Swing Myth
Keep your Head Down or Still

This misleading swing thought has destroyed more swings than I care to think about! How can a person hold their head down and still over the ball and do anything athletic? The answer is a person can't. If you try to lock your head into position, as this misleading term suggests, you'll tend to shift into the left side (reverse pivot) and all you can do on the downswing is hit up, under and across the intended line of flight. This produces all sorts of off line shots, slices, pulls, duck hooks and topped shots. Sound familiar?

The head must flow with the spine into the set of the right leg to produce any real power. Try tossing a ball from your normal address position and you will get an accurate feeling of the permissible and necessary head movement in the golf swing. David Duval and Anika Sorenstam both more forward with the shot and if you watch closely neither are actually looking at the ball in the impact area. The head down myth should be viewed as looking at the ball through the impact position and allowing the head to flow naturally upwards and forward with the follow through. For now, do not be afraid to let your head flow naturally as this will help with the coil into your right side, thus producing real power and accuracy.

Today's tip was provided by Kevin Giancola. Kevin is the Head Professional at Southington Golf Quest. He works will all different levels of players and runs private or group lessons. Call him at (860) 621-3663 to sign up for a lesson or join one of his group classes or visit: www.GolfQuestRanges.com