Jack Nicklaus Backswing

[johnny_14424]

You know how Nicklaus always moved his head a little bit to the right as he was starting his backswing; were his eyes always focused on the ball while he did that or was he watching his club head to ensure his path was going the correct way?

[saevel25]

actually jack kinda presets his head by rotating it away from the ball before even taking the club back. Its almost like if he looked straight, he would look behind the ball. His head really doesn't travel much backwards. His head pretty much stays were it is at address. I think he presets his head like that to help with turning on the correct plane. Its like he doesn't want his eyes to move off the ball, so he presets it so his shoulder rotation wont cause his head to rotate as well.

[jbishop15]

Originally Posted by saevel25

actually jack kinda presets his head by rotating it away from the ball before even taking the club back. Its almost like if he looked straight, he would look behind the ball. His head really doesn't travel much backwards. His head pretty much stays were it is at address. I think he presets his head like that to help with turning on the correct plane. Its like he doesn't want his eyes to move off the ball, so he presets it so his shoulder rotation wont cause his head to rotate as well.

Pretty much. I read in 'Golf my Way' that he does turn his head that way to both keep it steady and to watch his club path out of the corner of his eye so that he can make any necessary changes to get it on the correct line.

[mvmac]

I think Nicklaus is left eye dominant and it was a trigger to start the backswing.  Most players end up with a similar looking head position at the top of the backswing but start more "neutral".  Yes, he turned his head to the right but didn't translate right.