Help with moving head.

[SpacklersEdge]

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?

[sonicblue]

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."

[SpacklersEdge]

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?

[sonicblue]

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.

[atltony]

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.

[m11]

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.

[whatsthestory]

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.

[ticklemytweeder]

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

[Avid Golfer]

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.

[sonicblue]

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.