Keeping head behind the ball at impact

[Dmalashe]

So some of you may have read my other posts from the past few days. I've been posting a lot lately. I'm fairly new to the game and very determined to master it! Or at least work my way to a single digit handicap.

My previous posts have been about my wrist hinge, and connection. I just came back from the range and tried early wrist setting to help shorten my backswing, and st ay on plane based on some of your suggestions. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working, and I felt extremely uncomfortable.

After a number of shanks, pulls, slices, etc, I finally just slowed everything down tremendously, and made sure to keep my head behind the ball at impact. Surprisingly, my shots were crisp, had great ball flight, great contact, and most of all I was consistently hitting some nice solid shots by keeping my head behind the ball and still. I still hinged my wrist fairly early in the back swing (just before the club got to waste high) so not really pre-setting them at address, but definitely earlier than I was doing before.

Does anyone have any thoughts/tips on the importance of keeping my head still and behind the ball at impact. It just seemed like I was hitting great shots so effortlessly if I just slowed my swing down and made sure to keep the head back.

Thanks

[mvmac]

  Dmalashe said:

Originally Posted by Dmalashe

Does anyone have any thoughts/tips on the importance of keeping my head still and behind the ball at impact. It just seemed like I was hitting great shots so effortlessly if I just slowed my swing down and made sure to keep the head back.

Thanks

We set up with the head behind the ball, so if we keep our head steady, it'll be behind the ball at impact.  Why is it important?  With the weight forward at impact and the head steady, allows the golfer to create what is called 2nd axis tilt (green line below).  For more info on 2nd axis tilt, go here http://thesandtrap.com/t/54115/weight-forward-and-secondary-axis-tilt

[joekelly]

Wow, Mike. Is that you in the photo?  The ball seems soooo far forward. Very unorthodox.  Sure, some forward for the driver but seldom see this much.  Do you hit lots of high balls?

[Ernest Jones]

  joekelly said:

Wow, Mike. Is that you in the photo?  The ball seems soooo far forward. Very unorthodox.  Sure, some forward for the driver but seldom see this much.  Do you hit lots of high balls?

I'm pretty sure that's not Mike. Mike has a bit more...Mike to him. Lol. Also, I'd wager that the camera placement is slightly to the left of center in that FO, creating the illusion of a too forward ball position. I could be wrong but that's what I think. Gotta be pretty careful with camera angles as they can distort everything even if they are just a little off.

[Dmalashe]

Does keeping the head back also help prevent coming over the top? It seems like it does, but I'm just wondering.

[iacas]

  Dmalashe said:

Does keeping the head back also help prevent coming over the top? It seems like it does, but I'm just wondering.

Help prevent? Possibly. Guarantee? Not at all.

[colin007]

  Ernest Jones said:

I'm pretty sure that's not Mike. Mike has a bit more...Mike to him. Lol. Also, I'd wager that the camera placement is slightly to the left of center in that FO, creating the illusion of a too forward ball position. I could be wrong but that's what I think. Gotta be pretty careful with camera angles as they can distort everything even if they are just a little off.

Lol! Yes, there's a little more of Mike to love than there is of that guy in the pics. And yes, the camera angle is skewing the perception of the ball placement.

[mvmac]

  Dmalashe said:

Originally Posted by Dmalashe

Does keeping the head back also help prevent coming over the top? It seems like it does, but I'm just wondering.

Like Erik said, possibly.  It's more about WHY the head is staying steady.

  joekelly said:

Originally Posted by joekelly

Wow, Mike. Is that you in the photo?  The ball seems soooo far forward. Very unorthodox.  Sure, some forward for the driver but seldom see this much.  Do you hit lots of high balls?

Not me but yes my ball position would be similar.  Allows me to have a positive angle of attack and hit the driver high with low spin.  The camera angle is a little off.  Ball would be at or just forward of the left shoulder.  http://thesandtrap.com/t/44307/hitting-up-or-down-with-the-driver-in-an-inline-pattern  Can also use the left ankle as a reference.

Better camera angle

[bplewis24]

  Dmalashe said:

Originally Posted by Dmalashe

After a number of shanks, pulls, slices, etc, I finally just slowed everything down tremendously, and made sure to keep my head behind the ball at impact. Surprisingly, my shots were crisp, had great ball flight, great contact, and most of all I was consistently hitting some nice solid shots by keeping my head behind the ball and still.

Same here.  I go through some very big peaks and valleys early in the golf season, and last season (and now this season) my game starts to come together once I start focusing on keeping my head still.

Last week I went from shooting 78-78 in back-to-back rounds to shooting 89-94 in back-to-back rounds (and trending worse...I took an 8 on the final hole).  All kinds of shanks and weak pushes, and I couldn't correct it on the course.  Then I realized Sunday while relaxing that I was likely focusing too much on specific arm-wrist related stuff and my head was likely moving too much.  There are always other issues, but this seems to correct 90% of my problems when I focus on it.

[Ernest Jones]

  bplewis24 said:

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Same here.  I go through some very big peaks and valleys early in the golf season, and last season (and now this season) my game starts to come together once I start focusing on keeping my head still.

Last week I went from shooting 78-78 in back-to-back rounds to shooting 89-94 in back-to-back rounds (and trending worse...I took an 8 on the final hole).  All kinds of shanks and weak pushes, and I couldn't correct it on the course.  Then I realized Sunday while relaxing that I was likely focusing too much on specific arm-wrist related stuff and my head was likely moving too much.  There are always other issues, but this seems to correct 90% of my problems when I focus on it.

I find when I work on a steady head I can do a pretty passable job of staying nice and centered, big key for me is feeling my right (trail) shoulder tracking up in sync with my lead shoulder tracking down. BUT, as soon as I start working on other stuff I tend to start swaying off the ball as my shoulder turn reverts to a more level turn. It's annoying but I just have to remember to...not forget...lol.

[bplewis24]

  Ernest Jones said:

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

I find when I work on a steady head I can do a pretty passable job of staying nice and centered, big key for me is feeling my right (trail) shoulder tracking up in sync with my lead shoulder tracking down. BUT, as soon as I start working on other stuff I tend to start swaying off the ball as my shoulder turn reverts to a more level turn. It's annoying but I just have to remember to...not forget...lol.

When I played my best golf last season (during the club championship rounds), I only had two swing thoughts: head still; swing hard.

For me, combining the two on the downswing ensures that my weight shifts properly but my head remains behind the ball.  When I try and work on too many other things, I typically lose focus of those two aspects and then things really get out of whack.  I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been a huge struggle this year trying to get back to form consistently, but it seems like I come full-cycle back to my head movement every 2-3 weeks.

[noSnowman]

I read somewhere golf digest possible? Where Jack Nickloas said he tried to feel like a stake was driven through his neck to the ground

[mvmac]

  noSnowman said:

Originally Posted by noSnowman

I read somewhere golf digest possible? Where Jack Nickloas said he tried to feel like a stake was driven through his neck to the ground

Looks like for Jack, feel was real You can see his head rotates but very little movement (if any) side to side.

[noSnowman]

Wow his lower body (hips) are really turning . A lightweight guy I know hits the ball a ton played in pro events and said the touring pros told him to turn his chest as fast as he can. He can go low too

[mvmac]

  noSnowman said:

Originally Posted by noSnowman

Wow his lower body (hips) are really turning .

A lightweight guy I know hits the ball a ton played in pro events and said the touring pros told him to turn his chest as fast as he can. He can go low too

Yes the lower body plays a big role in how far the shoulders can/will turn.

[noSnowman]

.the guy I know shot 3 under at Riviera Country Club on the front 9. Had not played in months either

[Mr. Desmond]

  noSnowman said:

Originally Posted by noSnowman

.the guy I know shot 3 under at Riviera Country Club on the front 9. Had not played in months either

Your point being ....

you don't need to move your hips?

just move the chest?

[Mr. Desmond]

  Mr. Desmond said:

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Your point being ....

you don't need to move your hips?

just move the chest?

Since I can't edit, my point is perhaps the pro saw that your friend already moved his hips sufficiently, but needed to actively move his chest.