An increasing number of articles are dealing with driving the hips forward too soon which creates a lag time between the hips and arms. As a result of this early hip drive and created time lag, the arms and hands cannot get into position for contact in time.
From what I have been able to determine, this belief started with Tiger Woods when he commented on his swing. It has since been picked up by many other professionals. For example, one pro stated that “holding your (right) knee back keeps your right hip from sliding toward the target too soon. This will stabilize your lower body, giving your arms more time to return the club to the ball.”
At first glance this statement appears to be based on solid information. However, if you look closely you’ll see that these pros never spell out what too soon is or even when the arms should follow the hip slide. In essence, there is no explanation of the sequence of the actions that should occur and what the timing should be for each. A biomechanical analysis of the golf swing technique however, will show this.
The analysis will show that the hips precede the arms and that this is a very important movement. If you hold the hips back and start the arms so that they are already moving toward the target with or before the hips, you will lose a tremendous amount of power. The hips must precede as they set up conditions for an effective shoulder turn and arm swing.
This is usually a major fault of most golfers: they are too late with driving a hips forward. The only time the hip drive can be too early is when the golfer does not follow up with the shoulder turn which in essence, then puts the arms into action. The key to an effective swing therefore becomes the optimal timing of the shoulder rotation and getting the arms into action after the hips have cleared.
For more information on golf swing technique and the reasons for each action in the swing, see Explosive Golf.