On your backswing...

[BigJim13]

does your head move at all? A friend of mine, who used to be a pro was watching my swing the other day. I took what felt like a great swing and he simply looked at me and said "your head moved." He then proceeded to put his hand on my head while I took another swing, it was the weirdest feeling. I always thought that a LITTLE head movement in the backswing was OK, just a natural part of the swing. I guess not. Since that day I have been taking practice swings and TRYING to not move my head....its tough.

Anybody have any thoughts on this? I guess I should trust him as he was a pro, who b4 moving to VT did live in Charlotte, NC and tried to Monday qualify at the Wachovia (yes the one Tiger plays each year). He also shot the easiest looking 78 on one of the tougher courses in VT, after not playing for about 3 months...

I guess I would like some other opinions...Thanks!

 

[bdcrowe]

Opinions differ. Grout used to have Nicklaus swing while he (Grout) clinched a handful of Niclaus' hair-- teaching him to keep his head exactly still.

Others (like Flick) promote a bit of head movement to get behind the ball. Hogan's head actually dropped a bit during his swing.

Personally, I'm becoming more and more of the opinion that too much of this stuff is a hindrance. How many things do you need to keep up with during your swing? Think about (A) the lie of your ball, (B), where it needs to go and (C) what it needs to do to get there.

You'll go batty worrying so much about the minutia. Per your quote:

<quote>I took what felt like a great swing and he simply looked at me and said "your head moved."</quote>

Was it a great swing? Did the ball go where the swing told it to? If so, tell him to mind his own business.

Good luck.

 

[zaphod]

Mine goes back with the weight shift. I need to keep eyes level otherwise will reverse C on way back.

 

[cypressperch]

Nicklaus swung as though a long spike had been

hammered through his body and stuck in the ground behind him. But he sort of swiveled his chin to the right going back. Snead did a similar move. It is very difficult not to move the head a little. If you keep it fairly steady, you will probably be all right.

It is far better to move a little laterally than to have your head bobbing up and down during your swing. Curtis Strange moved quite a bit to his right going back, and he thought that was all right so long as his head was behind the ball at impact. At the finish his head had passed the ball quite a bit, but by that time the ball was long gone.

Some important things happen if the head stays fairly steady. You will probably be coiling your upper body more easily. You will be keeping your weight inside your two feet which is important going back because you do not want your weight to get outside your back foot (If you do, you cannot get the weight going back to the target, so you have moved the bottom of your swing very much to the right and a fat shot is the most likely result. Going through the ball, it easier to turn the hips rather than theeeeeeeeee slide you sometimes see.

A lot of people are saying today (Gary Player has said it a long time.) that keeping your head from moving during the swing can hurt your back and hips. I think this is probably true and a lot of people who try real hard to keep the head totally still tend to tense up more than they should. This makes a bad situation even worse.

Lastly, a complete release of the clubhead through the impact area is more difficult if you keep your head in a vise. You can be in a very good impact position so long as your head is behind the ball at impact.

Best of luck to you with your game. Cypressperch

Whenever I placed the grip end of a club on someone's head, I was watching for two things: Did his head go up or down during the swing; did he move his head very much laterally going back and where was his head at impact (it should be pretty close to where it was at address and this is behind the ball).

 

[mont86]

From what I have learned and observed, your head can move a little side to side, but up
and down in the swing is bad because it changes the bottom of the arc.

From the golf channel.

 

[BigJim13]

My head only moves a little bit to the right (I am right handed) on my backswing. It helps me make a better weight shift and all movement to the right stops when I feel the majority of my weight on the inside of my right foot. I just feel it helps me make a better weight shift.

 

[Eracer]

From what I have learned and observed, your head can move a little side to side, but up
and down in the swing is bad because it changes the bottom of the arc.

From the golf channel.

Cypressperch is the only golf channel I need.

bdcrowe is also correct. I have absolutely no idea what my head is doing during my best swings. I'm much more concerned with what my feet, knees, hips, arms, shoulders, and hands are doing.

 

[figjam]

The new stack and tilt swing has some up and down head movement, but the head does not move to the right. I don't use all the principles of S&T but I do try to keep my head centred over the ball. It stops the weight from shifting too far right, making it easier to get the weight over the left foot on the through swing. I think keeping the head centred and not moving back to the right also gives you a much better chance of returning to your head to the address position at impact, without having to rely on timing your head movement to match your body coming through the ball.

 

[warbirdlover]

Doesn't move much at all on the backswing. At or slightly before contact it moves forward some. :laugh:

 

[fore142]

I use a 1 plane swing, which in many ways is s&t, and i am always told by my instructor to keep my left eye over the ball, and keep my head as still as possible, and that up and down movement is much better than lateral.

 

[MCDavis]

Heard this discussed on the XM golf channel and their (don't remember who's) viewpoint was that keeping the head still is not critical and should not be emphasised when teaching an amateur...too much to think about. Kinda think it was a Hank Haney interview, but I'm not positive.

I don't worry about my head, I worry about the ball.

 

[solarbear88]

The head can move a little, left to right. The base of your neck should say pretty much in the same spot.

Turn around your spine! So many pros make this so complicated. But this is what everyone needs to do.

Unfortunately, its hard to know without using a mirror if your head is moving or if your spine is coming back off the ball. I think my mirror cost $14 and solved a big swaying problem in about 2 weeks. I have worked in it so much I have now got to the stage where I can hit balls while looking at myself in the mirror. What I have been finding is that I can hit balls just as well looking in the mirror, as looking at the ball. Go figure.

 

[ezra76]

Mine moves right or "back" just a little and stays there until impact. My instructor has never said anything is wrong with it so I'm not really worried about it.

 

[dave.]

I think 'keep your head still' is terrible advice

 

[fredcouplesfan]

I think 'keep your head still' is terrible advice

Also I hear alot of times somebody tell their playing partner to keep their head and down and the first thing they do is burry the head into the chest causing a horrible shoulder turn. I just focus my left eye on the back of the ball and this will help you keep your head behind the ball and also chin not burried, you'll find this should cure you head moving problems.