, and you’ll finally unlock the athletic, consistent swing you’ve been chasing.
Knee Flex: Your Connection to the Ground
Think about any athlete — a tennis player returning serve, a linebacker waiting for the snap. None of them stand straight up with locked-out knees. They’re bent, loaded, ready to move.
That’s what you need in golf. A little knee flex gets you balanced and athletic. It lowers your center of gravity and lets you use the ground to create force. Without it, you’re just spinning your upper body and hoping the ball goes straight. With it, you’ve got stability, balance, and the foundation for power.
Hip Hinge: The Framework for Rotation
Too many golfers bend from their back instead of their hips. That rounds your shoulders, locks up your movement, and leaves you fighting your own body.
Instead, hinge forward from your hips. This keeps your spine neutral, gets your chest out over your toes, and frees up your arms and shoulders to move naturally. The hip hinge also sets the stage for your hips to rotate — which is where your real power comes from.
Think of it this way: your hip hinge creates space. Without it, you’re crowded. With it, you’ve got room to swing and coil.
The Turn: Your Engine for Speed
Now that you’re balanced and hinged, you can rotate like an athlete. This is where the magic happens. A full, efficient turn loads your body like a spring.
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Shoulders turn against hips.
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Hips turn against knees.
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Feet press into the ground.
It’s a chain reaction. That coil stores energy. And when you release it through impact, you get speed, power, and consistency.
Golfers who can’t turn? They sway, they lift, they stall. Golfers who can turn? They compress the ball, control their direction, and send it flying.
Put It All Together
Here’s the sequence:
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Flex your knees → get athletic and balanced.
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Hinge from your hips → set posture and create space.
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Make a full turn → coil and release the engine.
That’s it. The Big Three. Foundation, framework, engine. You put those in place, and suddenly your body is working with your swing instead of against it.
Bottom Line: You can’t build a great golf swing without an athletic body setup. Knee flex, hip hinge, and turn are the building blocks that let you use your body the way it was designed — powerful, balanced, and repeatable.
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The swing doesn’t start with the club — it starts with your body. If your knees, hips, and turn aren’t working together, you’ll always be leaving distance and consistency on the table.
That’s why Coach Joey D created our free e-books. Inside, you’ll find the exact drills and training methods we use with tour pros and everyday golfers to help them unlock more power, better posture, and more consistent ball striking.
👉 Download our e-books today and start training like an athlete — so your body works with your swing, not against it.
