I have a hard time keeping my eyes on the ball

[PaulMVR]

My backswing turns my head slightly and pulls my eyes off the ball and I lose my focus.  Sometimes I can see the ball in the corner of my eyes(at the top of backswing), and at worst, my focus is pulled completely off the ball and I can't see it at all.

Most of the time when this happens, I still seem to hit the ball ok, but I really want to learn how to keep my head down.

What could be causing this?

[inthecup]

Video?

[PaulMVR]

I know I'm falling over after the shot... but even when I have good balance, I have the same problem.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Over-rotation of the shoulders would be my guess. Also you look like you're leaning back a tad which won't help.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Stiff neck?  Can you, just standing there, turn your head so that your chin lines up with your shoulder?

[PaulMVR]

No, I can't!   I can't quite turn my head that far..  Should I be able to?!

[boogielicious]

Try starting with 1/2  and 3/4 backswings to see how high you can get your left arm up and back before your head begins to move.  It seems, as others have posted, that you are reaching farther back and up than your flexibility will allow.  Work on flexibility, but until then, practice only going back as far as your current flexibility will allow.  You will have much more control and won't lose much distance.

[itching4scratch]

I had the same problem and ended up not making great ball contact, so I started using a 3/4 backswing and hit it more flush.  It might not go as far as a full swing would have hit the ball, but it goes a lot farther than a shank, lol.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Also bear in mind that what 'feels' like a 3/4 swing is often pretty close to a full swing. :)

[JetFan1983]

You can't see the ball because you are turning your shoulders too flat on the backswing. I'm willing to bet you have a sway as well. I drew a red line to show the angle of your shoulders from the down-the-line view, and did the same for some PGA Tour pros as well.

You need turn your shoulders on a more downward angle. You'll be able to see the ball, and you'll be able to keep your upper center more stable.

AK with a wedge.

Tiger with a short iron.

G-Mac with the driver

Rory with a 6-iron (I think).

See the difference?

[PaulMVR]

Yep, I definitely see the difference. I've been working really hard on this since I took that video... I think I'm getting closer now

[PaulMVR]

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Try starting with 1/2  and 3/4 backswings to see how high you can get your left arm up and back before your head begins to move.  It seems, as others have posted, that you are reaching farther back and up than your flexibility will allow.  Work on flexibility, but until then, practice only going back as far as your current flexibility will allow.  You will have much more control and won't lose much distance.

Thanks.  I think it has at least 90 percent to do with flexibility... and I'm starting to understand that a lot better now as I continue taking videos of my swing.

[shortstop20]

JetFan nailed it. It's very hard to get a full shoulder turn, not move off the ball and keep your shoulders out of the way of your chin when you turn that flat.

Get that shoulder down and you'll feel an amount of coil you didn't know you could possibly achieve.

[glock35ipsc]

Having been constantly told to "keep my head down", I found that keeping my head down was getting in the way of my left shoulder.  My shoulder would contact my chin and move my head.  So I don't keep my head down anymore.  LOL!

[max power]

Everything that's been said is good advice-I would add that your backswing is too fast and too violent.  At that point it's wasted energy/motion, and makes keeping your eye on the ball/making solid contact even harder.