Eye on the ball or follow the club?

[bukemdano]

I came across this today and wondered what you thought about this and if you do it or not. He refers to tiger doing this in his swing. It's my understanding that your supposed to watch the ball as long as you can and let the right shoulder (if your right handed) bring your head up. Anyway, Interesting video... Thanks

Dan

http://www.youtube.com/v/4WJFlVRkXmI&hl=en&fs=1




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[prowlsta]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

I think its nonsense for most golfers. The idea isnt to keep your head rock solid, its keeping your eye on the ball through impact.

He is promoting i increasing body speed through impact byrotating your head - rotating the head first will promote hip movement over arms - it maybe useful for those who dont move there hips enough.
However, its likely to lead to poor impact between ball and clubhead and therefore lost distance anyway.
I'd give it a couple of goes in practice swings if you are trying to speed up your hips but when it comes to hitting the ball it is much easier to hit it if you are looking at it!!

[BrianW]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

I think it's an unnatural way to hit something.

[bukemdano]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

I agree. I was looking at a few (swing vision) videos and I didn't seen anyone even remotely resembling that move. There are enough moving parts in a swing Thanks

Dan

[bruin]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

the camera is attatched to his head , so yes , his head moves , but i bet his eyes never left the ball.

[GregJWillis]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

Anyone ever see Annika Sorenstam swing? She does that little peek.

http://www.golfforwomen.com/instruct..._itemlist_0107

A great slow mo compare with Ochoa:

[BrianW]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

Anyone ever see Annika Sorenstam swing? She does that little peek.

Greg,

I think the head/eyes following the ball is not a bad thing. The guy in the OP video has his head up and ahead of the ball at impact. I think that is some very bad advice as generally where the head goes so does the body and that will encourage early lifting and swaying.

[cyc53870]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

The head moves slightly but it's usually eyes on the ball...

[ubizmo]

Re: Eye on the ball or follow the club?

I've struggled with this, and a "trick" I used to use was not to let my gaze move from the impact point until I saw, in my peripheral vision, my right heel come well off the ground. This was overdoing it, I now think.

Obviously, the point about keeping the "head down" is really keeping the spine angle (inclination) constant. I think the point of the video is that an obsession with keeping the head facing the impact point can actually hinder the rotation of the spine, and the spine does need to rotate through impact.

The tip that I have found most helpful is an old one, that BrianW has mentioned often on this site. Keep the "head on the pillow" through impact into the finish. This simply means keeping that spine angle constant, but it gives a feeling for what that means. I started making a conscious effort to do it, and my tendency to pull up and hit thin disappeared. In fact, I'd say that one of the main purposes of my practice swing now is to rehearse this feeling. If I keep my head on the pillow, then the timing of my head *turn* is less critical, and just happens naturally.

Incidentally, I've noticed that this "head on the pillow" thing is just as important in low-power pitch and chip shots, and really helps to prevent those "hot" chips that go rocketing across the green and into a bunker or some other delight.

So, my view is, if you keep the spine inclination constant and let the head turn naturally, you'll strike the ball well, and "head on the pillow" is a good swing thought for doing that.