You Lifted Your Head!

By: Todd Keirstead

I have had the great opportunity of travelling from Mexico to Muskoka showcasing the Golf With Attitude golf demonstration show. The show is not only about trick shots and humor but also about dispelling the wonderful myths in the game of golf.

In the next few months, I will try and dispel some of the myths that we all hear on the golf course and practice range by the worlds finest unemployed golf coaches and instructors that happen to be playing in your foursome or better yet hitting the worse slice that you have ever seen on the practice range. 

The start off, my show begins with me topping a couple of golf balls and asking the audience two questions, 1. "Does that look familiar?" which draws laughter and nods throughout the audience. 2. "When you hit that shot, what is the well meaning advice that is given by your playing partners?" To which the majority of answers is "you lifted your head." 

I then proceed to hit tee shots all the while lifting my head and looking at the audience, as well as hitting balls with my eyes closed or even blindfolded, proving that the head can move, look up, or even not view the golf ball while making great contact. 

The point that I am making while performing these shots with head movement is that when you take your set up and the club is resting on the ground behind the ball your golf club is at the perfect position to hit the ball no matter how great or how poor your set up is. It is when we change that body position that we make inconsistent strikes to the golf ball.

It is not the head lifting in the golf swing, but rather, a change in the spine angle during the phases of the golf swing that is the common fault. This single movement causes a chain reaction of compensations that alter the mechanics of your golf swing immensely. The result is usually inconsistency and a multitude of poor golf shots, leading to frustration on the golf course as well as high scores. The changing of the spine angle typically happens immediately at the beginning of the back swing. Often golfers who stand up during their back swing obviously change their spine angle and not to mention posture resulting in compensations throughout the entire golf swing.

Set-up position Impact position

Keep Your Head Still: This impossible advice has been given in one form or another for about as long as there has been any literature on golf: "Keep your head down." "Keep your head still." "Keep your head fixed." "Keep your eye on the ball." "Don't lift your head." "Don't look up." You've heard these directions a thousand times. If they would only say, "Keep your head back," they would be much closer to being right because the head does have to stay back behind the ball, whether or not it moves. Many golfers have been given the impression that the head needs to stay fixed and down throughout the golf swing. This is a common misconception that keeps a lot of players from not reaching their potential and improving their golf swing. If you have the opportunity to watch a tour pro swing the golf club you will notice two things about what the head does in the golf swing. 1. There is some lateral movement behind the ball on the backswing. 2. The head releases up and towards the target immediately after impact. How will this help the average player increase their power? 1. The movement of the head in the backswing allows the upper body to properly coil over the lower body. 2. Proper releasing of the head after impact will give the body the freedom to rotate through to a full finish. 3. These two things will help establish correct weight transfer and will maximize power in your golf swing. By allowing your head to move, you will allow your body and arms to move freely and efficiently which will help to increase your distance.

On the back swing you have a natural weight shift. Consequently, you have a slight natural head move. This is perfectly O.K. This is the same move that you would make if you were to throw a rock into a lake. You would never think of anything other than the rock and the lake, but your weight and head would shift automatically. If you throw it 2 feet, you don't have any movement. But if you throw it 100 feet, there will be a more noticeable move.

On the downswing is where the key is. YOUR HEAD MUST REMAIN BEHIND THE BALL AT IMPACT. If you look at a face-on picture of any good player in the history of the game, they all have their head behind the ball at impact. If you get your head moving laterally towards the target BEFORE you strike the ball, you basically have no chance. Your swing will be moving in to the golf ball way too steep, way over the top, and way far from hitting a good shot!

Post impact, your head will follow the rest of your weight to the front side. You don't want to hang back through the entire shot and snap your spine in half, or at least finish in a reverse-C.

Here are some drills that will help you maintain that spine angle throughout your golf swing 

• Concentrate on trying to see the divot taken out of the ground as the ball is struck.
• Feel as though the club is passing the body, which must happen if the head is behind the ball at impact.
• Hit a few balls with closing the eye furthest away from the target. If your head moves too quickly you will lose sight of the ball as your nose blocks the view from your target eye.
• Ask your playing partners to watch where the ball goes to take away the need to look up to watch it yourself or getting the head ahead of the ball at impact.
• Have a practice swing where you make an extreme motion of the head behind on the downswing and then come close to repeating that feeling when you hit the ball.

All of these drills will work to keep the head behind the ball through the shot

So remember, it is not the fact that you are moving or lifting your head but rather it is you not maintaining your spine angle during the golf swing that is causing topped golf shots.

07/10