To Move or Not Move the Head in the Golf Swing

[natureboy]

On 7/23/2016 at 2:18 AM, Peter_b said:

other tells me to bump the hips and ignores may head sway to the front. I gain 2 clubs on launch monitor.

Head sway to the front? You mean your head is moving laterally toward the target and closer to your lead foot from a face-on view?

If so that sounds a little over the top and the distance gain is likely from a lowered trajectory / hitting pulls with a higher than textbook right shoulder.

You have a very low index, though, so what you characterize as a 'sway' may only a slight movement.

[Peter_b]

with head sway I mean a full head in fron view to impact. Doesn’t work for me. Its cheating and so will be the shots.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Peter_b

[natureboy]

35 minutes ago, Peter_b said:

with head sway I mean a full head in fron view to impact.

Sorry I don't understand your phrasing. Can you use a graphic?

[Peter_b]

head position at setup, head position at impact, front view. When swaying head is way ahead original position almost a full head width. 

[natureboy]

23 minutes ago, Peter_b said:

head position at setup, head position at impact, front view. When swaying head is way ahead original position almost a full head width. 

Sounds over the top to me.

[iacas]

37 minutes ago, Peter_b said:

head position at setup, head position at impact, front view. When swaying head is way ahead original position almost a full head width. 

Then either your head is set too far back at setup, or you're doing something that's "cheating" impact a little and you'll hit lower shots than you should with steeper divots (absent another compensation like bending the arms early or something).

PGA Tour pros don't move their heads much.

[Peter_b]

Fully agreed.

[proto]

if my head moves it gets my spine angle out of line and on my down swing i'll lift my head up and my swing goes all to wack and my flight is all off. i try to keep my legs and hips stilland take my arms back and let my shoulders pull my hips sum and then squat and push off on my back foot to help turn my hips and let start my down swing making a shoulder turn and then let all that build make make it exsplode at my release. make it easier i start my backswing hands, shoulders hips and downswing i start with my feet, hips, shoulders, arms.  and keep my head stil

[Hacker James]

There is a teaching pro in Summerlin Nevada that proposes that you have "two" axis and that your head will shift from one to the other. I definitely DO NOT ascribe to this. Some do "rotate" their head however, but it is not moved laterally. Look at some vintage Nicklaus clips.

[Hacker James]

24 minutes ago, proto said:

if my head moves it gets my spine angle out of line and on my down swing i'll lift my head up and my swing goes all to wack and my flight is all off. i try to keep my legs and hips stilland take my arms back and let my shoulders pull my hips sum and then squat and push off on my back foot to help turn my hips and let start my down swing making a shoulder turn and then let all that build make make it exsplode at my release. make it easier i start my backswing hands, shoulders hips and downswing i start with my feet, hips, shoulders, arms.  and keep my head stil

I read recently where this squat has been debunked. I really do not know as it is not something I consciously do anyway. My take is that your swing can be from the ground up, but not intentionally squatting. That being said, Sam Snead had sort of a squat move.

[proto]

not move head. look at all the tour players. they have their head and upper ball as stable as they can get it and the only this that is moving is their arms and then shoulders and then hips and then they reverse all of that on the down swing. if you can keep your head stable you have a better chance of staying on plane on your down swing. 

[checkerfred]

So I'm confused on the head movement.  I've seen it said over and over about keeping the head still but I've noticed lots of players not only move it a few inches or so going back but then it moves even further back on the downswing into impact.  For instance, this swing of Justin Thomas.  His head moves way back at impact from where it was at address.  I see other pros do this too though maybe not as much as he does.

 

 

I drew lines to show address and impact.  His head is way back from where it started.  Now this is with a driver so I'm not sure that factors into it?  I've seen an iron swing from him and it moves back some but not as much as this...maybe an inch back from where it was.  It pretty much just stays back.

[iacas]

It's a driver.

JT hitting an iron.

[Tepi90]

I think this is really good video regarding head althought it is for disc golf:

Thoughts?

 

[Vinsk]

6 hours ago, Tepi90 said:

I think this is really good video regarding head althought it is for disc golf:

Thoughts?

 

I’m curious what your thoughts are on this as it pertains to golf? I’ve played frisbee golf a few times, years ago. Don’t really see a connection here.

[Tepi90]

19 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I’m curious what your thoughts are on this as it pertains to golf? I’ve played frisbee golf a few times, years ago. Don’t really see a connection here.

I think the head position at address is important as he demonstrates at the beginning falling to direction where his head is tilted since vestibular system is located in ear. After that the head is indicator what happens under and in which order as the tittle says "Ground up, not head down", which is why I don't think focusing on keeping head still is gonna help.

[iacas]

6 hours ago, Tepi90 said:

I think the head position at address is important as he demonstrates at the beginning falling to direction where his head is tilted since vestibular system is located in ear. After that the head is indicator what happens under and in which order as the tittle says "Ground up, not head down", which is why I don't think focusing on keeping head still is gonna help.

I'm not sure what your point is here. Rarely do we say "keep your head still" as our instruction to a player - we tell them HOW to keep their head relatively steady (not still).

Could you elaborate on what you're trying to say here? And is it generally, or specific to you?

[Tepi90]

8 hours ago, iacas said:

I'm not sure what your point is here. Rarely do we say "keep your head still" as our instruction to a player - we tell them HOW to keep their head relatively steady (not still).

Could you elaborate on what you're trying to say here? And is it generally, or specific to you?

At no point did I say you/or anyone here were teaching to keep your head still, sorry if my message came out to you that way, English ain't my native language. I just merely tried to provide a video that explains head movement to a thread that is talking about head movement during the swing.

This was generally as not all people can afford/take lessons from a pro and this is easily misunderstood concept. Hell I actually saw a pro just couple weeks ago hold his students head still during the swing, which made me question from who do I want to take lessons once I can afford them...