Recently, I placed an image on Instagram with a caption: “keeping your head down through the entire golf swing is important for consistent low scores.” It was a quick note and I originally thought it was grammatically correct and to the point.
After a short while, Rick Williams from mindbodygolf, a valued member of the Grateful Golfer Community, suggested that keeping your head ‘still’ instead of ‘down’ was the correct message for a consistent golf swing and lower scores. His suggestion started me thinking and wondering if his suggestion of keeping our head still was indeed the correct message.
After much thought, I agree with Rick. To prove this change in wording to myself, I actually grabbed a club and swung it about 25 times. Through the entire process I focused on the position of my head and whether it stayed in the same position through my entire swing. This is what I found out:
- My head is in the center of my stance during set up
- My head shifts towards my back foot slightly during my back swing. Additionally, my head turns slightly to the right to make room for my left shoulder at the top of my back swing
- As my down swing starts, my head returned to the middle of my stance, but remained behind the ball through impact
- On contact, my head is still and centered until my right shoulder pushes my head to look for the ball
My conclusion about Rick’s comments is that my head does need to stay still, but does slide during my golf swing. An important message to follow this diatribe is that my head stays on the same plane and does not bounce up and down like a bobblehead.
Thanks Rick, my new message to all golfers is to of “keeping your head still through the entire golf swing is important for consistent low scores.”
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 