How do you learn to keep a steady head?

[mcman1]

If you want to learn to keep a steady head (like Jack Nicklaus talks about in this month's golf digest as his number one principle) take a look at a product called Steady-Head. You can check the product out at steadyhead.com Let me know if you think it has merit?

[spitz20]

easy, keep your head steady lol...its not all that difficult

[Dub]

Such a huge focal point for me. This along with tempo are the difference between good rounds and crappy ones.

[kfowler]

Sptiz20 - I hope you're joking. Keeping your head steady for you may be easy but I can promise you it's difficult for the vast majority of golfers. Even the PGA pros.

I looked at the Steadyhead and even e-mailed them with some questions. IMO, it's a little limited. You can only use it at a grass range. If you swing a leave a divot, then what? You'll be hitting out of a hole pretty quickly.

Couple of alternatives:

- Have someone hold your hair like Jack's teacher did.
- Have someone hold a club with the butt against your forehead.
- I build a little contraption that I think helps and you can use it at most indoor driving ranges. I took a boom mic arm and unscrewed it from the base. Take one of those pool noodles and cut about a six inch piece off of it. Attached the foam piece to the end of the boom perpendicular to the arm. I use a couple of u-bolt and wing nuts to attached it to the side gates at the range. Address the ball and have your head touching the foam. This will give you a reference for keeping your head still. Hope that all makes sense.

[Meddle]

A big moment in my swing development was when my dad held my head still for a shot when I was practicing at the range one day. What a different feeling! You remember how it feels because it's so strange and different. And every once and awhile I go back to that when I struggle, remembering how that felt to keep my head totally still.

[bong_crosby]

IMO, this is one of the most obvious but least worked on aspects of ball striking. Just look up and down the line at the driving range and you'll see heads bobbing up and down and moving side-to-side but no one is doing anything to remedy their problem.

First off, I'd say have an instructor look at your swing to determine what is causing the head movement. There's no sense in keeping your head quiet if the other fundamentals are not sound.

I use one of my alignment sticks poking out of my stand bag, it looks kind of like the steadyhead you mentioned but only costs $2.50 compared to their $33. If you're not familiar, alignment sticks are 4' long fiberglass rods that you can buy at just about any hardware store. There is a post on alignments sticks somewhere down the page in the equipment forum.

To set up, place your stand bag (hopefully you have one) in front and facing you so that you can look down into the club compartments. You'll need something to wedge into one of the compartments so you can put the stick in the bag with the tip extending out to about head level. I use a piece of foam I had sitting in the garage, but a towel or something like that might work. Set up, move the rod so it's resting on your head and swing away.

Hitting off a tee alleviates having to move the rod around after each shot since you can hit from the same spot every time and not out of your own divot. It's up to you. I practice about 50/50 tee and ground.

Good luck.

[kfowler]

bong_crosby - Interesting idea. You ever worry about poking your eye out? Seems like you could put a piece of foam on the end just to be safe.

[bong_crosby]

bong_crosby - Interesting idea. You ever worry about poking your eye out? Seems like you could put a piece of foam on the end just to be safe.

Good point. Actually, no because the rod rests on the top of my head. IMO the design of the steadyhead is flawed - with the ball resting on the forehead, it is in the line of sight and messes with your focus. I know because I've tried to rest the rod on my forehead and it was awkward.

Yes, you could put a piece of foam on the for safety, but for me it hasn't been an issue. BTW I have the end with the rubber tip sticking out and not the pointy end.

[Zeph]

Head movement is one of the culprits to my bad golfing. My head moves towards the target at the end of the backswing and through the downswing. By doing so, I move the bottom of the swing forward. Only problem is, the ball doesn't follow, so I have to throw the club out to hit the ball. A good strike is a matter of lotto, I can hit it fat, thin or perfect, mostly fat. Not only does this ruin every single round of golf, but it teaches my hands to cast the club, losing all the lag in the swing. If I manage to get my head from moving laterally, I still have to work on not casting the club.

I'll probably make some rod that touch the right side of my head. I must keep the head back to have contact with it, and it doesn't get in the way for the follow through. The head should not move laterally forwards until the club reach about parallell to the ground on the follow through.

I got pointed out once that I speed up the club on the end of the backswing, instead of slowing down. This was one of the reasons my body was moving forwards.

[danieldrieberg]

Steady heady for me is a by product of retaining the same spine angle throughout the swing. If I try to keep my head rock solid I I'm too tense. Instead I rotate around my spine angle keeping that spine angle fairly constant.

[erwintrace08]

Best advice I ever got was from a guy I met at the range. He said that it was a tip he heard from George Bush Sr. to keep his head still. If you try this, it totally works. You don't have to build a device like some of the other posts mentioned that will turn a MacGyver tin can into a tank:

"Keep the distance between your head and the ball the same during start, backswing and downswing as long as you can." If you need to picture a stick that's connected from your forehead to your ball, it may help.

Try this out and see if this works. Just keep that distance the same.

e

[kfowler]

Best advice I ever got was from a guy I met at the range. He said that it was a tip he heard from George Bush Sr. to keep his head still. If you try this, it totally works. You don't have to build a device like some of the other posts mentioned that will turn a MacGyver tin can into a tank:

The only problem with this is what you think you feel as your head remaining still, may actually be all over the place. Feel is deceptive when you have a bad habit ingrained. I swear my head is staying still during my backswing but it's actually moving out towards the ball and forward towards the target. It really helps to have a physical reference holding your head stationary.

[Zeph]

I disagree. Horizontal movement can be a killer, but a lot of players got vertical movement. Can I mention the world number one? Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Sean O'Hair, Steve Stricker. The list goes on...

Head moving forward is destructive since it moves the bottom of the swing forward. Jack Nicklaus did it with the irons because he hit every club off the left heel, but if you look at his driver swing, it doesn't move forward, or at least very little. That's because inside the left heel is a good place to hit the driver off. Head moving back is better, as it force you to hold onto the lag longer to hit the ball well, but you also move the swing bottom back, not striking the irons as well. It's better with the driver, as you can hit it from -4º to +4º with good results.

If an iron bottom out 4 inches in front of the ball, the more the head moves back, the closer to the ball the bottom will be. The more the head move forward, the further from the ball the bottom will be. So much that you will have to cast the club to hit the ball on the lower half. If your head drifts forward, move the ball forward, I'm sure you will strike it much better. Then try moving the ball further back and keep your head back, even move it back in the downswing.

The shoulders determine the bottom of the swing, move them forward or back and you move the bottom of the swing.

Zeph
16 Handicap
Norway

[bong_crosby]

Best advice I ever got was from a guy I met at the range. He said that it was a tip he heard from George Bush Sr. to keep his head still.

I think this tip will only work for republicans.

[Jameson]

In order to improve the #1 Key, I will try to keep the distance between my head and the ball the same all over the movement. It´s really hard, but I think is the first step to improve my game...

[Mr. Desmond]

Benderstick...

Put your head against a wall at home, take a stance, put each hand on the other shoulder and turn ... and turn ... and turn...

Look at 5 Simple Key Vids ... extend as you turn going back (stretch the right side for a righty)

[Jakester23]

In order to improve the #1 Key, I will try to keep the distance between my head and the ball the same all over the movement. It´s really hard, but I think is the first step to improve my game...

Adding to what Desmond said. It's not necessarily bad to have your head move vertically. What you don't want is your head to move horizontally. Rory and Tiger both drop their heads during their down swings but they don't drift forwards or backwards.

[BanditGrip]

Try focusing on keep the head down while rotating thru the swing...