Moving the Head

[AlanN]

At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, there seems to be a lot of conflict when it comes to advice regarding head movement.

For most of last year, I paid a lot of attention to keeping my head still. Despite all the practise which I put in, I never seemed to make much improvement. A major part of my practise routine was to keep my head perfectly still, on all shots. This has even been advocated by a contributing pro, to this site.

I was, therefore, surprised when my teaching pro told me that my head was so still that it was restricting my coil away from the ball. He showed me some video clips of the top pros. All of these players had some rotation or lateral movement of the head, in the backswing. I assume that there has to be a corresponding move in the downswing.

Since allowing my head to move, a little, I now make a better coil away from the ball and my ball striking has become far more consistent.

I know that any up and down movement is a bad thing but, this slight lateral movement seems to have some benefit (to my swing anyway!!)

Alan N

[Golfbald]

Alan,

I don't see a hornet's nest comming.

If you ask those pros does your head move when you swing they will all say no it doesn't. They turn their shoulders under the chin and back. Even though the feel is the head doesn't move the turning of the hip and as a result the shoulders it will turn slightly backward on the backswing and forward on the through swing as pressure is put on the neck muscles.

Most golfers heads are all over the place. You have helped your game more than you know. Work on the pivot with the centered head and you will be a more consistent player.


GolfBald

[mtibt]

Anyone who has spent hours hitting balls and not moving their head will notice pain in their necks and elsewhere; this is a bad thing.
As an observer, not a pro, I would like to use Chris DiMarco as an example(there are many others). Watch him take that waggle where he takes the club away and makes sure he is on plane before he actually takes his real backswing. Watch him do this and you will see him move his head laterally. Most pros move their heads(even Jack pre sets his head at address by moving it so he is looking at the ball out of the left eye) you just can't see the head move because of the speed of the swing.
If you don't move your head you are static! In Golf, nothing should be static during the swing except the right leg as you turn around it during your backswing but even it is flexed and moves a little.
Just my two cents worth.

[pgmetcalf]

I don't think anyone can stop head movement, even the top pros do it to some extent. A little is acceptable but it can cause big problems if it gets excessive.

I think head movement is a misnomer to be honest. You can only move the head in 4 directions; left, right, forwards and backwards. Popping-up and dipping are likely to come from movenment in the knees at the beginning of the backswing and the point of weight tranference at the start of the throughswing.

Things to be considered:

Make sure your weight is on the balls of your feet at address to avoid weight falling back away from your turn.

Turn in the knees slightly at address. This should help to give a steady base on which to turn.

Keep a high chin throughout the swing. If your head is down, your shoulder can't pass underneath it and will throw you off balance.

Never try and "kill" the ball with a vicious high-energy swing. This is probably the most common problem of amatuers - trying to hit the ball 300 yards with a pitching wedge. Killing the ball brings in the right arm and the right side of the body, which overpowers the left side, and will probably result in the player "coming over the top." The result ... a slice. I always try to keep my right side "quiet" thoughout the swing. It feels as though it does nothing but is actually producing the same amount of power as the left side.

[Golfbald]

pgmetcalf,

I agree with everything but the last statment about the right arm and killing the ball. Some golfers are left arm dominate some right. One must know the correct motions to go with each swing but there are two motions. I don't advocate the recreational weekend type golfer to try and kill a ball. Keep it in the fairway, you will enjoy a round much better. There are the 1% who get a kick out of trying to drive a par 4 when the conditions are right.

Just my opinion,
GolfBald

[GregJWillis]

Only 1%?!?! Try 100%. I think everyone would enjoy it, but I think you meant to say 1% could actually do it. lol