by Marc Soloman
What does keeping your head down or still mean to you? Has these thoughts paralyzed your golf swing? I have found many golfers that limit their potential because they try to keep their head from moving during their golf swing. But, who can blame these golfers; that is all they hear from everybody in their group when they hit a bad shot. “Oh, you peaked!” “You moved your head.” “You need to keep your head still, or you will top the ball.”
I guess it is the same way in the court of law. What does “beyond a reasonable doubt” mean to you? For different people involved in law, there are varying degrees to that phrase. There might even be more ways to think of this phrase than “keeping your head down!”
But you are reading law all day – let’s talk golf – that’s your passion, isn’t it? Golf can just sweep your spirits and thoughts into a different frame of mind when you need it the most. You know, like when your client just remembered to tell you something important – right after your counterpart brought it up to the judge. When this happens just think of taking out your Big Bertha and “whacking” your Pro V1 with a slight draw. That should bring a smile to your face. Maybe that thought will even stop you from exclaiming, “Your Honor – my client is as guilty as O.J. He should be locked up until Phil Mickelson can win a major.”
But back to keeping your head down. This is the absolute worst thing you can think about on the golf course. This phrase has done more damage to golfers than listening to your buddies that can’t break 100, give you golf tips. The golf swing is a graceful, fluid, athletic movement. The same could be said of watching Roger Clemens or Greg Maddox throw a pitch. Their whole body is working together to make that powerful, refined movement.
If your whole body is moving, doesn’t your head have to move with it? Think about the 2 future Hall of Fame pitchers I mentioned above throwing while keeping their head still. Try to picture Chipper Jones or Sammy Sosa keeping their head from moving as they turn on a pitch. It is impossible for them to keep their head still!
Let your head move! A study on some top PGA Tour players was done using high tech computers and cameras. They measured the amount of movement the player’s head moved during a golf swing. The results may astonish you. The average Professional moves their head 2 – 4 inches back on their back swing and more than four inches past the ball on their follow through.
Those numbers “blow the doors off” of the head still theory. That “in-it-self” should be enough evidence to convince you that the “keep your head down” theory is a fabrication. But, in case that still leaves “holes in my case” I shall bring two witnesses to the stand. “Your Honor I would like to call to the stand the last two players to shoot 59 during a professional golf tournament – David Duval and Annika Sorenstam.” You don’t need to watch their swings’ on a slow motion videotape to see that their heads are moving past the ball at impact.
So with the documentation provided above I believe that I have displayed beyond a reasonable doubt that a golfer needs to allow his/her head to move during a golf swing to be successful in hitting the ball long, straight and consistent. Seriously, if you are still trying to keep you head down during you golf swing, you are doing more harm than good.
Marc Solomon is the director of the Hampton Golf Academy of Hampton Golf Inc. Among his accomplishments he has been named as the Top Golf Instructor in America under 40 and featured in national Golf Magazines and on television. The Jacksonville Bar Association has arranged a discounted price for golf lessons with Marc, so if you want to improve your golf game, contact Marc toll-free at 1-866-GOLF-GMS or through his web site www.Golfmadesimple.com.