Tom Tucker teaches all aspects of the golf game at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility in Batavia. Tom may be found online at http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com

When I give a lesson, or when I play, and I hear or see something that’s
perpetuating a myth, I usually write about it in this newsletter.  Especially if I
see or hear it twice.

Strike one: while playing this past weekend – and not very well I might add – I was
playing with a guy that was struggling a bit until he hit one well and said ” I finally
kept my head down on that one”.  He didn’t lift his head on the bad hits, he
was reverse weight shifting – but on the great strike his weight was forward at
impact.  I didn’t comment at the time, because my opinion was not asked for,
and I have learned to keep my mouth shut unless asked.

Strike two: last week, I was giving a full swing lesson to a lady who was well over 50 yrs.
of age, and she was really striping the ball.  I say that, but there was still plenty of room
for improvement because of what she was not doing with her head.  She was keeping
her head stationary, not even looking up to see where the ball went. She was missing
feeling the full enjoyment – and missing the full distance potential – of her solid shots.
Not to mention the fact that she didn’t really know where the shots were going.

I asked her why she wasn’t looking at the result of her shots and she replied that
she always thought – and was told – to keep her head down.

A lot of people have heard that same advice.

Keeping your head down rigidly for your whole swing will probably
get you the following:

1) a lost ball
2) a very stiff neck
3) and a shot that doesn’t travel as far as it should

Keeping your head down rigidly limits your flexibility, as well as your body rotation back,
then through the ball. This will diminish swing speed and deprive you of distance.

Here’s what you should allow or not allow with your head movement:

1) DO NOT allow your head to shift laterally away from the target during your backswing.
2) DO allow your head to rotate naturally during your backswing, don’t inhibit it.
3) DO allow your head to rotate and follow the ball after it has been struck, but make
sure it rotates, not lifts.  Lifting up destroys your angle of inclination to the ground
which should be maintained into the early follow through when your eyes follow
the ball to see where it’s going.  Your head should be tilted as your eyes follow the
flight of the ball. If your eyes are parallel to the ground at this point (called binocular vision),
you’ve come up and out of the shot too soon.  If that happens, just look to the right
for your ball.

If you allow your head to function correctly in your swing, you’ll allow the best rotation
and length in your swing, the best release, and you won’t place undue stress on your neck.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Enjoy your golf,

Tom

 

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