Let Your Head Rotate as Part of a Good Release

Let Your Head Rotate as Part of a Good Release

Let Your Head Rotate as Part of a Good Release
by Dr. T. J. Tomasi
Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research

Much has been said about what makes a good release – there is the release of: The body, the trail 90-degree angle formed at the elbow, the wrists, etc., but you don’t hear too much about the release of the head. Of course, we know that errors occur when you let your head slide past the ball toward the target or move too far off the ball away from the target – either way it’s not good for consistency. And please forget the advice to keep your head down – your swing is made worse by trying to do this, plus it can cause injury. You would think that with all the bad things this shibboleth (keep your head down) has caused, it would have lost its reputation by now, but I see a lot of golfers captured by it, and some teachers actually teach it. Tests show the head floats in the good swing because, under the stress of proper coil, it has to. If it is not allowed to rotate, you will almost always be forced into a correction, and that needlessly complicates the swing sequence.

So, let your head float with your body turn – how much depends on your body build and flexibility. If you’re thin and very flexible, as many tour players, then the float will be slight. Medium builds demand a bit more, and if you’re thick-chested and flexibility-challenged, your head float will be noticeable. Actually, according to the physics of the swing, it is the swing center, a point just below the chin about half-way down the sternum, that is the key. It must stay over or cover the ball at impact, but everyone incorrectly uses the head, perhaps because the head has ears and can listen while the actual swing center does not.

This teaching pro is helping his player release his head. In the correct action the head rotates through impact but stays over the ball. As this students’ shoulders, hands and forearms release, so does his head

Note how he keeps his head in the middle of his shoulders as they rotate. This leads to looking over the ball as it leaves rather than under it. The eyes are high and looking at the high X not the low X. Check out your video thru impact in stop-action to make sure you don’t look like a turkey peeking over a log. If you do, you’re not releasing your head correctly.

Blast from the Past:

One of the greatest golfers ever, Annika Sorenstam made the rotating head famous. Here her head keeps pace with her hands – as the hands ride on their arc, the head rides on its arc, all the way to the finish.

Note on the Hyper-modern Release

There are two pieces of advice that are similar but not identical: (1) keep your head down [bad] (2) Keep your head still [less than good]. Both of them involve not moving the head from its original address position, and both of them are wrong – there are several reasons why. First, studies show that trying to keep the head fixed decreases distance. Second, since almost all of your body is in motion during the golf swing, keeping the head still makes it independent of the other movement patterns, thereby forcing the brain to create a separate firing pattern for head control – a need that creates timing problems. Third, the head is not in the chain of movement from the feet to the golf club, so it can move independently of the chain without influencing club motion. In fact, tests show that pros have much more head movement than high handicappers. Thus, has arisen the hyper-modern release paradigm, where the head moves freely with the thorax and arms, rotating, rising and falling to augment balance and the release of the clubhead to the ball. Remember that humans are inverted pyramids with a ten-pound balancing device (the head) at the top of the pyramid. As the body twirls about, the head changes position to keep us from falling. Therefore, limiting the head to one position in a multi-movement system whose design specifically necessitates movement, can’t be good.

If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.