Lorean Ochoa

[Eracer]

What's up with her head moving all over the place?

I watched her full swing in slo-mo during Saturday's round at the Ginn, and she seems to be purposely forcing her chin towards her right shoulder as she starts her downswing. It's moving a lot. What's up with that?

I know Annika allows her head to swivel with her shoulders during the swing, but Lorena seems to be actively pushing her chin in the opposite direction of her shoulders on the downswing. It's bizarre.

[warbirdlover]

I noticed the same thing! Weird!!

[dave.]

worst advice in golf is keep the head still

[Sean]

Dave beat me to it. I was gonna say that struggling to not move my head hindered my swing. It was the first thing my instructor told me to forget about, immediately after my first swing he stops me and tells me, "lListen, everybody who you ever golfed with probably told you not moving your head was very important. It's not, so don't worry so much about it. Forget that advice." My head moves quite a bit now and I hit the ball better than ever.

I diddn't see her swing so if she was looking like a bobble-head as she swung I guess the above might not apply

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by dave.

worst advice in golf is keep the head still

Agreed - but watch Lorena. She actively rotates her head towards her right shoulder as she begins her downswing (at least, she was yesterday - and I don't remember her ever doing that before).

It's not the same natural motion that Annika has, where her head moves WITH her shoulders. It's very unnatural looking. Check it out on today's final round. There should be plenty of chances, since she's tied for the lead.

[warbirdlover]

worst advice in golf is keep the head still

dave

Well, when I watch all the top golfers on TV none of them are moving their head. I guess if you move your head you'd better be consistent about it....

[dave.]

Actually,I think you will find they all move their heads

[gwlee7]

Originally Posted by dave.

Actually,I think you will find they all move their heads

Yep. Too many people confuse swaying/lateral moving off the ball with the necessary amount of head rotation that must occur if you are to get behind the ball. Just Friday while in Windermere getting my yearly lesson, one of the guys I went with swore that he was moving 6 inches when our instructor got him to rotate his head correctly on the backswing. In fact, we held a shaft just an inch or so away from his right temple and eventhough he rotated his head, he never hit the shaft. If you force your head to stay still you will most likely reverse pivot or tilt your shoulders or spine towards the target. A proper swing will cause the head to stay centered but it will move.

[charnockpro]

Ladies No.2 and a few tournament wins under her belt must answer all the questions, it is an unusual move, i can only think she had problems with a lateral slide or getting a bit in front of it.

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by dave.

Actually,I think you will find they all move their heads

Indeed. The movement is quite small and subtle but one cannot do a complete golf swing without moving the head a bit.

An interesting Nicklaus story though. When he was a lad, his coach Mr. Grote would have him address the ball and then he would stand in front of young Jack, grab him by the hair on top of his head and have him hit balls.

After having a fairly sore scalp, Nicklaus got the head movement thing down.

[warbirdlover]

Well, I didn't mean absolutely rock still but not bouncing up and down or moving forward or back. Never see that on good pros until AFTER ball contact.

[charnockpro]

Gary Ostrega from BB 7 head moves down quite considerably, ooops sorry you said good golf pro's

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

Well, I didn't mean absolutely rock still but not bouncing up and down or moving forward or back. Never see that on good pros until AFTER ball contact.

Watch Annika. She is looking downrange well before contact (unless she has a lazy right eye...) Very weird. I think she is a real exception to the rule. Most tour pros are pretty darned stable through impact.

[warbirdlover]

Annika has been used as an exception to the rule in previous discussion on this in some articles I've read. She is so consistent she can make it work. Maybe Lorean is the same way.

[Rockford35]

While there are always exceptions to the rule, the rule of thumb is keeping your head "centered" more than still. The natural tendancy of the swing will obviously make your head move somewhat, but not enough to make you come up out of your swing (thin) or nose dive (literally) into the shot (fat).

Check out Ernie here. Put the cursor on the FJ logo on the side of his hat. Look at little he moves his head laterally from downswing through impact. His steady head and rotation around his core from the spin, neck and head are the key to his excellent and arguably beautiful swing.

Anyone that says move your head cuz it's the right thing to do is an idiot. But it's also not right to say that your head has to be solid in place. A quiet head results in consistency.



If you wanna talk inconsistent swings and head movement, you should talk about Gulbis. That makes Furyk look like Freddie.

R35