Tiger Woods, keeping a relatively steady head during the swing

Most people I see out on the course and on the range still have this idea in their mind that they have to move from side to side to produce power.

It makes sense, most other swinging or throwing motions we generally move from side to side. This shouldn’t however be the case in the golf swing.

Most people when they bob their head from side to side, also rock their weight from side to side…a lot.

My idea of a great golf swing doesn’t involve ANY head movement until after impact. A little chin movement, which rocks from side to side is fine. In fact I promote it to achieve a full turn.

When you move your head the center of your shoulders move. This shifts your weight, which then makes  it very difficult to move 75-95% of your weight onto your forward foot, depending on what club you use that is, at impact.

This means that you have more weight on your back foot at impact. Which causes an out to in path which hits down on the ball too much robbing you of distance. Your predominant ball flight will always be a fade. We have to have the weight on the front side at impact so we can attack the ball from the inside. This is where you’re going to find the most power out of your shots.

I highly recommend if you fall into this category of thinking of moving with an opposite feeling to the momentum.

During the back swing, your hands should lead the club which is pulling the arms AWAY from the target. To stay centered in your pivot you are going to have to feel a sense of increasing the weight into the front leg and stretching (or leaning) the spine toward the target.

To feel this simply stand in your golf setup position (without a club) and put your hands behind your back. As you start turning your left shoulder down to start your back swing, start very slowly to increase the pressure under your front foot. This doesn’t mean that there’s no pressure under the right foot, there is, a great deal. But that happens from pushing down as we straighten the right knee. This is an essential function so the pivot (body) can move properly. The right hip has to move higher than the left.

The spine should also stretch or lean toward the target. It feels like stretching your right lat and condensing your left lat.

If you watch this drill in a mirror, you’ll see your head doesn’t move at all, and attacking the ball from the inside, with power, isn’t that difficult from that position!

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

F9AA4BB52C70DE16CF976512A0DF9B18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
For more articles like this, and to join my academy as a free member CLICK HERE