Martin Hall on Hips & Grips

Tuesday night I heard something really cool from Martin Hall on School of Golf. It's a very simple tip that can help you deal with pulls and pushes.

The key is to match up your hip speed with your grip.

• If you have a strong grip and you keep hitting pulls, you probably aren't moving your lower body fast enough. To hit a reasonably straight shot with a strong grip, you have to turn your hips really fast. That means you try to feel as if your hips are starting the downswing well before the club. (More lag between hips and clubs.)
• But if you have a weak grip and you keep hitting pushes, you are probably moving your hips TOO fast. To hit a reasonably straight shot with a weak grip, you have to turn your hips more slowly. That means you try to feel as if your hips are starting the downswing at the same time as the club. (Hips and club move are more synchronized.)

These combinations of "hips & grips" aren't exactly instinctive. That's why you need to know them. Remember it as "strong grip, strong hips" and "weak grips, weak hips," or something similar. The trick is that the stronger the grip, the stronger your leg drive has to be, and vice versa.

A simple tip that offers a lot of help.

And don't forget that Tiger tees off in Dubai tonight in primetime (I think coverage starts at 10pm ET, during Golf Central). With so much less rough to contend with, Tiger could potentially make a lot of birdies -- enough to offset the inevitable bogeys -- and make the cut this week.