To Move or Not Move the Head in the Golf Swing

[Mr. Desmond]

Probably some suggestive downward pressure being applied to the top of her head too. Wink, wink.

It's the old "Arnoldian slip."

[DanHolterhaus]

I don't think you will be able to hit solid golf shots if you are consciously thinking about keeping your head "still."  I think it helps to keep your chin up, so you have plenty of room to turn your left (right for lefties) shoulder under your chin.  I've seen players who move their head quite a bit, but they move in consistently which still allows them to be consistent ball strikers.

[mvmac]

I don't think you will be able to hit solid golf shots if you are consciously thinking about keeping your head "still."  I think it helps to keep your chin up, so you have plenty of room to turn your left (right for lefties) shoulder under your chin.  I've seen players who move their head quite a bit, but they move in consistently which still allows them to be consistent ball strikers.

I agree that to work on a Steady Head piece, actually focusing on the head isn't the best idea.  However  advising "chin up" makes it hard for golfers to view the ball out of the center of their eyes and leads to shoulder turns that are too level.  Head moves, contact becomes more erratic.  Having the chin down allows the shoulders to turn steeper, at about a right angle to their address inclination.  Result is a steady head and better low point control.

More on that here

http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture

[SloverUT]

I don't think you will be able to hit solid golf shots if you are consciously thinking about keeping your head "still."  I think it helps to keep your chin up, so you have plenty of room to turn your left (right for lefties) shoulder under your chin.  I've seen players who move their head quite a bit, but they move in consistently which still allows them to be consistent ball strikers.

When you are playing golf on the course I don't think they are advocating concentrating solely on keeping your head still.  This is something that you continually work to improve in your lessons and range sessions.  Do the drills on the range and play golf on the course.  I think that if you consistently worked on keeping a "steady" head, not a "still" head you will find yourself rotating your shoulders more efficiently and striking the ball more consistently.

[Ernest Jones]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanHolterhaus

I don't think you will be able to hit solid golf shots if you are consciously thinking about keeping your head "still."  I think it helps to keep your chin up, so you have plenty of room to turn your left (right for lefties) shoulder under your chin.  I've seen players who move their head quite a bit, but they move in consistently which still allows them to be consistent ball strikers.

I agree that to work on a Steady Head piece, actually focusing on the head isn't the best idea.  However  advising "chin up" makes it hard for golfers to view the ball out of the center of their eyes and leads to shoulder turns that are too level.  Head moves, contact becomes more erratic.  Having the chin down allows the shoulders to turn steeper, at about a right angle to their address inclination.  Result is a steady head and better low point control.

More on that here

http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture

Agreed. When I first started working on maintaing a steady head I focused on keeping it still, total disaster. For me the key to a steady head is 1) left shoulder down 2) letting the trail leg straighten a bit so your hips can turn on an incline. If I do that the head stays relatively still without any direct effort.

This is one of my all time favorite threads on here: http://thesandtrap.com/t/54540/a-centered-pivot

Really helped me a lot.

[Lihu]

I agree that to work on a Steady Head piece, actually focusing on the head isn't the best idea.  However  advising "chin up" makes it hard for golfers to view the ball out of the center of their eyes and leads to shoulder turns that are too level.  Head moves, contact becomes more erratic.  Having the chin down allows the shoulders to turn steeper, at about a right angle to their address inclination.  Result is a steady head and better low point control.

More on that here

http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture

The price I pay for "chin up" is a slice. Again, thanks, Mike, for the coaching that helped me get rid of this and improve so many other things.

For me, the main key has been to try to keep the head steady and tilted comfortably back a bit all the way from the setup, back swing and through impact. The club head travels a much shorter distance, but when I make contact with the ball it feels really solid.

[mvmac]

Agreed. When I first started working on maintaing a steady head I focused on keeping it still, total disaster. For me the key to a steady head is 1) left shoulder down 2) letting the trail leg straighten a bit so your hips can turn on an incline. If I do that the head stays relatively still without any direct effort.

This is one of my all time favorite threads on here: http://thesandtrap.com/t/54540/a-centered-pivot

Really helped me a lot.

Awesome, great to hear.  Yeah it's not rocket science, what you just said was centered pivot 101, probably more than most instructors know.  If the knees don't change flex, going to be tough for the golfer to side bend and extend enough to stay centered.

Just saw this yesterday, Jay Haas

The price I pay for "chin up" is a slice. Again, thanks, Mike, for the coaching that helped me get rid of this and improve so many other things.

For me, the main key has been to try to keep the head steady and tilted comfortably back a bit all the way from the setup, back swing and through impact. The club head travels a much shorter distance, but when I make contact with the ball it feels really solid.

Yes "chin up" when walking down the fairway, not when hitting shots

[Hammer 4]

A steady head is my most important key, imo, because if I move my head, about 85% or more times, I will hit a lousy shot when I move my head, and in my case, it could be up or down.

[Michael Lee]

It depends on one's school of thought.  I've had some instructors tell me they believe keeping the head still is a bad thing, while others say the opposite.  However, while watching the professionals on television, if the background consists of stationary objects such as trees or spectators and the like (i.e. not the sky), any movement of this kind can be detected by a shift in their head position relative to the background - this is called parallax.  Davis Love III's head doesn't so much as budge throughout much the swing while others do indeed move their head.

[mvmac]

It depends on one's school of thought.  I've had some instructors tell me they believe keeping the head still is a bad thing, while others say the opposite.  However, while watching the professionals on television, if the background consists of stationary objects such as trees or spectators and the like (i.e. not the sky), any movement of this kind can be detected by a shift in their head position relative to the background - this is called parallax.  Davis Love III's head doesn't so much as budge throughout much the swing while others do indeed move their head.

I agree you don't want to keep the head "still" as in not moving. Key #1 is relatively steady head and we're basically concerned with keeping the lateral translation of the head to a minimum. The head will rotate, even lower a bit towards the end of the backswing/beginning of the downswing.

Key #1 from this thread

[golfertrevor]

Your back swing should be a turn. If you turn, your head shouldn't move anywhere. Turn, then lift your hands to complete your back swing.

[mvmac]

Your back swing should be a turn. If you turn, your head shouldn't move anywhere. Turn, then lift your hands to complete your back swing.

Hi welcome to the site. I agree that you turn on the backswing, but there are other elements to make sure the head is steady. I can just turn and move my head two feet to the right.

More on what needs to be done to ensure a steady head, also if you do this, there isn't a need to lift the arms.

[golfertrevor]

Thanks for the welcome. I've actually read this site for a while just never joined.

Okay people, here's the thing with the head: the movement of the head only matters because it is a signal your body is moving laterally. Nobody strains their neck to jerk their head around, it's the body that is controlling the head. So stop moving off the ball laterally and just turn your body around your head. In the above video, the guy in the black is simply turning and tilting his spine forward toward the ball, which is moving his head toward the ball also, but which is harder to see from this angle. Stand up and do it right now; turn your shoulders, then lower your left shoulder and raise your right shoulder. If you follow this guy's advice, your spine will have the tendency to snap back to its original position on the downswing and cause different problems for you.

[iacas]

In the above video, the guy in the black is simply turning and tilting his spine forward toward the ball, which is moving his head toward the ball also, but which is harder to see from this angle.

My head does not move towards the ball when I make a backswing. It may in the video above slightly, but that's because I'm just making backswings exaggerating a few things slightly on a video.

Stand up and do it right now; turn your shoulders, then lower your left shoulder and raise your right shoulder. If you follow this guy's advice, your spine will have the tendency to snap back to its original position on the downswing and cause different problems for you.

I don't know what all that means, but I disagree that making a centered pivot will "cause problems." Please clarify.

The instruction above and elsewhere is simply geared towards teaching people how to make a relatively centered pivot with a relatively steady head as a reference point, and we're primarily concerned with lateral (to/fro the target), with the most "allowable movement" vertically.

[Peter_b]

I have held my head still for  30 years of golf. I know have two known and good pros who allow me to move the head. One directly tells me to not restrict head the other tells me to bump the hips and ignores may head sway to the front. I gain 2 clubs on launch monitor.

Keeping the head still makes me turn in a barrel, keeps me from bumping left and  costs me yardage. Right knee goes out right elbow stuck behind, right heel lifts early, legs don't cross in back view.

Holding the head in one position forcefully can very much restrict your swing.

 

[JonMA1]

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

I have held my head still for  30 years of golf. I know have two known and good pros who allow me to move the head. One directly tells me to not restrict head the other tells me to bump the hips and ignores may head sway to the front. I gain 2 clubs on launch monitor.

Keeping the head still makes me turn in a barrel, keeps me from bumping left and  costs me yardage. Right knee goes out right elbow stuck behind, right heel lifts early, legs don't cross in back view.

Holding the head in one position forcefully can very much restrict your swing.

 

No one is saying to do what's in bold above. And if keeping a relatively steady head is so "restrictive", why would most of the top players in the world do it?

[Peter_b]

Well the head of the pros looks quite steady in the horizontal movement. I just want to emphasize that swing in a barrel and steady head can harm your swing especially if your swing is already good. 

[DownAndOut]

Personally, I like the simple way Tom Tomasello explains the pivot and head movement in the golf swing.