Jump to content
IGNORED

Help with moving head.


Note: This thread is 5787 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

So I took a face on video of myself, and I noticed that my head stays very still on my backswing, but the instant my downswing starts, it moves forward about 8 inches or so. From watching "good" swing vids, I know that the head should not move past the line drawn vertically by the front ear until after contact.

So, I went to the range and tried to work on this. For me, when I keep my head back, if FEELS to me like I am really leaning back, trying to hit a home run in baseball. Subsequently, I seem to not be able to stay down on the ball either, I and hitting everything thin, or topping them that way.

Any advice or specific drills I can work on to help me with this? Should I not be focusing on my head, but something else that is actually the cause of the head movement?
TM R7 SuperQuad - 9.5* Stiff || TM V-Steel 15/18* Stiff || Mizuno MP-52 3-PW PX5.5 || Titleist Vokey OC 52/58* || Odyssey White Hot #1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


IMO, this is a classic case of an anatomical observation that is a symptom, not a problem. It is probably either due to one of a few things (again, IMO):

1) A faulty setup. You're simply not achieving true balance and stability at setup.

2) If you do feel balanced at setup, your swing is simply too big/wide/long and your head movement is an indication of your trying to regain your balance.

3) Sometimes, we just don't trust that, when the club returns to the ball, that it's going to go far enough. The symptom is that we lunge toward the target, in an attempt to get speed and propel the ball forward. Thus, the fix is not a physical one, it's a mental one. I'll again use my analogy: if you were shooting a target with a gun, right before you squeeze the trigger, would you also throw the gun? Of course not, you're accuracy would go to hell, and you certainly wouldn't be materially increasing the bullet speed. Same for the golf swing. Quiet, strong, stable movements lead to consistency and accuracy - it's the equipment that provides the real "pop."

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


IMO, this is a classic case of an anatomical observation that is a symptom, not a problem. It is probably either due to one of a few things (again, IMO):

Wow, pretty good feeedback there. Thank you. I am about 99% it's not #1. I think that you are spot on though with #2 and #3. I want to hit it far, so in turn that makes me have a long swing. so I think maybe I should fix that first.

So let me ask this. If I spend the time to shorten my swing, a, I going to go through a period of hitting it short until I get in the groove with the new swing and start hitting it normal or even farther again?
TM R7 SuperQuad - 9.5* Stiff || TM V-Steel 15/18* Stiff || Mizuno MP-52 3-PW PX5.5 || Titleist Vokey OC 52/58* || Odyssey White Hot #1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I'm going through a very similar process of shortening my swing. It's likely that you, like me, taught yourself some compensations during your overswinging days. For me, it all comes down to my hands, they need to quiet down, too.

Shortening the swing is going to upset the rhythm of your swing, so you probably won't hit it as far for a while. BUT -- that isn't because your swing speed is suffering, it's probably because your contact will be inconsistent. I'm willing to bet on one thing, though - your good shots will feel more effortless. It's one of the great paradoxes of golf: it requires effort, you can't be lazy, but it should feel effortless.

You have to convince yourself of one very important thing. For all of us, there is some imaginary point along your swing plane - picture some point in space over your right shoulder - where, if the club goes past it, your swing strength/speed/distance goes DOWN! Moreover, that point is likely FAR below where you may initially imagine it to be. Try to surprise yourself with how short you can make your swing, with how easy you can swing and still "pop" the ball.

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


That's very interesting because when I am having a bad day swing-wise I will hit a few balls with as short of a backswing as possible, just accelerating through the ball. It's crazy how The ball still goes just as far and like you (sonicblue) said just feels so effortless and easy to make precise contact with the ball. Maybe I should really try to see where this imaginary point is in my backswing and really shorten my backswing to that point.

Hi-Bore 9.5° w/ UST pro-force v2 Stiff
Halo 1i 16°
Halo 3i 22°
735.cm 4-PW
Vokey 52.8, Vokey Spin-Milled 56.10, 60.4 Sophia 32" or Studio Design 1 34"

Link to comment
Share on other sites


If you do get that mental feeling that you must lunge at the ball...i'd actually recommend moving it back a few ball lengths in your stance (this applies to all clubs that you would hit off the grass...including 3 woods and hybrids. Unless you hit it off the fairway, the driver is excluded because you don't compress the ball into the ground when it is teed up) . Essentially, you are going to be hitting 'knock-down' shots because you are imparting more spin on the ball...as moving it back in your stance increases the angle at which you make contact. What this does for you mentally is that as soon as you start hitting solid shot after solid shot...you'll hopefully feel more comfortable returning it to your normal ball position and getting back your normal trajectory.

Personally, I had the same issue and by lunging i'd simply make terrible contact. My clubface would either open or close and the ball what just sputter out in front of me. By putting the ball a little back in your stance, i was almost guaranteed good contact as long as my club face was squared because the clubface would always contact the ball on its way down.

TMX Carry Bag
Tour Burner 9.5*
Burner 3W 15*
Burner Rescue Hybrid 19*
r7 TP 4i-SW Dynamic Gold S300s 60* CG-14 Circa 62 #2 & Studio Stainless Newport 2 Pro V1x

Link to comment
Share on other sites


just saw the title : MOVING HEAD
i'm about to give you my 2 penny opinion:
Please don't get bitchy, here goes
ALL HEADS MOVE when you swing a club through impact
it's m.p.h. is anywhere between 70 and 150
Looking at your profile it's not clear what part of the U.S.
you live.
I was introduced to playing golf at the beach
its by far the best place to LEARN TO properly strike a ball
as in: BALL followed by SAND
on a course: BALL followed by TURF
Don't worry about your head and practise hitting off sand
this way you get to hit the ball well all the time.
good luck
and please let me know how you go on.
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I don't know how well this would work in golf, but i know in baseball a coach once told a player to bite his collar to keep his head down. you might wanna try it on the driving range

In my UofL bag:
Driver: Callaway Hyper-X 9º Stiff flex, Integra Sooo Long 650cc 9º Steel shaft.(Happy Gilmore)
Fairway Wood: Integra Sooo Long 7w
Irons: Integra Sooo Long 3i-PW
Wedge: Power Bilt Grand Slam PW 56º, Northwestern 60º Dual WedgePutter: Odyssey White Hot 2-ball putter center...

Link to comment
Share on other sites


So I took a face on video of myself, and I noticed that my head stays very still on my backswing, but the instant my downswing starts, it moves forward about 8 inches or so. From watching "good" swing vids, I know that the head should not move past the line drawn vertically by the front ear until after contact.

Your setup and downswing motions may be effecting your head motion. If you setup with a little spine tilt away from the target (face on view) there will be less of a chance of the upper body moving toward the target on the downswing. If you've got too much leg movement (or lateral slide) on the downswing then that may also lead your upper body (and head) to be dragged forward.

Thinking/feeling like your hips and/or knees rotate behind you (as your hands drop to hip high on the downswing) instead of the lower body driving (toward the target) on the downswing will also decrease the chances of your head and upper body moving forward.

In my bag:

Driver: Burner TP 8.5*
Fairway metals/woods: Burner TP 13* Tour Spoon, and Burner TP 17.5*
Irons: RAC MB TP Wedges: RAC TPPutter: Spider Ball: (varies ) (Most of the time): TP Red or HX Tour/56---------------------------------------------------

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I don't know how well this would work in golf, but i know in baseball a coach once told a player to bite his collar to keep his head down. you might wanna try it on the driving range

This assumes that "keeping your head down" is the actual goal. It's not. It's eliminating the things that make your head want to come up, that is important. Cause and effect. The head coming up is the effect, you need to eliminate the cause.

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Note: This thread is 5787 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Posts

    • Last year I made an excel that can easily measure with my own SG data the average score for each club of the tee. Even the difference in score if you aim more left or right with the same club. I like it because it can be tweaked to account for different kind of rough, trees, hazards, greens etc.     As an example, On Par 5's that you have fescue on both sides were you can count them as a water hazard (penalty or punch out sideways), unless 3 wood or hybrid lands in a wider area between the fescue you should always hit driver. With a shorter club you are going to hit a couple less balls in the fescue than driver but you are not going to offset the fact that 100% of the shots are going to be played 30 or more yards longer. Here is a 560 par 5. Driver distance 280 yards total, 3 wood 250, hybrid 220. Distance between fescue is 30 yards (pretty tight). Dispersion for Driver is 62 yards. 56 for 3 wood and 49 for hybrid. Aiming of course at the middle of the fairway (20 yards wide) with driver you are going to hit 34% of balls on the fescue (17% left/17% right). 48% to the fairway and the rest to the rough.  The average score is going to be around 5.14. Looking at the result with 3 wood and hybrid you are going to hit less balls in the fescue but because of having longer 2nd shots you are going to score slightly worst. 5.17 and 5.25 respectively.    Things changes when the fescue is taller and you are probably going to loose the ball so changing the penalty of hitting there playing a 3 wood or hybrid gives a better score in the hole.  Off course 30 yards between penalty hazards is way to small. You normally have 60 or more, in that cases the score is going to be more close to 5 and been the Driver the weapon of choice.  The point is to see that no matter how tight the hole is, depending on the hole sometimes Driver is the play and sometimes 6 irons is the play. Is easy to see that on easy holes, but holes like this:  you need to crunch the numbers to find the best strategy.     
    • Very much so. I think the intimidation factor that a lot of people feel playing against someone who's actually very good is significant. I know that Winged Foot pride themselves on the strength of the club. I think they have something like 40-50 players who are plus something. Club championships there are pretty competitive. Can't imagine Oakmont isn't similar. The more I think about this, the more likely it seems that this club is legit. Winning also breeds confidence and I'm sure the other clubs when they play this one are expecting to lose - that can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    • Ah ok I misunderstood. But you did bring to light an oversight on my part.
    • I was agreeing with you/jumping off from there.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...