[Bigwill]

"... any Axis Tilt -- to the right (Backstroke) or left (Downstroke) -- is accomplished by the Hip Slide, a.k.a. the Weight Shift. This is the Hula-Hula Flexibility of 7-14." - yoda from the axis tilt primer.

Thank the polynesian gods that you will never see me in a grass skirt! This happy state is not due to my culturally mandated masculine fashion sense but rather due to my poor sense of (my own)hula-hula flexibity. The feel associated with me tilting the axis during startdown is moving my right shoulder down plane. I do not however achieve this (or at least it does not feel that way) with a lateral shift of the hips. In fact, Tom Tomasello describes what I feel in the "armless pivot drill" in Chapter 1 of his video series. My hips do slide, but the associated FEELING here is that my right shoulder causes the hip slide. The good news is that I achieve the coveted inside-out impact to the inside aft quadrant of the ball with gleeful regularity. These days however I am attempting to match the feel to the proper mechanics. Mechanics are primary, feelings are associative. The question: The hip bump that produces the neccessary axis tilt may just feel like the right shoulder moving down plane? When I focus on my hips I tend to overdo the slide. Any thoughts or comments?

Don't focus on the hips

The whole point is to make a physically, geometrically effective stroke. Since feel is subjective, you go with whatever feel is associated with the proper mechanics. For you, it sounds like focusing on the shoulder does the trick. For others, the opposite may be true. It sounds like you're onto something; stick with it.