90/90 Hip Mobility Progression

Everyone and their mother has tight hips nowadays. Why? I’m not entirely sure. Maybe it could be from the sedentary lifestyle that has plagued this earth or just never stretching at all. What has caused this epidemic is not why I am writing this article - that is way out of my pay grade. 

Let’s be honest most of the time people lie. They lie about how much money they make, what their handicap is, and certainly when people ask if they stretch. I have to remind them doing the ol’ toe touch and arm across chest stretch does not count.

In order to make a true mobility change, it takes two things: consistency and effort. I would say 80% of people do neither, 10% put in effort only before they golf or do something physical, 5% are consistent with no effort, and 5% hit both. IT’S NOT THAT HARD!

Now that I’m done ranting, let’s get into this thing.

The hips need to rotate- that is a must. If you watch the lower half during the swing, your hips internally rotate, externally rotate, flex, and extend. This all requires a lot of not only range of motion, but stability as well. Meaning it needs to be able to move and also not get out of whack (I hope that makes sense). Just take a peak at this swing below.

Now that we have an appreciation for the hips, let’s rotate (get it) into these stretches.

90/90 Hip Mob

This is the first progression because most people cannot even do this one perfectly. In order to move on from this one, I like to see someone hold each position for at least 30 seconds without compensation.

90/90 Hip Switches

Now we are starting to rotate. Not compensating during this one becomes very difficult - especially if you have not mastered the 90/90 hip mob. I like to see someone perform 10 reps in both directions before moving on.

90/90 Heel Clicks

Some think this is easier than the previous exercises, but they are probably cheating if they are saying that. I like to see 10 reps without compensation before moving on.

90/90 Hip Dabs

You read that right, you are dabbing like a 12 year old after they score a touchdown. This one is by far the most difficult on this list. To not compensate is almost nearly impossible if you did not take the time to do the others. Shoot for 6-8 perfect reps.

Each progression will take time to perfect. There is no rush to move onto the next progression. You may cruise through 90/90 hip switches in 1 week, but take 5 weeks to perfect heel clicks. Everyone moves at different paces. Either way you are working on your hip mobility which hopefully will make that golf swing of yours a bit easier!

I usually program one of them in my warm up and even throughout my workout. I try to perform 4-5 sets of 5-10 reps when doing them.

Look forward to seeing more mobile hips out there! Let me know if you have any questions.