Keep Eyes Level Through Impact
Keep Eyes Level Through Impact
By Dr. T. J. Tomasi
Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
Here’s a tip that’s helped many of my students: through impact keep your eyes level.
This head position helps keep the shaft on line, producing much more solid contact. This, combined with a trail shoulder that keeps moving, creates a trail shoulder that “chases the ball” after it’s struck. Far too many golfers slow down the trail shoulder during the downswing in an attempt to control direction, but this causes the clubface to flip through impact ruining both distance and direction. Your goal should be a high rotating chin that makes room for an unobstructed passage of the trail shoulder as it drives under it. This allows the clubface to stay square to its intended arc, thereby minimizing the amount of hand and forearm rotation. Forearm rotation is the reciprocal of quality ball striking – when forearm rotation is high, the clubface is too active through impact and therefore not reliable – which is why the best players have the least forearm rotation.
The relationship between the eye line, head rotation, and trail shoulder release shows the choreographed nature of an effective swing where a seemingly incidental swing mechanics, such as eye line, have a major influence on your ball flight. At impact, the eye line and the shoulder line are parallel. The tendency is for the club to swing on the eye line, so it makes good sense that this geometry is produced at impact by accurate drivers of the ball. When the trail arm is straight, the eye line has rotated, so the two are parallel. This allows the right shoulder to keep moving as part of the full body release.
If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.
