The Head: Fact Vs Fiction

A lot of golf instructors say, “Don’t move your head!” What they’re trying to communicate is, “Don’t come out of your posture by raising your head and shoulders during the back swing.” Since that’s an awful lot to say, many people just say, “Don’t move your head.”

The concept is good, it just doesn’t completely explain the issue. As a result, people often develop other problems because they’re trying to make sure they don’t move their head.

The head does move, and has to in order for you to shift your weight. Power comes from thrust. Thrust is shifting your weight from your right side to your left side. Therefore, your body has to move. If your body is going to move, your head has to move also.

The average pro’s head moves approximately two inches to the right to get to the top of the backswing. Then at the start of the forward swing, it moves an additional inch to the right. It then moves three inches down, and eleven inches forward through the forward swing.

Many people develop a problem in swing because they’re trying to keep their head from moving. As a result, they cripple their swing because they don’t release their hips through impact. In trying to keep their head down, they don’t look up after impact. Then their hips can’t rotate forward because of the placement of their head.

If you think your head is moving too much, it’s a symptom of another fundamental problem such as, coming out of your posture. Your head is moving as a result of another problem, it’s not the cause. Your head will move, that’s a requirement of a proper golf swing. If, however, you think it is moving too much, you need to look somewhere else for the problem, don’t just focus on your head.

Link to the next chapter, Alignment.