A Shaft Upside the Head
A Shaft Upside the Head
by Dr. T. J. Tomasi
Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
Go to the practice tee at a PGA tour event and you’ll often see a caddie holding a shaft to their player’s head.
The idea is to keep the hub of your swing stable (but not rigid) – a good motion requires that you be supple enough keep the head back while the hips slide/turn out from under it.
The drill they are using teaches a “stay-then-go” sequence – first anchor the head (your head rotates but doesn’t slide); then, as part of the release, allow the head to catch up to the spine during the follow through until at the finish, it sits in the middle of your vertical spine like a pumpkin on a spike.
This move is called “the spiral-up,” and it’s a characteristic of every great swing. For power hitters like Tiger, it’s more of a spring-up, while for other pros like Ricky Fowler it’s more of a gradual unwinding.
The spiral involves a change of levels, a straightening of the spine, and the repositioning of the head.
All these changes in fractions of a second require exquisite timing – especially under stress, so constant rehearsal is a must to keep your Time-IQ calibrated.
Just knowing the general principle that motions start and stop while others arise to take their place is helpful in understanding the key role of timing.
If the swing were all stay or all go, the importance of timing would diminish as an issue, but in the last analysis, it is much harder to master the correct “when” than it is the correct “what.”
Wizards who teach only the “what” are ersatz wizards. In fact, the vast majority of mistakes in the golf swing are “whens.”
If you ever meet the Wizard in your journey through golf and are allowed just one wish — ask for the gift of timing; e.g., when to do the what!
If you enjoyed this golf tip, here’s how you can get even more. Contact Keiser University College of Golf about the first steps to a career in golf.
